Rising Nashville star to come to USU
From farm kid to up-and-coming country music star, 22-year-old Shevy Smith, a singer/songwriter from Nashville is coming to Utah State University.
“I’m so excited to come to [Utah State University]. You seem really nice,” Smith said. “The football equipment manager has already sent me a sweatshirt, and I have even received four or five e-mails from students saying how excited they are for me to come.”
Life in Nashville and traveling around the country is quite a bit different than Smith’s earlier days growing up on a farm in Kansas, she said.
“I spent my first 18 years in the same farmhouse,” Smith said. Life on a farm was a utopian experience for Smith, she recalls many fond memories.
“I have two older brothers so I grew up learning about football formations and car engines. But I’m still as girlie as they come,” she said.
Smith started playing the piano at a very young age. She later picked up the guitar and began writing songs when she was 13.
She said becoming a musician “was almost like a religious conversion. It wasn’t a lightning bolt. It just became something I couldn’t not do. Words and music were spilling out of me. I entered a talent show sort of on a whim and ended up winning. I got $500 and a trip to Kansas City. After that, I thought, I can do this.”
Smith moved to Nashville after high school and landed a publishing deal.
“I got a publishing deal at 18 which is unheard of. It’s great to have someone with that much confidence in you saying ‘we’re going to pay you to write songs,'” she said.
Smith’s family still finds it hard to understand she can make a living without having to do “some sort of physical labor.”
Close friend and fellow country music artist, Phil Vassar, inspires her as a songwriter and a performer.
“He’s had so many hits but he’s written songs for other people too,” Smith said.
As a songwriter Smith explains how the “hugest compliment” is having someone else “cut” a song she has written.
Smith has been touring across the country performing at numerous colleges and universities.
“I love performing at college campuses because people are still idealistic. They believe they can make an imprint on the world,” Smith said.
Smith’s album titled “Blueprint” contains songs she has written herself, including one that she wrote when she was 16.
“I think my favorite song is always the latest song I’ve written, but if I had to choose I would pick one titled ‘Motorbike,'” Smith said. “It’s a story song and it embodies the feeling of adventure and exploration. It has a little bit of a Tom Petty feel.”
Smith said she loves adventure. She travels to different gigs with her co-pilot, a yellow lab named Vivienne, and likes to take the time to “stop at a thrift store or junk shop and look around,” she said.
She said she is looking forward to her trip to Utah. She has only been through the Salt Lake City airport and is excited to be able to see more of the state.
Smith will be performing 7 p.m. Friday at the TSC Sunburst Lounge. The show is open to everyone. No tickets are required. CDs will be available for purchase at the show.
For more information visit www.ShevySmith.com.
-nnaylor@cc.usu.edu