Jo Ann Smith

Prepare to be transfixed by the ethereal sounds of a sweetly tuned diatonic autoharp in the hands of a true master. Well-known for her unique, melodic and expressive playing style, Jo Ann Smith has charmed audiences and won legions of followers world-wide. Her YouTube videos featuring autoharp have a combined viewership of over a million views to date.

Jo Ann is a two-time International (Winfield) Autoharp Champion, having won the title in 1999 and 2013. She also holds the 2003 Mountain Laurel Autoharp Championship title. In addition to being considered one of the world’s premier autoharp players, Jo Ann is a passionate promoter of the autoharp, and uses her skills not only to enlighten but also to teach others about the untapped potential of this unique instrument. Her creative instrumental arrangements cover a broad spectrum of musical genres, from folk ballads, bluegrass, country and classical to Gospel, Celtic, Old-Time and beyond. She has performed at notable venues such as the Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour in Lexington, KY, the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS and Sore Fingers Summer School in Oxfordshire, UK. She has also taught and performed at numerous folk music festivals throughout the US.

Jo Ann Is taking bookings for 2019 for solo concerts and studio sessions. If you are interested in booking Jo Ann, please visit her website at http://autoharpist.com

Discography

CD, "Lyrical", released June 2011. An instrumental collection featuring diatonic autoharp with mandolin, guitar, violin, cello, bass, uilleann pipes, keyboard and Hammond B3.

CD, "Rhythm of the Rain", released June 2004. A collection of 15 traditional tunes and songs featuring autoharp, guitar, mandolin and bass. It was listed as one of the top 70 albums for the month of February, 2005 on the FolkDJ-L website.

The first cut from this album, "Amazing Grace", was included in volume 20 of the Acoustic Rainbow Radio Sampler.