Community Corner
AJ SMITH MUSIC
Only a few years ago,
high school student AJ Smith was penning his unique songs and sound tracks for
fellow students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in
exchange for free Chipotle burritos. Today, the local singer, songwriter, and
composer is beginning to take the national stage as an-up-and coming songwriter.
This August, he’s heading home from the new Masters
of Songwriting program at New York University to play to his hometown fans
in a release show for his new EP, “Dragons in the Sky.”
AJ Smith is an
award-winning composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician
(piano, guitar, violin, mandolin, & banjo), and recording artist based in
New York, NY. He has written and collaborated on over 100 original songs since
he began songwriting at the age of twelve, including the recent Australian Club Chart Hit (#3)
“Summertime.”
In 2012, Smith was named
the Songwriters Hall of Fame &
NYU Steinhardt Songwriting Scholar of
the Year. He opened for The Eagles at the Beacon Theatre in
November 2012 performing his original song “Kings and Crowns”.
Instructors and Song
Writing Mentors include: Glenn Frey, Roseanne Cash, Phil Galdston, Jonatha
Brooke, Barry Eastmond, David Wolfert, Herschel Garfein, David Spear, Alex
Forbes, and Pavel Pekarsky.
“People ask me who I am like” Smith says. “Almost like they are trying to see if I fit
into a category of something or someone they like, an already established
group. My sound is unique, but if I had to describe my music in terms of
artists who are already popular, I’d say that I’m as if Coldplay had a baby
with John Mayer and that baby plays in the sandbox all day with Mumford &
Sons and the old Maroon 5. Sometimes the Black Keys even show up for a
playdate”!
