Hunter Smith Band to celebrate new album release

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“In late winter of this year we stole away to a secluded lake cabin to track the record with our producer, Thom Daugherty,” said Hunter Smith. This is a photo from their time at the cabin. From left: Alex Reiff, Justin Langebartels, Kyle Whiteley, Thom Daugherty, Hunter Smith and Ethan Ehrstine. (Submitted photo)
“In late winter of this year we stole away to a secluded lake cabin to track the record with our producer, Thom Daugherty,” said Hunter Smith. This is a photo from their time at the cabin. From left: Alex Reiff, Justin Langebartels, Kyle Whiteley, Thom Daugherty, Hunter Smith and Ethan Ehrstine. (Submitted photo)

By Joseph Knoop

For Hunter Smith, “team spirit” might mean two entirely different, yet altogether connected things. With a career spanning the world of professional football, the music industry, and even authoring a book, Smith’s own brand of country rock was set to mean something a little bit more advanced and inspiring.

After 12 years of playing in the NFL for both the Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins, collecting a slew of awards including a Super Bowl win in 2006, Smith dedicated himself to the world of music, informed by his unusual experiences and and spiritual leanings.

“I don’t know how many musicians are out there who’ve played professional football. Lots of musicians, some go to college, some don’t, I went to a private catholic university in the north and got a degree in theology,” Smith, a Texas native said.

Coupling his religious studies with an additional degree in sociology, Smith originally performed with Connersvine, a distinctly religious contemporary act before transitioning to the Hunter Smith Band. It’s there where Smith says he was able to let the sum of his life experiences inform his music, rather than his beliefs commanding total focus.

“One of the things I think people can sniff out is when you’re not genuine,” Smith said. “I really enjoyed my time doing that but after a while I found myself doing something that didn’t feel genuine. I felt like I was just supposed to write Christian songs because I was in this genre. It was [the industry’s]opinion of what a Christian song is and I just disagree with that opinion. I don’t think any kind of art form can be secluded.”

Smith continues to find his inspiration in his family, bandmates, and the bonds he shares with others.

“My faith informs my life on a lot of levels, and so as a result it does inform my music,” Smith said. “[God] teaches us to love one another so I write songs about loving people.”

Smith believes it’s his job to write about the realities of life, including the difficult experiences captured in songs like “Tail Lights” from his upcoming album.

“A woman leaves a man, and that doesn’t sound very Christian, but it’s the reality a lot of people find themselves in,” Smith said. “And it’s not my job to glorify that reality, it’s to write an artistic picture of what that reality is and the emotion that goes with it. That’s not Christian. It’s just me, and I’m Christian.”

The Hunter Smith Band will perform a free album release show on August 28 at the Traders Point Creamery at 9101 Moore Road in Zionsville, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 5 p.m.

“What I love about writing songs is watching the Hunter Smith Band arrange and develop them,” Smith said. “I worked in teams my whole life, it only makes sense that I would do music. I could be a solo artist, but what would be the fun of that?”

For more information, go to Huntersmithband.com.


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