Search - Meaghan Smith :: The Cricket's Orchestra

The Cricket's Orchestra, the full-length debut album from acclaimed Canadian musician Meaghan Smith, is the follow-up to Smith's highly acclaimed 2008 EP The Cricket's Quartet, which The Washington Post declared as ''...one of the best finds of late '08.''
The 11-track album was written in Smith's home of Halifax, Nova Scotia and was recorded in Toronto with help from producer Les Cooper. Greg Kurstin (Lily Allen, Flaming Lips) also collaborated with Smith on the record, producing the lead track ''Heartbroken.'' The child of a piano-teacher mother and a bass-playing father, Smith devoured old musicals and animated films as a child and later fell in love with the jazz and big-band music of the '20s, '30s and '40s. Those early inspirations influenced the material featured on the album, as Smith says, ''My music is modern vintage. The record incorporates a lot of instrumentation from older eras in the form of horns, strings and arrangements, but I also love DJs and their turntables.'' These modern influences are reflected on the record through the use of turntables, omnichords, melotrons and optigons.

Smith has already found success in the area of film and television her rendition of the Pixies classic ''Here Comes Your Man'' (produced by T-Bone Burnett) was recently featured on the acclaimed film ''(500) Days of Summer.'' Additionally, two original songs from the record, ''A Piece For You'' and ''5 More Minutes,'' have been included in episodes of ''One Tree Hill'' and ''Grey's Anatomy.''

Smith has joined many legendary and acclaimed musicians on the road including k.d. lang, Sarah McLachlan, Eric Hutchinson, Chantal Kreviazuk, Ron Sexsmith and Joe Purdy. Subsequent to the release of The Cricket's Orchestra, Smith will join world-renowned artists including Sarah McLachlan, Cat Power and Norah Jones as part of the 2010 Lilith Fair line-up.