Leave the Light On is an album by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer/songwriter Chris Smither

Chris Smither

Chris Smither is an American folk/blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets and philosophers.-Early life, influences and education:...

, released in 2006. It was released on Mighty Albert, a new imprint established for him on Signature

Signature Sounds Recordings

Signature Sounds Recordings is an independent record label specializing in singer-songwriter, Americana, and modern folk music. Jim Olsen and Mark Thayer founded the label in 1995 to promote the acoustic artists playing in the Northampton, Massachusetts music scene...

. Guest musicians on the record include Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

-winner Tim O’Brien

Tim O'Brien (musician)

Tim O'Brien is an American country and bluegrass musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki and mandocello...

 and members of Ollabelle

Ollabelle

Ollabelle is a New York based folk music group named after the influential Appalachian songwriter Ola Belle Reed. The group is composed of five singing multi-instrumentalists hailing from disparate parts of the United States, Canada and Australia.-History:...

.

The song, "Diplomacy" was named #42 on Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

 Magazine's list of 100 Best Songs of the Year 2006.

Reception

Writing for Allmusic, critic Andy Whitman noted that there was no need ground covered by Smither but the album was still excellent. He wrote of the album "He's not flashy, but he plays exactly what fits each song... This very fine release is proof, if any is needed, that the light is still on, and shining very brightly." Music critic Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...

 gave the album a two-star honorable mention.

Steve Horowitz of PopMatters

PopMatters

PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...

gave the album a 7 of 10-star rating, writing "Smither mines this territory again with much success on his latest album, Leave the Light On. The eight original tunes and four covers span a wide range of topics and moods... The notion of finite time casts a shadow over all of these songs, in the sense that this is the only world we have, the only life we lead, the only love we’ll know, etc. Let’s make our time on this planet count, not in the grand sense of destiny or history, but in terms of personal satisfaction... While Smither’s lyrics and vocal delivery are in the forefront of the production, his excellent acoustic guitar playing should be noted. Producer David Goodrich keeps the strings sounding clear and bright. His songs, his singing, and his playing make this a wonderful acoustic folk and blues album."

Track listing

All songs by Chris Smither unless otherwise noted.

1. "Open Up" - 2:55
2. "Leave the Light On" - 3:47
3. "Shillin' for the Blues" - 4:33
4. "Seems So Real" - 4:26
5. "Origin of Species" - 3:05
6. "Cold Trail Blues" (Peter Case
   Peter Case
   Peter Case is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, who has had a wide-ranging career ranging from new wave music to folk rock to solo acoustic performance.-Early career:...
   
   ) - 4:29
7. "Diplomacy" - 2:27
8. "Father's Day" - 4:39
9. "Visions of Johanna
   Visions of Johanna
   "Visions of Johanna" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. Dylan first recorded the song in New York City in November 1965, under the working title of "Freeze Out", but was dissatisfied with the results...
   
   " (Bob Dylan
   Bob Dylan
   Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
   
   ) - 5:22
10. "Blues in the Bottle" (Public Domain) - 3:29
11. "John Hardy
    John Hardy (song)
    "John Hardy" is a traditional American folk song based on the life of a railroad worker in West Virginia. The historical John Hardy killed a man during a craps game, was found guilty of murder in the first degree, and was hanged on January 19, 1894....
    
    " (Traditional) - 3:12
12. "John Hardy (Reprise)" (Traditional) - 1:32

Personnel

• Chris Smither – vocals, guitar
• David Goodrich - guitar, kalimba, piano, bass
• Tim O'Brien
  Tim O'Brien (musician)
  Tim O'Brien is an American country and bluegrass musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki and mandocello...
  
  - mandolin, mandocello, fiddle, background vocals
• Mike Piehl - drums
• Lou Ulrich - bass
• Sean Staples - background vocals
• Anita Suhanin - background vocals
• Ollabelle - background vocals
• Jazer Giles - accordion, piano

Production

• Produced by David Goodrich
• Mixed by Mark Thayer and David Goodrich
• Mastered by Bob St. John
• Project coordination by Carol Young
• Art Direction & Design by Meghan Dewar
• Photography by Liz Linder and Morguefille