Smith Bros. Dirt Band In Concert

Date: Friday, October 23rd

Location: Cedar City Heritage Theater, 105 N. 100 East

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Cost: $10 per person. 

Tickets: Available at the Heritage Center Box Office.  (The Box Office is open  Mon, Wed & Fri. from 10:30 to 3:30 p.m. 

Phone: 435-865-2882, leave message after hours

Formed in 1968, the Smith Bros. Dirt Band spent 20 years together playing festivals and performances throughout the Mountain West. Resurrected 40 years after founding, the band brings together the original members, Randall Smith on bass, Terry Smith on guitar, Terry Hamblin on banjo, and Wes Dewsnup on mandolin, together with Alysha Bean on fiddle in a blend of bluegrass, alt country and jug band music that is high-energy fun in four-part harmony. With humor and lack of pretension, the band brings the audience along for the ride.  The Smith Bros. Dirt Band comes to the Cedar Livestock & Heritage Festival through a partnership with Excellence In The Community, a non profit organization promoting Utah musicians.

Check out the Smith Bros. Dirt Band in concert on You Tube at this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hkyiTnNl0c

Background Story

Randall Smith, founder of the Smith Bros. Dirt Band, was tired of listening to the classical music being fed into his headphone at the library. But several hours of listening were required for the University of Utah general education music class he was attending in 1968. About halfway through someone’s third movement, Randall randomly stared punching up different channels to see what else was being played in the library that day. In stark contrast to the classical music he was supposed to be listening to, Randall happened on some foot-tapping jug band music. The event proved to be significant—classical music failed to make a convert, but bluegrass and jug band music gained a whole new band.

Randall formed the Smith Bros. Dirt Band that same year with two brothers and a banjo-playing friend. The name of the band never changed, though for a period of time Randall was the only Smith in the group. Resurrected 40 years after founding, the 2008 band brings together the original members, Randall Smith on bass, Terry Smith on guitar, Terry Hamblin on banjo, and Wes Dewsnup on mandolin, together with Alysha Bean on fiddle.

Randall Smith plays the bass, sings most of the lead vocals and keeps the band going. He learned to play the guitar as a teenager, but started playing the bass in the band because no one else wanted to.

Terry Smith, one of the original Smith brothers, plays the guitar and sings low harmony. He originally played a 12-string guitar, but now mostly picks his 6-string Martin.

Terry Hamblin, also an original band member, plays the five-string banjo. He taught himself the instrument by listening to records played at half speed, enabling him to pick out the individual notes one at a time. Hamblin sings some lead and contributes a lot of high harmony to the band’s vocal arrangements.

Wes Dewsnup plays the mandolin and sings high tenor for the group. Dewsnup started playing folk music at the age of eight, and by the time he entered junior high school was playing professionally in a bluegrass band.

Alysha Bean, Randall’s daughter, grew up with bluegrass music, but as a child learned to play classical violin with the Suzuki “play by ear” method. In the 2008 version of the band, Bean used her training to join her father and bring the “high-lonesome sound” of the fiddle to the band.

The band recorded two albums in the 70’s on Ham & Eggs Records, their own label, Once Over Easy in 1976 and Stuck in Salt Lake in1979. The vinyl-based recordings are not yet available as CD’s.

A concert by the Smith Bros Dirt Band is a lively evening of music and fun. The band has developed a unique blend of musical styles. Although based in bluegrass, in performance the band traces its musical roots from jug band to alt-country, including the use of some primitive instruments, a washtub bass and washboard. The band members deliver high-energy in four-part harmony. They enjoy themselves on stage—a fact clearly communicated to the audience, who readily participate in fun and lack of pretension that make the Smith Bros. truly entertaining.