Josh Smith

Over three decades Josh Smith has established himself as a technically gifted American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and studio craftsman whose playing merges blues, jazz, and rock into a forceful, ever-shifting sound that has thrilled listeners across the United States and overseas. He has issued dozens of recordings, among them the 2022 horn-driven big-band blues-rock project Bird of Passage, and has performed alongside Mick Jagger, Joe Bonamassa, Eric Johnson, and Raphael Saddiq.

Connecticut-born and Florida-raised, Smith began playing guitar at six and was already on the road by his early teens. For eight years he served as lead guitarist in the regional blues outfit The Rhino Cats, after which he moved to Los Angeles in his early twenties. There he quickly became one of the city’s most in-demand sidemen and session players, appearing on dates and stages with Joe Bonamassa, Eric Johnson, Andy Timmons, and Kirk Fletcher. Parallel to those engagements, he has maintained a steady stream of well-received solo albums: Inception (2009), I’m Gonna Be Ready (2011), Don’t Give Up (2012), Over Your Head (2015), Still (2017), Burn to Grow (2018), and Bird of Passage (2022).

Operating from his Flat V Studios in Los Angeles, Smith has also produced projects for Reese Wynans, Eric Gales, Joanna Conner, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Andy Timmons, Jimmy Hall, Larry Mccray, Artur Menezes, Seth Rosenbloom, and Jamey Arent.