07/28/2023
- from Gary Bolton
Not a week goes by that I am not saddened by the loss of my friend, Mike Smith. At work, there are the playbacks of tracks he played on along with the files of the graphic artwork he crafted for clients. His guitar work on Will Ness’ debut release along with Kevin McGee’s talents started a musical bond that was always in demand. Mike's musical palette got stretched even further when Steve Pilant hired him for his labor of love, ‘INTERCEPTOR.’ Our last musical adventure was when Mike added the iconic guitar solo to Susan Bartley’s cover of Springteen’s ‘Thunder Road’. At the time, we felt it was one of the strongest things we had ever done together. Admittedly, the song’s final mixes have not yet been delivered. Some things are just hard to work through. Thank you Susan for your kindness and understanding
A truly memorable moment occurred several months ago when members of Mike’s family, mom Mary Ann Eargle, brother Russel Smith and nephew Dawson Smith presented Strawberry Skys with Mike’s beautiful Godin electric guitar. Mike and I had many conversations concerning this instrument and how he was implementing it into his live and studio productions. He especially enjoyed the seamless switching from acoustic to electric during the same song - think all those great Boston songs that switch between acoustic & electric mid-track.
Now as we have arrived at the one year anniversary of Mike’s passing, it has not gotten any easier. ‘Time heals all wounds’ is what we are promised. However, the phone is not ringing with his monthly check-ins, and many of the world's problems that we so easily solved in our last conversation continue to exist. Sometimes I wonder if he changed his name to ‘SPAM RISK’ just to irritate me. Yeah, that sounds like Mike.
