Put all that on hold. What Smith wants to talk about is where it all started: with the music.

Smith leans across the table, his eyes boring into a visitor like one of the high-tech routers that cuts contours into wood in the factory next door.

“You’ve got Chuck Brown and the entire go-go thing,” he says. “You’ve got the Nighthawks and Roy Buchanan and the whole blues thing. You’ve got the jazz-rockabilly-blues thing that Danny Gatton did. Then the jazz scene in Baltimore, and one of the best top-40 scenes ever. It just goes on and on. You could go into DC and hear amazing amounts of music.”

Smith, who was born in Rockville and grew up in Bowie, did it as often as he could, usually sneaking into clubs until he turned 18. At one—a strip joint—he would arrive early. “I had to sit downstairs at the bar and watch the girls strip and then go upstairs to watch the band when they started playing.”

Smith wanted to play guitar in a band. But first he had to learn how.

“I learned in the Bayou,” he says, recalling the Georgetown club that gave acts like U2, Dire Straits, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and many others their first Washington gigs. “My whole life has been about getting mentored by the older guys, so I’d go down there and watch Sinbad or Cherry Smash”—popular area bands during the ’70s—“and beg ’em to let me sit in.”

Smith immersed himself in the world of guitar rock in Washington. He played in bands, forming friendships that still exist. But the strongest bond is with the Bayou

from the great jazz era of the 1940’s, exposing me to the great music of artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Earl “Fatha” Hines, just to name a few. Another main influence was my brother Brad, (drums) who in the early 1960’s had many rock & roll bands practice at our home. Brad was insistent I know about everyone from Bill Haley, to Little Richard, to the music of the great James Brown. Toss in the influence of my sister’s love for groups from the folk era, i.e. the Kingston Trio, and you have added the final touch for my musical journey to begin.

Enter the Beatles; I was twelve and I was sold. I doubt there will ever be another event like the Beatles in the history of music, say what you will; there is not a decent player today that does not pay great homage to the Beatles.

Fast forward to the Georgetown Music scene of the 1970’s. This was such a powerful period in the history of Washington music they have written books about it. Bands like the British Walkers, the Cherry People, the Fallen Angles, the Reasons Why, Button, Cherry Smash, and Orphan, played as house bands in the clubs along M and K streets in Georgetown. I was the drummer in Button and we played the Crazy Horse for over two years. Button also played the Bayou as the house band for six straight months. The Bayou recently was torn down to construct a water front high rise, and although gone are the clubs and this period in music, you can believe it was truly magical

Most of my concerts were at The Capital Centre in Largo, Md. but also attended shows at D.A.R. Constitution Hall and Warner Theater in The Nation's Capital. My favorite hangouts were
The Bayou and The Crazy Horse venues in Georgetown...what memories. Seeing local bands like Face Dancer, Grande Hotel and Cherry Smash or C. Smash. I now live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida (RnR heaven) because of the many venues and visits by national and local acts. It is very cool to see someone with DC/Metro roots as I miss back home very much. Speaking of Face Dancer, it reminds me of a song on their second album.."The 60's Never Died", great tune by the way. Hang in there girl, because the 60's are still alive and well in a musical sense. That decade paved the way for the 70's...the best times in my 54 years of breathing. I believe that the 80's started a downward spiral that hasn't stopped to this day. I wish I had a TIME MACHINE. I'd go back there in a heartbeat!!!
Oh well, I'm going back to read this interesting thread...Keep Rollin'!!!