Regarded as a master of modern acoustic blues during the 1960s revival, Chris Smither had his beginnings in Miami, Ecuador and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas before his family settled in New Orleans when he was three. Later in his childhood, they packed up once more and moved briefly to Paris, where his older brother bought him a guitar from Spain. Already a fan of the ukulele, he became passionately attached to it and carried over his unique finger-picking style.

Though a frequent listener of his parents’ blues and folk-heavy record collection as a child, Smither’s true inspiration came in the form of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ Blues in My Bottle when a friend played the album for him at the age of 17. His second musical epiphany came shortly after when he discovered Mississippi John Hurt. Both Hurt and Hopkins became cornerstone influences.

I’m A Stranger, Too! marked the debut of Smither’s solo career in 1970. Two years later, longtime friend Bonnie Raitt recorded a cover of Smither’s “Love Me Like a Man.” Covers of his work continued with musicians such as Emmylou Harris and Diana Krall. He recently traveled the country with Dave Alvin, Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Tom Russell as Hightone’s “Monsters of Folk” tour.