{"title":"Samuel Smith","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-art-of-letting-go","title":"The Art Of Letting Go","description":"\u003cp\u003eSome records are made despite everything working against them, Samuel\u003cbr\u003eSmith's \u003cem\u003eThe Art of Letting Go\u003c\/em\u003e, released via Compass Records, is one of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDiagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2020 at age 44, the London- based singer-\u003cbr\u003esongwriter has spent the past five years finding ways to keep writing as the condition\u003cbr\u003eslowly took away his ability to play guitar. The result is a Nashville- recorded album,\u003cbr\u003eproduced by two-time Grammy-winner Matt Rollings and featuring some of the most\u003cbr\u003ecelebrated names in American roots music, all held together by the kind of hard-won\u003cbr\u003eclarity that only comes from facing something you can't outrun.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe album was recorded with a constellation of musicians, including dobro master\u003cbr\u003eand 16-time Grammy winner Jerry Douglas, Grammy-winning banjo pioneer Alison\u003cbr\u003eBrown , fiddler Stuart Duncan , and guitarist Bryan Sutton . Vocal trio Tiny Habits ,\u003cbr\u003esingers Jonatha Brooke and Glen Phillips, and jazz guitarist Julian Lage also feature.\u003cbr\u003eWhen Smith lost the ability to play guitar - the instrument he had long relied on for\u003cbr\u003esongwriting - he turned to emerging AI tools to shape and share musical ideas with\u003cbr\u003ethe musicians around him - humming melodies into his phone, uploading lyrics, and\u003cbr\u003eentering prompts for instrumentation and arrangement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It is no exaggeration to say that AI saved my songwriting,\" says Smith. \"I wouldn't\u003cbr\u003ehave completed this record without it. It's showing me the extraordinary potential\u003cbr\u003ethese tools have to expand access to creativity - to help millions potentially to the\u003cbr\u003eother side of a river they may feel they can never cross.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Art of Letting Go began as something more intimate. \"This record began as a very\u003cbr\u003epersonal attempt to leave something behind for my two sons - a collection of songs\u003cbr\u003ethey could hold onto,\" Smith reflects. \"It has grown into something I could never have\u003cbr\u003eimagined - a gathering of musicians whose generosity and belief in my music has\u003cbr\u003ebeen overwhelming.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSamuel Smith is a London- based singer- songwriter whose 2023 debut, \u003cem\u003eIn the\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eSpringtime\u003c\/em\u003e, was described by The Times as an \"unassumingly elegant\" Americana\u003cbr\u003ealbum that could take its place alongside Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's \u003cem\u003eRaising\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eSand\u003c\/em\u003e and Lucinda Williams's \u003cem\u003eCar Wheels on a Gravel Road.\u003c\/em\u003e Diagnosed with\u003cbr\u003eParkinson's disease in 2020, Smith has continued to write and record with remarkable\u003cbr\u003edetermination, expanding his creative process to meet the demands of his condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Compass","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":57145522815307,"sku":"R4429-9288","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/image_0a6cb72c-0aa4-4428-ade7-076aca8b9ac2.webp?v=1777376816"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/samuel-smith.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}