Gary Smith - When Sunny Gets Blue (2019)

Originally from a background in commercial music, Gary Smith worked in a wide range of musical situations in the UK and Europe. With the formation of The Acme Quartet in the mid '70s he moved out of the commercial arena. For around 8 years, until 1990, Gary retreated from recording and live performance. During this period, he studied harmony and counterpoint with composer John South and started developing the technique and approach to playing the guitar he now utilizes.

Since the release of his first solo album 'Rhythm Guitar' in 1991 he has worked with, amongst others, John Stevens, Mass, Shoji Hano, Rhys Chatham, Bill Fay, Aufgehoben, and Masayoshi Urabe.

He is known for his dense, contrapuntal style of playing and has been a pioneer in the use of stereo guitar. In recent years he has reduced his use of technology to just guitar, amp and volume pedal, creating sounds similar to prepared instruments, static, mechanical effects, computer generated sounds, birdsong, etc. - these detailed and magnified sounds he combines with the traditional parameters of Western music.