‘RELEASE SHOW / BELLY UP REVIEW’

“The whole experience was dazzlingly majestic. Never before has an audience at the Belly Up gotten up so fast to dance to the music. People were raising their hands up high, singing along, all while basking in the golden lights overhead, and the way that Smith would close his eyes while playing the guitar, further proved how he was born to be on stage” — Eva Sarnowski | Aug, 2023 | Backstage 360

LATEST ALBUM ‘BACK TO YESTERDAY’

Nominated 2024 San Diego Music Awards — Best Americana Album

PRODUCED BY 2023 GRAMMY™ WINNING PRODUCER, TYLER GRAHAM CHESTER

RELEASED JULY 28th, 2023

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE ALBUM ON SPOTIFY

// PRESS

BackStage 360

‘RELEASE SHOW / Belly up review’

Eva Sarnowski | Aug, 2023

2023 ~ THE COAST NEWS GROUP

LOCAL PUBLICATION / ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Laura Johnson | Oct 10, 2023

// PHOTOS

// VIDEO

NOMINATED 2024 SAN DIEGO MUSIC AWARDS — BEST VIDEO

// CONDENSED BIO

“HEARTLAND ROCK WITH HEARTBREAK SOUL”

To Jesse Ray Smith, home is in the heart of California, as if raised by a family of tumbleweeds along Interstate 5, forever rolling with the Santa Ana winds. In his voice you hear the dust from the highway and the yearning of a young man seeking redemption under the power lines.  Jesse is a singer-songwriter, a husband and a father, dedicated to the pursuit of crafting timeless songs and records with his longtime writing partner Sean Cox Briar.  His brand of modern americana blends current indie folk flavors with southern heartland rock sounds of the past, harkening artists such as Bob Segar, Chris Stapleton, and Ray Lamontagne, but also courageously exploring a deeper songbook, at times akin to Paul Simon and CSNY. With his most recent release, 'Back to Yesterday', produced by 2023 Grammy Winning Producer Tyler Chester (Best Folk Album), Jesse's top shelf band of road weathered Bay Area players delivers a unique experience best described as "Heartland Rock with Heartbreak Soul". A Jesse Ray Smith live show is full of love and power that will leave your soul soaring and is not to be missed.

ABOUT THE New Album

“Back to Yesterday”

released July 28th, 2023

‘Back to Yesterday’ is a collection of 8 West Coast Americana songs written by Jesse Ray Smith and his long time writing partner Sean Cox. For this album, Jesse brought in the Grammy Winning team for 2023’s Best Folk Album, ‘Revealer’ by Madison Cunningham — Producer Tyler Chester and Engineer David Boucher. Tyler was awarded the task of sifting through a catalog of roughly 50 songs written during COVID, injecting his indie-folk wisdom and translating that to Jesse’s Bay Area band of circus touring / Journey Through Time / rock n roll renegades. The goal was to come away with something analog and real that reflected and spoke to the times. The songs were recorded mostly live and the follow-up ‘Keepers’ EP (2024 Release) was recorded to tape using Boucher’s 8-track tape machine.

For both albums, ‘Back to Yesterday’ and ‘Keepers’, Jesse and Sean hand-picked a collection of song lyrics from the notebooks of San Diego poet Alfred Howard to craft to. These were poems written by Howard on road trips and hikes during the introspection of the COVID lockdowns. They painted a picture of a need for slower pace, reconnection and repurpose in a hyperbolic California, fraught with wild fire and dying legends. In one of the albums singles ‘Born of Fire’, Howard writes “There’s no more open road — We’ve all but choked the sky. I think we’re going home — I think there comes a time. And what was it you said to me that got me close to crying? Red roses for the dead are roses born to die”. Recurring lyrical themes of Fire and Smoke, Stars and City lights, California flowers and landscapes, loss and reconnection, past love and nostalgia all evoke the spirit; these make up both records, and the music itself harkens a nostalgic connection to Jesse’s youth, leaning deeper into the analog world.

Jesse grew up in the vibrant music scene of Marin County, where Jerry Garcia still reigns king from the grave and the bars are buzzing with live bands 7 nights a week. On these records, Bar band Rock n’ Roll is paired with a fine class of red, giving these albums the aged taste of a true American past-time. On the “Back to Yesterday” LP, soaring guitar solos and big CSNY vocal harmonies of the 70’s are paired with string quartets and rubber bridged baritone guitars, giving a current indie folk flavor that feels unique to this record. The “Keepers” EP doubles down and trades the strings for 80’s synthesizers as the band aims for festival stages in 2024.

// SHOWS

PAST SHOWS

2021, SEPT 1 WED Petco Park - San Diego, CA - Jesse Ray Smith (Quartet)

2022, JUN 17 FRI Parks & Rec - San Diego, CA - Jesse Ray Smith (Band)

2022, JUL 29 FRI The Casbah - San Diego, CA - Jesse Ray Smith (Band)

2022, AUG 19 FRI Peri’s - Fairfax, CA - Jesse Ray Smith (Band)

2022, OCT 14 FRI Mac’s - Fairfax, CA - Jesse Ray Smith (Band)

2022, OCT 21 FRI Amado’s - San Francisco, CA - Jesse Ray Smith (Band)

2022, DEC 16 FRI Peri’s - Fairfax, CA - Jesse Ray Smith (Band)

2023, MAY 5 FRI Amado’s - San Francisco, CA - Jesse Ray Smith (Band)

2023, MAY 6 SAT Paper Mill Creek Saloon - Forest Knolls - Jesse Ray Smith (Band)

2023, MAY 11 THU Soda Bar - San Diego, CA - Jesse Ray Smith (Solo)

2023, JUN 9 FRI Peri’s - Fairfax, CA - Jesse Ray Smith (Band)

2023, AUG 27 SUN Bigfoot Festival - Twain Harte, CA - Jesse Ray Smith (Duo)

2023, AUG 29 TUE Belly Up Tavern - Solana Beach, CA - Jesse Ray Smith (Band)

2023, SEP 14 THU Sweetwater Music Hall - Mill Valley, CA - Jesse Ray Smith (Band)

// THE JESSE RAY SMITH SOUND

…is contemporary yet timeless, youthful but honest, Heartland Americana with a blend of British Atmosphere and Southern Soul.

Fans of Jesse Ray Smith listen to Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Dawes, The Lumineers, Alabama Shakes

These are some of my favorite albums of all time…

BIO //

“Heartland Rock with Heartbreak Soul”

“Possessing a sandy, plaintive voice akin to Bob Seger and leading a full band, Smith’s sound bleeds through generations of Americana, feeling at once classic and contemporary in its melodies and arrangements.” ~ (Charlie Swanson, Pacific Sun, June 20, 2019) 

All of 2022 was spent in the studio, with Jesse Ray Smith now putting the final touches on 16 new original songs. Fresh off of the release of 4 new singles, the first of 2 new LPs is set to be released Summer of 2023 with the follow-up to come shortly after. For these upcoming releases (including the two single releases “Jacaranda” & “Born of Fire”), Jesse and his writing partner Sean Cox have brought in 2023 Grammy Winning Producer, Tyler Chester (Best Folk Album — “Revealer” by Maddison Cunningham) to wrangle his band of seasoned hometown Bay Area players. Stay tuned and thanks for listening

SO THE "SHORT STORY" IS...

Jesse Ray Smith was raised in the artistic, small-town suburbs of Marin County, a few miles and a full generation removed from the hippy movement that swept through San Francisco in the late 60’s.  From Fleetwood Mac's Rumours to Stevie's Songs in the Key of Life, many great records came out of Marin County, fueled by the musical prowess of legendary concert promoter Bill Graham. This was Jesse’s home, and these legends were a part of the infrastructure that sustained him. Although his parents weren’t big Deadheads, their catalog ran deep, exposing him to a vast collection of great records and artists.  Whether it was Graceland, Ziggy Stardust or Dark Side of the Moon — a record was always playing and music was a very present part of his life. 

His love for the craft of songwriting grew stronger as he got older.  From as early as the age of ten, he had a pressing desire to follow in the footsteps of his musical heroes.  Not because they looked cool or lived the dream; because they SOUNDED amazing and, musically, had IT figured out.  IT was always about the music for Jesse, and as his family life became more tumultuous in the early high-school years, he came to rely on the cathartic escape experienced while sifting through deeper thoughts and emotions.  He kept his head down through, what felt like, the dark ages of early life, as he watched his mother’s addictions swallow her up.  Music became his drug and has remained that way to this day, always providing the needed awareness and reflection to navigate through the rapids toward calmer waters. Jesse’s best work has always come in times of need - when he had nowhere to go to find the truth but deeper within.     

So here we are, a few bands removed, a husband, a father and a songwriter, finally facing the music and all ambitions head on.  Jesse’s focused on making the one thing that has always intrigued him the most:  a Great record.  One that comes from a place of truth and passion and carries a self-contained, distinctive and palpable presence and intention.  This quest may take a lifetime, as he navigates in and out of different musical and personal journeys.  Stick around for the “long story” and hopefully you hear something you like.