March's Most Slept on Artist: Alice Smith

Move over Amy Winehouse because there is a new sistah in town who can pipe and I don't mean that literally, but the woman can Sang. She delivers that same soulful sound and she produces quality music when she is sober... This 29-year-old Washington, D.C. native and Fordham University graduate exudes what true musical artistry is all about. Its safe to say that she is a soul artists, but listeners who want to challenge themselves and not minimize her work as just soul music can say that you can't put Alice Smith in a box because her style is absolutely indescribable.

Her debut album "For Lovers, Dreamers & Me" released on BBE Records, is filled with heart wrenching lyrics that will make you playback songs like her hit single "Dream" just to hear her piercing, but soft voice sing, "I need to be everything you see in your dreams/It seems to me you’ll never find another lover good as I/ To give you all that you need/And I’ll be there to love you each and every night and all through the day, day, day, day."

In Alice Smith's bio found on her website http://www.alicesmith.com/ she insisted that she doesn't consider her music within the soul genre.

"I don't think of it as a soul record," she insists. "When I was in school, I really thought about soul a lot. I was listening a lot to Björk and to the Commodores. I really wanted to know how they felt. And especially with Björk, the music there told me wow, that's really her soul, there. I thought about her a lot, about the sound of her music… Well, it wasn't exactly about the sound, and it wasn't about what other people call 'finding your bounds', or whatever. I thought of her soul; her music made me contemplate her soul. It made me think of Björk, and how she felt. You know what I mean? What she felt like inside. It was never about the genre. So I just came never to think of the idea of soul as being about a category."

For those of you who don't have a clue who Björk is, here is a small musical history lesson. Björk is an Icelandic singer, song writer, and producer who like Alice Smith music could not be identified or placed in one specific genre. Björk is definetely known for her soft voice and electronic sounds, but her musical interest and sound could be compared to jazz, pop, alternative rock, and house all at once. I'm not going to front I have never heard of this woman or her music before hearing about Alice Smith, but hey you learn something new everyday.

Now, if hear tracks from Alice Smith's album like "Know that I" and "Fake is the new real" you can equate her sound to country, with a dab of soul, sprinkled with reggae rhythms. So, as you can see like Björk this songstress music cannot be characterized into one genre because it serves her work no justice. It is inevitable that Alice Smith is a unique and talented artist and that is why she is chosen to be featured in the launching of this month's Most Slept on Artists. For more info about Alice Smith please check her out on http://www.alicesmith.com/ or hit up her MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/alicesmith. Alice Smith is indeed bringing that brand new flava to ya hear!