May, 2010
Nathaniel Smith performs with Sarah Jarosz and Alex Hargreaves on Austin City Limits

On April 27th, Nathaniel performed on the internationally acclaimed television program, Austin City Limits, with Grammy nominee Sarah Jarosz and current Grand Masters Fiddle Champion Alex Hargreaves. The show is scheduled for broadcast October 30th, 2010. The audience response was fantastic and included many of Sarah's friends and family who have watched her mature as as singer, songwriter, and performer. She's definitely a performer you'll want to keep an eye on. Click on the links below for some of the reviews. See more photos in the Gallery page.

Read more articles:

Sarah Jarosz shines on the ‘Austin City Limits’ studio
Sarah Jarosz, Austin City Limits
This Bird Flies Higher - an interview/profile with Sarah Jarosz

March 20, 2010
Wintergrass Festival: "A Hard Place To Suffer"
Bellevue.com (article excerpt)

... Musically there were too many shining moments to discuss all of them, but here are a few of my personal highlights: A packed set from the amazingly talented multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Sarah Jarosz and her trio. Their music stands up for itself, but is even more astonishing when you consider their ages; Sarah the eldest is 18, fiddler Alex Hargreaves 17 and miraculously, cellist Nathaniel Smith is only 16! Sarah, who earned a Grammy nomination for her debut album "Song Up In Her Head," was one of the most buzzed about artists at this year's festival and she definitely did not disappoint.

[Read complete Article]
Scroll near bottom for video of Nathaniel playing with Sarah Jarosz

March 1, 2010
Cello to the pedal: From Yo-Yo-Ma to fiddling greats, Brandon teen's input instrumental
The Calrion Ledger, Mississippi

Nathaniel Smith doesn't adhere to recipes. Like a few months ago when his mother was making black-eyed peas. He wandered into the kitchen, tasted a spoonful, scrunched his face, and said: "They need lime juice."

"I'd never heard of such," Jenelle Smith recalls, laughing. "But they turned out wonderful. He said, 'I told you they just needed a burst of something.' " He takes the same approach to the cello, usually thought of as merely a complementary instrument. But that is hardly the case in the hands of this 16-year-old prodigy from Brandon who still doesn't have a driver's license.... [Read full article]

February 2010
Nathaniel on NPR Radio

Nathaniel was interviewed by the local NPR affiliate news program, Mississippi Edition, on February 4th, 2010. You can listen by clicking the link below. Give it a minute to load, then forward to around 18:20.... LISTEN HERE

Nathaniel performed on the NPR radio show, From the Top, in November 2009, recorded at Baylor University in Texas. He played Seranade, Op.54. No. 2 by David Popper, then joined fiddle champ, Mia Orosco, on Sally Goodin. Go to show # 205. Click the " Listen to the Show " link on the bottom right of the page. Give it time to load and hear Nathaniel's segment starting around 45:30.... LISTEN HERE

February 10, 2010
Precocious Strings
Nathaniel Smith, 15, is a professional cellist who has played with musicians
such as Belá Fleck and Yo-Yo Ma.
by Carl Gibson, Jackson Free Press

Fifteen-year-old Nathaniel Smith eagerly leads me upstairs to his second-floor bedroom in an expansive ranch house nestled in rural Brandon. Opening a white case, he produces a sleek, antiquated mahogany cello, made in 1896 by Vincentius Postiglione. I ask him to play it, and he smiles sheepishly before delicately playing a busy rhythmic melody, using long sweeps and short chopping motions with his bow. Before completely losing himself in his playing, Smith stops and flashes a wide, toothy grin.

"I like playing some of the more modern stuff, I guess," he says, blushing.

Smith has played the cello since age 5, encouraged by his parents, Wayne and Janelle. Nathaniel is the youngest of three children, all of them musically gifted. His father, a guitarist by hobby, says music has fascinated his son since he was a toddler.

"Anything with a string on it, he could play," Wayne Smith says." He'd just pick up my mandolin and play it all over the place. He got way better than me without any instruction. He passed me quite early."

Nathaniel has professionally toured the United States and Canada since age 12, mostly with acclaimed fiddler Natalie MacMaster. He's also performed with contemporary musical greats like Belá Fleck and Victor Wooten, and composed music for Yo-Yo Ma.

Nathaniel, who grew up homeschooled, says his career as a professional cellist early in life leaves little room for anything else.

"The shows start at 8, something like that," he says, describing a typical tour schedule. "It gets done at like, 10:30. Then you pack up, get on the bus and leave probably around 12:30. Sometimes you stay up until like 3 or 4, go to a truck stop, meet some different people. Then you go to bed, and you wake up at like, 2 for a sound check. Or maybe a shower."

The tall, lanky teenager, sporting a slicked-back black ponytail, shyly recalls his first memories when he discovered his love for music.

"I remember there was like, a plastic guitar that we had, and I was trying to play a song on it like a cello with a violin bow," he says, chuckling. "I thought it was a great song, but I heard it turned out screechy. I've always been immersed in different kinds of music, because my dad played and listened to a lot of the guys I've gotten to play with over the past couple of years."

Wayne Smith says his son may shine as a cellist, but that his true passion is for composing.

"It took me about three or four years to get him to bring an mp3 recorder into the studio with him," he says. Nathaniel had a habit of simply playing and making beautiful music. But without recording it, Nathaniel wasn't able to remember what he had played and couldn't reproduce it.

"I'd just think, oh my gosh, we need to start recording this," his father says.

The young cellist is celebrating the release of two albums: "The Nathaniel Smith Jazz Project Live," and "Arrythmia," which features Nathaniel's solo work. The jazz album features Jackson musicians Allison Jenkins on vocals, Jimmy Jarratt on piano and Tim Avalon on guitar, and includes renditions of timeless Jazz standards. Nathaniel composed the original works on "Arrythmia" just prior to playing and recording them, the senior Smith says.

"He went in the morning with no idea of what he was going to do, and come out that afternoon with a completely developed musical idea," he says. "I'd drop him off, come back in the afternoon and hear what he had done, and I was just blown away."

Ever the proud father, Wayne Smith is quick to note the amount of respect Nathaniel has already received as a professional in the music business. He says the connections his son has made through music have helped the growth of his career, particularly in his current tours with Natalie MacMaster.

"Mark O'Connor, Darol Anger—who used to play for the David Grisman Quartet—and Matt Glaser, who is the string instructor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, they all know Nathaniel," Wayne Smith says. "And so when Natalie called them, they all referred Natalie to Nathaniel. We flew up to Canada for the audition. She said within 10 minutes, she knew she wanted him. And so, for the last three years, he's been with her."

This month and next, Nathaniel will play small tours throughout the South and the East Coast with MacMaster, child prodigy violinist Sam Weiser and Grammy Nominee Sarah Jarosz. Smith says constantly touring and traveling can take its toll, but he wouldn't trade it for the world.

"There was one Canadian tour, where it was like a flight every day after a show. It gets really old being in airports all the time, I guess," Smith says, laughing. "It's still just, like, awesome. And a lot of people don't get to do this who want to. And I really enjoy it in the long run—for sure."

To see Nathaniel's upcoming performances or buy his new CDs visit http://www.nathanielsmithcello.com.

November 25, 2009
From the Top Brings Classical and Fiddle Music to Students in Waco, TX
Green Room, Posted by: fttal

On November 12, From the Top visited the G.W. Carver Academy in Waco, TX with performers Nathaniel Smith, 15, cello, Mia Orosco, 16, fiddle, and Simon Stipp, guitar. The 50 middle school students were engaged from the moment the musicians walked in to the classroom, pressing them with television theme song requests and questions about their instruments.

Mia, Simon, and Nathaniel playing for the students at G.W. Carver Academy

The students were fascinated by Nathaniel’s impressive instrument line-up: he brought three different cellos to the school! Nathaniel started off with Popper’s Serenade on his “classical cello”, then followed that with a demonstration of his “road cello,” and finally his snazzy black, carbon fiber cello which he connected to an amp and played like a guitar.

Along with his assorted cellos, Nathaniel also demonstrated the many different styles of music he loves to play, including classical, bluegrass and jazz, by playing variations of the tune “Happy Birthday.”

After this, Simon joined in on guitar, and they played a few animated bluegrass tunes. The students quickly joined in clapping a steady beat, agreeing that the music definitely makes you want to move!

Mia was next, talking about how she loves both classical violin and fiddle. She played a couple of her favorite fiddle pieces with Simon and demonstrated the differences between the bowing used in classical and fiddle music.

Nathaniel, Mia and Simon had fun answering all of the questions and were able to improvise quite a few of the tunes the students suggested, including the theme from The Simpsons.

At the end of the session, Nathaniel, Mia, and Simon joined forces to perform the exciting finale they had played on the From the Top radio taping the day before, “Sally Goodin.” When the students asked for more, the trio started improvising on “Sweet Georgia Brown”–a perfect end to our school visit! (Check out Nathaniel and Simon improvising on this very tune in our behind-the-scenes video footage!)

The attentive audience

After the final applause, there was a rush by the students towards the performers to get a closer look at their instruments and ask some final questions. Mia, Nathaniel and Simon each had a cluster of curious students surrounding them- it was so much fun, no one wanted to leave!

Later Mia commented, “I had a fun time at the school. I loved how all the kids had smiles on their faces the whole time! Also, I thought that it was very neat that, in addition to asking us questions about music in general, they also asked about our experiences and were interested to know how we got to where we were in our music.”

November 12, 2009
On the Road with Joanne Robinson: Show #205 Waco, TX
by fttgreenroom

Howdy from the Lone Star State! Do you know we’ve done more tapings in Texas than anywhere else in the country? We just drove to Dallas, where we have a taping tomorrow, from Waco, where we had a show at Baylor University’s Jones Concert Hall last night (thanks to the folks at KWBU). It was one of the most eclectic shows we’ve ever done (you’ll hear it the week of Feb. 1). It had a little bit of everything, from a country fiddle tune to a cello serenade, a virtuosic violin piece, a patriotic favorite, and a dramatic fugue played on Jones Hall’s gorgeous pipe organ!

Plus, one of our earliest performers, bassoonist Lamont Barlow from way back on show #2, joined us as our 10th Anniversary Alumni guest. He’s a brilliant 26-year-old physician now, but he hasn’t lost a bit of his musical chops, and he and Chris played beautifully together.

Check out this footage I got backstage before the show. Cellist Nathaniel Smith and guitarist Simon Stipp started jamming together and improvising on all sorts of tunes. Enter Joanne and her handy Flip- cam!

Here are Nathaniel and Simon playing “Sweet Georgia Brown.”