Tom Smith (filker)
Encyclopedia
Tom Smith is a singer-songwriter from , who got his start in the filk music community. He is a fourteen-time winner of the Pegasus Award for excellence in filking, including awards for his "A Boy and His Frog", "307 Ale", and "The Return of the King (Uh-huh)", and was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 2005.
tic to hip-hop to Klezmer
. In performance, he tends towards comedy folk-rock, usually with many references to films, literature, popular culture and politics, frequently using pun
s.
His nickname, "The World's Fastest Filker", comes from numerous instances of "instafilk", i.e., quickly-written or improvised songs. He has improvised entire concert sets, and his album Badgers and Gophers and Squirrels Oh My: The 24-Hour Project, inspired by Scott McCloud
's 24-Hour Comics Day
, features seventeen songs written in twenty-four hours. In May 2006, he released the album The Last Hero On Earth, a comic opera which has twenty songs, all written in one day, to the same plot.
In August 2006, emulating Jonathan Coulton's Thing A Week, he began iTom, a project where he released a new song every week for a year, and continued sporadically after that. So far, he has collected four albums of those songs.
He has parodied Christine Lavin
songs with her blessing. He authored the official song for Talk Like a Pirate Day
.
He wrote "Enterprising Man" for the animated parody video Babylon Park
: Grudgematch, as well as the official Transylvania Polygnostic University theme song for the comic Girl Genius
by Studio Foglio. His song "Rock Me Amidala" was used in the independent movie Saving Star Wars
.
Smith performs frequently at conventions across the United States, and has also performed in Canada and England. He has been featured frequently on Dr. Demento
, Public Radio International
's Sound & Spirit, and other radio programs. In 2007, he joined with comedy musicians such as Rob Balder
, The Great Luke Ski, Sudden Death
, Worm Quartet
, and others in The FuMP
(The Funny Music Project). Smith has appeared in concert with Dr. Demento and on the same bill as Chick Corea
.
In 2005, "A Boy and his Frog" was the subject of a mini-arc in the Something Positive
webcomic.
On June 7, 2008, Smith tore his quadriceps while attempting to take the stage at a Christine Lavin concert, landing him in the hospital and preventing him from performing for the next few months.
Career
Smith has written songs in many musical moods and styles, from dramatic to silly to romantic, and from operaOpera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic to hip-hop to Klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
. In performance, he tends towards comedy folk-rock, usually with many references to films, literature, popular culture and politics, frequently using pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
s.
His nickname, "The World's Fastest Filker", comes from numerous instances of "instafilk", i.e., quickly-written or improvised songs. He has improvised entire concert sets, and his album Badgers and Gophers and Squirrels Oh My: The 24-Hour Project, inspired by Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud is an American cartoonist and theorist on comics as a distinct literary and artistic medium...
's 24-Hour Comics Day
24-hour comic
A 24-hour comic is a 24-page comic book written, drawn, and completed in 24 hours. Scott McCloud originally came up with the challenge for himself and Steve Bissette as a creative exercise...
, features seventeen songs written in twenty-four hours. In May 2006, he released the album The Last Hero On Earth, a comic opera which has twenty songs, all written in one day, to the same plot.
In August 2006, emulating Jonathan Coulton's Thing A Week, he began iTom, a project where he released a new song every week for a year, and continued sporadically after that. So far, he has collected four albums of those songs.
He has parodied Christine Lavin
Christine Lavin
Christine Lavin is a New York City-based singer-songwriter and promoter of contemporary folk music. She has recorded numerous solo albums, and has also recorded with other female folk artists under the name Four Bitchin' Babes...
songs with her blessing. He authored the official song for Talk Like a Pirate Day
International Talk Like a Pirate Day
International Talk Like a Pirate Day is a parodic holiday created in 1995 by John Baur and Mark Summers , of Albany, Oregon, U.S., who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate...
.
He wrote "Enterprising Man" for the animated parody video Babylon Park
Babylon Park
Babylon Park is a spoof of Babylon 5 and South Park that debuted on the internet in 1998, created by Christopher Russo. It presents the Babylon 5 cast with South Park character designs...
: Grudgematch, as well as the official Transylvania Polygnostic University theme song for the comic Girl Genius
Girl Genius
Girl Genius is an ongoing comic book series turned webcomic, written and drawn by Phil and Kaja Foglio and published by their company, Studio Foglio LLC under the imprint Airship Entertainment...
by Studio Foglio. His song "Rock Me Amidala" was used in the independent movie Saving Star Wars
Saving Star Wars
Saving Star Wars is a 2004 independent film by Woodworks Films that was written and produced by Gary Wood. The title is a play on the title of the World War II movie Saving Private Ryan and Star Wars. The first preview of the film was at a film festival called Reel Competition, where it was rated...
.
Smith performs frequently at conventions across the United States, and has also performed in Canada and England. He has been featured frequently on Dr. Demento
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen , better known as Dr. Demento, is a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present....
, Public Radio International
Public Radio International
Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...
's Sound & Spirit, and other radio programs. In 2007, he joined with comedy musicians such as Rob Balder
Rob Balder
Robert T. Balder is a professional cartoonist, singer/songwriter, game designer and web entrepreneur. He graduated from Roanoke College with a major in English in 1993, and after a variety of jobs, entered a seven year career in IT, starting as a Manager of Database Development, which he left for...
, The Great Luke Ski, Sudden Death
Sudden Death (music)
Sudden Death is a comedy rap trio from Hardyston, New Jersey consisting of members Tom Rockwell , Steve Fernino , and Thom Uliasz .They formed in 1986 and started releasing their music in 1991....
, Worm Quartet
Worm Quartet
Worm Quartet is a one-man Comedy Synth Punk band portrayed on album covers as a group of four worms. The "band" has a growing cult following thanks to exposure on the Dr. Demento show...
, and others in The FuMP
The FuMP
The FuMP, or the Funny Music Project, is a website founded in 2007 which releases at least two new comedy songs every week under a Creative Commons license. Visitors are given a choice of downloading the songs for free, or purchasing a high quality mp3 for 99 cents...
(The Funny Music Project). Smith has appeared in concert with Dr. Demento and on the same bill as Chick Corea
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
.
In 2005, "A Boy and his Frog" was the subject of a mini-arc in the Something Positive
Something Positive
Something Positive or S*P is a webcomic by R. K. Milholland, which debuted on December 19, 2001. The comic is characterized by a cynical tone and off-beat humor, including its portrayals of geeks, gamers, and goths....
webcomic.
On June 7, 2008, Smith tore his quadriceps while attempting to take the stage at a Christine Lavin concert, landing him in the hospital and preventing him from performing for the next few months.
Discography
- Mr. Smith Goes To The Hospital (tribute album), 2008 (download)
- Songs of The FuMP, Vol. 1, 2008 (download)
- iTom 4.0: Smith and Legend, 2007 (download)
- iTom 3.0: True Love Waits, 2007 (download)
- iTom 2.0: Transitions, 2007 (download)
- iTom 1.0: And So It Begins, 2006 (download)
- The Last Hero On Earth, 2006 (CD)
- Sins of Commission, 2006 (download)
- Homecoming: MarCon 2005, 2005 (download)
- And They Say I've Got Talent, 2004 (CD)
- Badgers and Gophers and Squirrels Oh My: The 24-Hour Project, 2004 (download)
- Live At GAFilk, 2004 (download)
- Debasement Tapes, 1999 (CD)
- Plugged, 1997 (CD/cassette)
- Tom Smith and his Digital Acoustic Compilation, 1998 (CD from the two cassettes below)
- Domino Death, 1994 (cassette)
- Who Let Him In Here?, 1991 (cassette)
Pegasus Awards
- 34 total nominations since 1988
- Best Performer 1991, 1993
- Best Writer/Composer 1991, 1994, 2005
- Best Filk Song 1991: "A Boy and His Frog"http://tomsmithonline.com/freestuff/oddio/BoyFrog.mp3
- Best Filk Song 1994: "PQR (You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet)" (tied with "Drink Up The River" by Kathy MarKathy MarKathy Mar |]] by analogy with non-rhotic accents) worked as a professional folksinger and street performer in Denver, Colorado for many years before she discovered filk...
) - Best Filk Song 2005: "Rocket Ride"
- Best Filk Song 2007: "Rich Fantasy Lives" (with Rob Balder)
- Best Classic Filk Song 2006: "I Want to be Peter Lorre"
- Best Food/Drink Song 2000: "307 Ale" (tied with "My Jalapeño Man" by Debbie Ridpath Ohi of Urban TapestryUrban TapestryUrban Tapestry is a three-woman band that performs filk music, composed by Debbie Ridpath Ohi, Allison Durno, and Jodi Krangle. As a group, they won the 'Best Performer' Pegasus Award in both 1997 and 2004.-----Discography:...
) - Best Fool Song 1999: "Operation Desert Storm"
- Best Genre Crossover 1992: "Return of the King, Uh-Huh"
- Best Media Song 1988: "Superman's Sex Life Boogie"
External links
- Tom Smith Online
- Tom Smith on the FuMP
- Tom Smith albums on BandcampBandcampBandcamp is an online music store, as well as a platform for artist promotion, that caters mainly for independent artists. Artists on Bandcamp have a customizable microsite with the albums they upload. All tracks can be played for free on the website and some artists offer free music downloads...
- Cool Sci-Fi Stuff Review of Tom Smith Plugged & Stupid Filk Tricks on the SciFi Channel's website
- Live performance of "A Boy and His Frog" at DragonCon 2007