Frank Smith: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

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Genres:

Rock Music, Alternative Rock Music

Decades Active:

2000's

Despite what you might guess from their name, Frank Smith is a band, not a solo act, and no one in the band is named either "Frank" or "Smith." Instead, Frank Smith is six guys who play countryinfused indie rock with smarts and an emotionally ragged edge. Frank Smith was formed by guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Aaron Sinclair, who was born in Texas but later transplanted to Boston, where he became a critic's favorite as the leader of the group Drexel. Sinclair later became drummer with indie noisemakers the Lot Six. While busy with the Lot Six, Sinclair began writing some countryinfluenced songs and assembled a band to play them, featuring Scott Toomey of Eyes Like Knives on guitar, fellow Lot Six member Julian Cassanetti on keyboards, Jon Lammi on bass, and Jesse Kramer (son of Aerosmith's Joey Kramer) on drums. Calling themselves LaGuardia, the group released a selftitled album in 2002, only to discover that another group was already using the name LaGuardia. Sinclair coined the name Frank Smith, telling a reporter, "We were getting tired of trying to think of clever or cool band names, and it turned into, 'What's the most monotonous, everydayJoe name you could think of?'" By the time Frank Smith released 2004's Burn This House Down, their first disc under their new name, the group had experienced some personnel changes Drew Roach, formerly of Stray Bullets, replaced Kramer on drums, and fellow Lot Six alumni Dan Burke took over for Lammi on bass. Frank Smith's 2005 release Think Farms was named one of the ten best albums of the year by the Boston Phoenix, and Boston's Weekly Dig gave a similar accolade to 2006's Red on White. During this period, Cassanetti left the group (Toomey began dividing his time between guitar and keyboards), and pedal steel guitarist Steve Malone and Brett Saiia on banjo joined the band to shore up their country sound. In late 2006, former Blake Babies leader Juliana Hatfield heard Frank Smith and was impressed enough that she not only signed the group to her Ye Olde Records label to release their album Heavy Handed Peace and Love, but invited the band to collaborate with her on an EP, Sittin' in a Tree..., both of which were released on May 29, 2007. In the spring of 2007, Frank Smith pulled up stakes and relocated from Boston to Austin in Sinclair's home state of Texas, where they arrived in time to play a showcase at that year's South by Southwest Music Conference.

- Mark Deming, All Music Guide