It’s about ten fingers;

It’s about six strings.

It’s about one man who once was lost,  

who found his wings.

Now that God is in my music,

You can read between the rhymes:

It’s about God…and it’s about time.

    - from “It’s About Time”

© 2005  by Jeffrey Robert Smith

Jeffrey Robert Smith - Performing Credentials

 

 

Come, all of you who are skilled craftsmen having special talents,

and construct what God has commanded us.   Exodus 35:10 (TLB)

It’s About Ten Fingers

It’s About Six Strings

It’s About One God

It’s about contemplating, reassessing,

and strengthening your faith

with music and stories

you can live by…

 

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           This page was not so easy for me to put together, because I believe it is not about me - it is about God. But this page is for the many people who have expressed an interest in where I came from, and in what my performing credentials are.

            Like many musicians who grew up in the last half of the last century, I honed my skills by performing on American stages, in nightclubs and in roadhouses on both coasts and in between. This was where a musician could find steady work, four to six nights each week. With the current popularity and proliferation of cable television music channels, much of this training ground for musicians is now a thing of the past. I see all of the experiences of my performing years as part of God’s plan to test me and to prepare me for the years ahead.

 

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I have played the guitar for over 40 years. For over twenty-two years, I toured with and performed professionally with bands and with the survivors of bands such as:

 

The Platters (“Only You”; “The Great Pretender”; “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”; “My Prayer”)

The Coasters (“Charlie Brown”; “Yakety Yak”; “Along Came Jones”)

The Buckinghams (“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”; “Kind of a Drag”; “Don’t You Care”; “Susan”)

The Cryan’ Shames (“Sugar and Spice”; “Could Be We’re in Love”)

- And many lesser-known bands, including a few variations of one-man-bands.

 

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Contests Won: 

 

-  As a jazz guitarist, received honorable mention in an international contest held by Guitar Player Magazine.

-  As a country guitarist, won second Place in The National Championship Country Contest (held in Warrenton, Virginia annually).

-  As a songwriter, won first place (out of over 300 entries) in a competition sponsored by a national fast food restaurant chain, and the two largest country music radio stations in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

-  As a songwriter, won second place (out of about 20,000 entries) in the National Songwriting Competition.

 

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Worked and played with the following fans, actors, and music industry celebrities:

 

Bob Denver (was Gilligan in the T.V. series “Gilligan’s Island”) / Ross Martin (was Artemus Gordan, in the T.V. series “Wild, Wild West”) / Imogene Coca (“The Imogene Coca Show”); and “Your Show of Shows” with Sid Caesar / Martin Milner (in the T.V. police series “Adam 12”) / Jerry Garcia, of the Grateful Dead. / Jimmy D’Aquisto, considered by most the world’s greatest luthier of jazz guitars. / Phil Epstein, drummer and cousin of the Beatles’ early manager, Brian Epstein. / Al Schultz, of the Al Schultz Booking Agency, my manager and great fan in Chicago. / Jack Hampton, of  The Jack Hampton Agency, my manager and best fan in Beverly Hills, California.

 

 

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I was angry, confused, and without purpose;

And, my temper wasn’t even, it was odd.

So I offered my soul, and I tried prayin’...

And the answer is that now I play for God.

- from “It’s About Time”

© 2005  by Jeffrey Robert Smith

 

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           The pursuit of a career in music changed the scenery frequently in my life. Although I was raised in and around Chicago, Illinois, I’ve lived many of my years in places as far apart as: Los Angeles, California; Jacksonville, Florida; Falls Church, Virginia (a suburb of Washington, D.C.); and Madison, Wisconsin.

            In order to be closer to the people who have worked with, supported, and inspired this music ministry, I am now living in the Raleigh, North Carolina area.

 

                                          

 

<> The Jeffrey Robert Smith Music Ministry <>