Sky Smeed

March 3, 2015
Sky Smeed was born and raised outside of Chanute, Kan., in an old, one-room schoolhouse his parents bought and turned into a home in the early 1970s.

The first music he ever heard came from Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Van Morrison and Merle Haggard. Hearing this roots style of music playing on an old record player has stayed with Sky and is evident when he takes the stage to share his effortless, country tinged tunes of working hard, dogs, love, money, beer, coffee, and the call of the road.
Listeners often compare Sky to Gram Parsons, Neil Young and John Prine, though his easy-going demeanor, off-the-cuff banter and transparency link him to contemporaries like Todd Snider and Paul Thorn.

Smeed has self-released five full-length albums: Flying High (2002), The Front Steps (2004), Mill River (2006), Sky Smeed (2012) and Drive All Night (2015).
Drive All Night was produced and recorded by award-winning folk duo Truckstop Honeymoon (Mike & Katie West) at their Lawrence, Kan., studio. The album features nine of Smeed’s tastiest, most subjugated compositions thus far, including the pulled pork personal ad “Smoke ‘n Spice”, the brutally honest ballad “Blue Highways” and a folky voyage from Ohio to Colorado in search of Dr. Kind in “Talkin’ Medical Marijuana Blues”.
To this day Sky remains an independent recording and performing artist, booking his own shows at bars, clubs, festivals, and listening rooms from California to Carolina. Without a doubt, Smeed will Drive All Night to your neck of the woods in the not-so-distant future, guitar in hand.
Press quotes:
“Drive All Night is likely the best feel-good indie album to come out of Kansas in 2015.” - Currentland
“…a poignant, foot-stomping good time sprinkled with sentimental moments and allusions to not-so-illegal smiles.” - RedDirtNation.com
“Mill River is a rollicking bunch of songs, with Smeed stretching emotionally, compositionally and hitting every mark full stride.” - Metroland