SongSmith - Robin Williams - Sad Funny Man

Social www.songsmith.net www.facebook.com/songsmith Bio "It's funny how life takes turns and things open up for you, and you didn't even know that road existed until there it is in front of you," says Paul Smith. That's how, late in life, he began writing notable songs. Within the considerable catalog he has amassed are a wide variety of numbers with broad appeal and charm. "I Love You All Over" rocks love and lust with passionate declarations that evoke swoons. He melds classic pop songcraft and folk-rock delicacy with the naturalistic metaphor for life of "Mayfly." Smith tackles big global issues on the seductively flowing and heartfelt tune "Children of the World." His musical tale of a father walking his daughter down the aisle to marry, "Off On Your Own," has the promise to become a wedding standard with its eloquent wish, "May your love never rest." Smith even reflects on his craft and creative gifts he has developed in the stately tune "Songwriter." The urge to write and create music was there for Smith from an early age. At six years old he had a song idea and asked his mother for some paper to write it down. He would take silverware knives and beat out drumbeats on stuff around the house. But other interests intervened. Smith played high school sports, ran and owned menswear stores, got married and divorced and raised his kids. Lived in Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles – where worked as an extra in movies starring famed actors like Robert DeNiro, Billy Crystal and others – and Myrtle Beach, SC. Eventually he embarked on a long and prosperous real estate career and returned to his hometown of Thurmont, MD in the gorgeous Catoctin Mountains. Then one day when already into his AARP years, he did what most do in their teens and wandered into a music store and bought a guitar. Smith took some lessons and found he enjoyed making music. Then the real estate market got hot and he became busy with his business, and the guitar got stowed away in his closet. When the economy tanked in the late 2000s. Smith ended up with with spare time on his hands. He got out the guitar and began to play again. "My phone didn't ring for two years, so I had to find something to pass my time," he notes. He bought songbooks and learned material by such favorites from his younger years like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, James Taylor and more. "Then one day I thought, gee, I wonder if I can write a song? I wonder how hard it is. And I wrote a silly little little song. The next day I wrote another, and then another," he says. Soon Smith began writing every day, applying the same dedication and discipline to his songwriting as he did his real estate career. He worked on his craft as a professional songwriter would, setting aside time to write every morning and night. He turned his ears to the esteemed writers he admires like Smokey Robinson, Joni Mitchell and others. Reading musician biographies helped unlock clues to how the creative process works. In time, "I started writing a few songs I wouldn't be embarrassed to play for others," Smith says. He began to test them out at open mikes and started professionally recording his compositions. And now he shares his songs with the world, inviting any and all to listen as well as singers and other musical artists to record and perform them, and everyone to enjoy. "I never thought I'd write one song much less a thousand of them," he notes. He has no desire to become a star, few urges to perform other than maybe hopping into his car with his guitar and heading off cross-country to sing and play at open mikes across the land. But what Paul Smith does wish to do is spread the joy that music has given him as a listener and now as a creator of songs. And maybe inspire others to find magical new paths and talents in their life that will enhance theirs as much as writing songs has become an utter delight for him. Rob Patterson, Austin, Tx