Mindy Smith: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Kasey Chambers
• Beth Nielsen Chapman
• Tift Merritt
• Katrina Carlson
• Harriet Wheeler
• The Sundays
• Kim Richey

• Emmylou Harris
• Shawn Colvin
• Dolly Parton

Genres:

Country Music, Singer/Songwriter, Folk & Roots Music, Singer/Songwriter

Decades Active:

2000's

Popularity

Low

Ratings Guide

Mindy Smith was born and raised on Long Island, NY, moving with her father to Knoxville, TN, in 1994, shortly after the death of her mother. There she fell in love with the various strains of Appalachian music, as well as jazz and blues. Moving to Nashville in 1998 to try her hand at the music business, she quickly attracted attention with her strong voice and songwriting skills, signing a publishing agreement with Big Yellow Dog Music in 2001. Her big break came when her edgy cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" was included on a Parton tribute album, Just Because I'm a Woman: Songs of Dolly Parton, in 2003. Coproduced by Steve Buckingham and featuring bluegrass bassist Viktor Krauss and Louisiana slide guitar ace Sonny Landreth, Smith's version of "Jolene" (and its atmospheric video) heightens the desperation inherent in the song ("Please don't take my man/Just because you can") and updates it for a new generation of listeners. A threesong EP featuring "Jolene" and two additional songs, "Come to Jesus" and "Falling," was released in 2003, and a fulllength debut album from Vanguard Records, One Moment More, is scheduled for release early in 2004.

- Steve Leggett, All Music Guide