• Discography & Lyrics
• Alternative Americana
• 2009 1st Place Winner of the Shenandoah Valley Acoustic Roots Festival & Songwriting Contest
• Vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano, drums, bass guitar, baritone ukulele & a few more
• Singer-Songwriter, Producer, Mixing & Mastering Engineer, Sound Engineer
• Hometown: Clover Hill, VA also known as Dayton, VA 
• Influences: Ray LaMontagne, Ryan Adams, Nathan Moore, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Gillian Welch, Creedence Clearwater Revival,  Sarah Lynna, Kings of Leon, Greg Brown, John Prine, Tom Petty, Frank Sinatra, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Dire Straits, Nick Drake, The Cars, Jeff Buckley, The Beatles, U2, Neil Young, Feist & many many more.  
• Unreleased Demos
   

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Winner of the 2009 Shenandoah Valley Acoustic Roots Festival & Songwriting Contest, Bryan Elijah Smith is a 25 year old prolific & eclectic multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter from Dayton, VA who has released 6 full length albums October 2009. Smith writes, records and produces all of his own music and has a catalog of over 500 originals.  

Bryan Elijah Smith was born in 1986 and was raised in the small town of Dayton, Virginia. He's been playing guitar since the age of 5, the drums, bass and piano since the age of 10, and has relentlessly been a singer-songwriter since the age of 18.

Smith milked cows on a dairy farm for 6 years until October 2008. He then moved to New York City for half a year, until March 2009. While in New York, he spent all his time writing, recording and performing his originals at various venues around Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Upon arriving back in Virginia, he immediately started performing at various bars and venues in Staunton, VA and other local towns.

At the end of September 2009, Smith "cut his teeth" on the road for 9 days with 2008 Telluride Troubadour winner Nathan Moore.

On October 3rd, 2009, Smith won 1st place at the Shenandoah Valley Acoustic Roots Songwriting Festival and Songwriting Contest in Luray, VA. Smith also released his debut album entitled "Forever on my Mind" at the festival, and after, went on his first solo tour down to Florida and back to promote his debut album during the month of October.  

"Forever On My Mind" was written, recorded and produced by Smith in his basement studio (Empty Sound Recordings) during the Spring and Summer of 2009. “Forever On My Mind” crosses a wide range of genres including Folk, Rock, Blues, Alt. Country and Rockabilly. At the end of “Forever On My Mind," is included a 10 song bonus album entitled “Let Me Be Free”. It is one of 5 full length albums he previously recorded, but never released, before he moved to New York City in 2008. “Forever On My Mind” consists of 14 original tracks written by Bryan Elijah Smith after his return to Virginia in March 2009.

Smith also released a 10 song bonus album in October 2009 entitled “Just A Boy”. It is one of 8 full length albums he recorded, but never released, before he moved to New York City for half a year during the winter of 2008-2009.

Since the start of 2010 Bryan Elijah Smith has done many things to accelerate his music career. He has played two gigs at the Mockingbird Roots Music Hall in Staunton, VA, opened up for Corey Smith at JMU's Wilson Hall in front of over a thousand people, successfully did a second “Solo South Tour” down to Florida and back in February to continue promoting his debut album “Forever On My Mind”, co-produced 2008 Telluride Troubadour winner Nathan Moore's upcoming 2011 record along with co-writing a song on the record, played countless gigs all around Virginia, successfully did a two month long “Just Folkin' Around” Summer 2010 Tour performing all around Virginia, North Carolina, New York City and Florida, performed on the NBC Television station in Roanoke, VA, and starting performing with a backing group called The Wild Hearts  (Jay Austin on Fiddle & Jeff Miller on Banjo) .

Bryan Elijah Smith released his newest album "Pour On Me" on October 1st.   Smith & The Wild Hearts traveled through out the fall to promote his newest album “Pour On Me”. They successfully did a tour called the “Let Me Be Free” Fall 2010 Tour.

Recorded, arranged, produced, mixed & mastered by Smith in his home studio during the Spring and Summer of 2010, “Pour On Me” was influenced by everyone from Ray LaMontagne, Ryan Adams and Gillian Welch to Nathan Moore, Todd Snider, and Bob Dylan.

Smith also released a bonus album entitled “Smoke”. It is one of 8 full length albums he recorded, but never released, before he moved to New York City for half a year during the winter of 2008-2009.  “Pour On Me” consists of 12 original tracks written by Bryan Elijah Smith, except “I'm the Same”, which was written, recorded and co-produced by Nathan Moore & Bryan Elijah Smith. The new album also features accompaniment by The Wild Hearts and many special guests including Emerson Michael, Sarah Lynna, Becca Van Cleave & Dylan Lee.

Smith accompanied 2008 Telluride Troubadour Winner Nathan Moore on Jam Cruise 9 where he had the opportunity to jam with Zach Gill (of ALO & Jack Johnson's band), Steve Kimock and the Pimps of Joytime. Glide Magazine voted Moore & Smith #6 among the top "10 Bands That Crushed on Jam Cruise", and wrote that Smith is an "extremely talented" songwriter.

Most recently, Smith & The Wild Hearts have been playing through out Virginia non stop since the start of 2011. Highlights include playing at The Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville, VA, releasing a new full length album, entitled "One More Time", at FloydFest X on July 28th, 2011 where they played on the Main Stage before Trampled By Turtles & Old Crow Medicine Show, teaming up with Joel Kennedy on bass and Steve Nicholson on drums, performing for James Madison University's back to school faculty-staff picnic for a crowd of 2,000 and gaining countless dedicated fans that have helped spread the word about Smith's music and band.

Bryan Elijah Smith