Early June 2009:
Rita Licciardolo was my senior year English teacher at Passaic Valley High School in Little Falls, New Jersey, and she passed away in late April. She was such a lovable person and full of joy, it seemed to me then and also the (too) few times we saw each other later. She always had a light in her eyes that seemed to say that she was having a great time, almost in secret.
I never stopped desperately needing her approval for my work, and she was such a unbegrudging cheerleader to me that I never doubted for a moment that I had it. No one else in the world could have made me feel more secure or surer that I was doing the right thing with my life.
In high school she read Chaucer to us with the original accent, and I recall her standing on a chair while she did it. That's pretty much my permanent visual of her, and it's a happy and fine one to have. Oh was I fortunate to know this lady, and thrilled that she would come to see me play, even though later in life her arthritis made every move a difficult one.
No more standing on chairs, but some people only have to do it once to make you love them forever.
Also see: other recent items, and recently-posted additional lyrics.
Available now!
Songs from Bird Avenue --
words and sheet music for 16 of Michael's early songs.
Michael Smith stands out as one of the few undisputed geniuses among singer-songwriters.
Sing Out! Magazine
One of the best songwriters in the English language ...an enchanting and riveting performer.
Chicago Magazine
the thing that stands out most in Michael's work is his unpredictable creativity just when you think you know where he's going, lyrically or musically, he'll turn a metaphoric corner on you, double back, sneak up behind you and slip a rainbow in your pocket.
those of us who are songwriters or guitar players ... learn why there really are no rules when it comes to the game of music
Hill Country House Concerts,
Bulverde Texas
Michael Smith is represented by:
Hearing the songs of Michael Smith in this day and age is like reading an anthology of short stories by Hemingway after decades of only comic books. It's a realization that songs can hold a whole lot more than they're usually expected to hold, that they can possess a genuine sense of place as evocative and magical as the finest literature...
His songs are so resonant in layers
of myth and magic, and so perfectly enhanced by the
genuine beauty of his melodies and instrumental
arrangements, that you can listen to a single one over
and over for an afternoon and feel satisfied.
Song Talk magazine
Singer-songwriter Smith's ruminations on aging and
ephemerality draw much of their power from the
glistening tone and unfaltering taste of his
imaginative steel-string accompaniments.
Guitar Player magazine
When Amsterdam is golden in the morning
Margaret brings him breakfast
She believes him
He thinks that tulips bloom beneath the snow
He's mad as he can be
But Margaret only sees that sometimes
Sometimes she sees her unborn children in his eyes.
"The Dutchman" by Michael
Smith
Michael Smith is represented by: Artists of Note (Joann Murdock), P.O. Box 11, Kaneville, IL 60144, (630) 557-2742, jmurdock@artistsofnote.com