by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
Last year, I covered Corey Smith at a sold out Fuel Coffeehouse show. The savvy singer/songwriter has been marketing himself to colleges in most Southern states, including Tallahassee and Gainesville, Florida. His persistence has gleaned him heavy rotation airplay in those regions for three years, now it’s paying off. College-aged young people know his songs and sing-a-long at his concerts.
Deja vu! Corey’s Freebird show last Thursday night was sold out as an all ages concert, which is my worst-case scenario for covering a live show. The place was jam-packed with teenagers and college students. It was like a frat party. The underage ticket holders had their six pack party before the concert, as evidenced by empty beer boxes beside the cars in the parking lot.
In this teenage wasteland, thick with hormone-addled bodies, taking photographs was extremely difficult. So, I opted to go up to the second story and take shots from a downward vantage point. The first girl I asked to allow me a few minutes on the rail to take my shots said “No, I’m not giving up my spot.” Of course, I explained to her that I was with the press and I’d just be a few minutes. The girl was about 15 and her answer to my reasonable request was to pitch a bitch with a string of profanities that would make a sailor blush. Right! Now there is a girl who is already high maintenance, imagine her at 25? The guy standing next to her politely gave me the time I needed to take my shots.
Corey writes story songs about issues that teens and college-age people can identify with. After graduating from the University of Georgia in 2001, Corey married his college sweetheart, Shannon. Then he took a two year hiatus from professional performing to teach social studies at North Gwinnett High School in Suwannee, Georgia. In his spare time, Corey continued to write songs and study music. During his teaching tenure, Corey penned the songs ‘In Love with Memory,’ ‘What Happened,’ and ‘Twenty One’ that later ended up on his debut album Undertones. The tunes were based on his real life experiences of making the transition from college student to mature adult.
In the spring of 2003, Corey started performing in the North Georgia music scene, showcasing his original music at open-mics and playing regularly at local bars in Athens, Georgia. Corey noticed that audiences responded enthusiastically to his simple, storytelling style of songwriting. So, he developed this style into his trademark sound.
By 2005, things were beginning to happen for Corey. The airplay on the college stations was generating a buzz and a large fan base. The growing interest in his music began to translate into album sales and sold out live shows. By the fall of 2005, Corey began touring as a full-time artist to support his latest album The Good Life.
2006 was a milestone year for Corey as a story-party-song phenomenon. He has used the Internet effectively with a slick website (coreysmith.com) and myspace.com/coreysmith, which has generated 2 million MySpace plays and more than 35,000 MySpace friends. Corey is ranked as one of MySpace’s Top Artists. As of December 2006, Corey was the number 1 ranked unsigned country, number 7 unsigned acoustic, and number 14 on the rock ranking chart. Consequently, Corey has sold over 129,000 songs online since May 2006. Not surprisingly, he has sparked interest from big name record labels. Clearly, Corey will not be “unsigned” for long.
As a singer/songwriter phenom, Corey’s appeal is focused on his simple songs that young people can remember. During his Freebird show, the audience was singing along on every song. Corey has expanded his sound to include a fiddle player and a percussionist/keyboardist. To me, Corey sounds like a fusion of Jimmy Buffet and Charlie Daniels, who both use story-song styles. His “aw-shucks” manner goes over very well indeed. Obviously, young people love him and his music, which is the essence of an emerging megastar. It won’t be long before venues like the Freebird will be way too small for him.
After my struggle to get my shots, I settled down to listen to Corey’s set. Frankly, it was like a mini-Beatles concert of the past. The girls were screaming, the boys were yelling, and everyone was jumping up and down with joy. Wow, this guy has got IT, whatever IT is! Corey can make teenagers and young adults scream, and that defines every superstar who has ever come down the pike. And he’s just a regular guy.
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