Cheryl Catherine Smith has the sort of back story that speaks of urban legend, mythology and hearsay, yet I am assured it’s all true. A father who may have been part of the Mafia in New Jersey drove to Vancouver to see his two children when Smith was eight. The next day he was found dead. Smith’s life spun slowly out of control from there. Smith frantically searched for meaning and purpose, trying everything from modeling to religion to drugs. Personal tragedy (rape) and success mixed in a whirlwind leading up Smith’s own suicide attempt. Somewhere in there Smith came to terms with her own path; since that time the creative possibilities in her music have opened up a whole new world for Smith, who has been compared to Pat Benetar, Pink, Leonard Cohen and even Bette Midler. Smith’s self-titled debut CD, released in 2009, is starting to gain serious traction in Canada and the United States, even garnering airplay in the UK.
Her song All Dark Places is set to a dance beat and speaks of the void in anyone who has been hurt that waits for love to fill it. The vocal is lush and entrancing with a rocker edge to it. This is the second single in the US and has serious commercial potential. Smash Up My Telephone opens with a talk/sing introduction before heading into a lyric bridge and a guitar-heavy chorus. This is another tune with real potential commercial impact. It’s just off the beaten path enough to stand out and finely crafted enough as a Pop/Rock song to swim with the big musical fishes. Why Does She Hate You has already earned status as a moderate radio hit in the US. It’s a driven rock song that calls to a cross between Pat Benetar and Patti Smyth. With the right push from a label this would easily be a top-10 single. It’s that good.
Cheryl Catherine Smith is the real deal. Her sound varies from Rock to Pop to Country without any variation in the quality of her songwriting. Cheryl Catherine Smith is the sort of album that breaks out and big, turning a relative unknown into a known commodity and occasionally even into a big star. There’s enough material here with real commercial impact to sell a lot of albums/downloads, but Smith never seems to aim for a commercial sound. It’s more like she writes what she writes and some of it is just so good that commercial radio can’t ignore her. Once you’ve heard Cheryl Catherine Smith you won’t be able to ignore her either.
~ Wildy Haskell, Wildy’s World.
