June 16, 2022
By Marianne Mogon, Correspondent
At fourteen, on a dare, Gail Smith performed a guitar solo at the original Denver Folklore Center, and her love for music flourished from there. Smith is Park County Creative Alliance’s Artist of the month for June.
Smith grew up in Colorado, and all through high school and college, she participated with a variety of performing groups from jazz, vocal showcase, and concert choirs. Smith graduated from Arvada West High School in 1975. She attended the University of Colorado at Denver and had the opportunity to perform with jazz greats Dave Grusin and Tom Scott. She then transferred to the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. She continued with vocal training at UNC with a focus on vocal performance. “In those days, the emphasis was on classical singing, and I remember telling my professor that I really just wanted to be like Joni Mitchell,” she said.
Smith also played the piano and would accompany choir groups and other singers for their recitals. She graduated in 1979 with a degree in elementary education with music.
Smith got her first elementary teaching position in 1980, and for her it was a great fit; she loved to ski and loved the mountains. She taught both elementary and middle school in all subjects in Summit County for 20 years and ten years in Park County schools. She also worked with the Colorado Department of Education through the governor’s office for three years, and has been a Breckenridge Ski and Snowboard School supervisor for ten years.
Getting connected back into the music scene took a few more years; then she started singing with the Summit Choral Society and had opportunities to meet and collaborate with other musicians. Small ensembles were formed for holiday caroling and community events. She became a vocal soloist for churches: St. Mary’s in Breckenridge and Our Lady of Peace in Dillon. She also taught guitar classes at Colorado Mountain College in Breckenridge.
Smith began developing an interest in musical theater around the middle of the ‘90’s and auditioned for various community productions. The first was at the new outdoor Riverwalk Center stage in “Shining Mountains Song, Dance and Traveling Medicine Show.” Community theater was alive and well in Breckenridge at the Backstage Theater by the Maggie Pond, and she performed in “My Name Is Alice,” (1995) and “Quilters” (1996).
Director Wendy Moore asked her to be music director for “Peter Pan,” a big production for the Riverwalk Center with a huge cast including lots of kids. She then went on to direct and/or perform in other Backstage Shows: “Lies and Legends,” “Zorba,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” and the melodrama, “The Drunkard.”
“A highlight during this time was meeting my husband, Randy, who happened to also play guitar and bass,” she stated. The two of them performed as the “O’Smith’s,” an eclectic mix of folk, jazz, and Celtic influences at small venues and coffee houses.
“My singer, songwriter friend and mentor, Nancy Cook, supported us, and we often performed together. In 2003 I recorded keyboard and vocal tracks on Nancy’s CD, ‘Practice,’” she explained. While Smith was teaching for Summit School District, one of her teaching colleagues, Janet McDermott, wanted to write a musical about Amelia Earhart. They spent a summer vacation collaborating on the script and the music. Janet wrote the script and lyrics, and Smith wrote the music. The musical was called “A.E.,” and it premiered at the Lake Dillon Theatre Company’s Black Coffee Theatre, the original theater venue in the old Dillon Town Hall, in 1996. The venue was to support works in progress or original scripts. They held two performances of “A.E.” and then shelved the play.
The LDT Black Coffee Theatre emerged as a venue for some fun cabaret shows written and directed by Lennie Singer, husband Randy, and Smith as music director. They were the “pit band” for three seasons of shows: “Speakin’ Easy,” “Intrigue,” and “Ragtimin’.”
The Smiths moved to Park County in 2002, and she was back in the classroom teaching at Edith Teter Elementary. “The art/music teacher and I started an elementary school choir that practiced once a week after school. The highlight for the kids each year was to compete at the Elitch Garden’s choir festival,” she said.
Marie Reisbeck from Fairplay, who had directed the South Park Community Chorus for ten years, asked if Smith would take over. Through her friendship with Reisbeck, Smith had met some wonderful singers in South Park. She directed the group for several holiday programs including Handel’s “Messiah” and organized the group for caroling on Front Street.
Smith continued trips over Hoosier Pass to direct a few more Backstage Theater shows: “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Reefer Madness,” and “Seussical, the Musical.”
There were few opportunities or venues for music performances in Park County, but she felt fortunate to meet professional musicians Doug Webster, Liz Byrd, and Chuck Pierce, who were in the area for a short time.
Smith, along with Breckenridge musicians Ricky Daly and Keve Wilson, and husband Randy, formed the group Faire River Consort and performed a Winter Solstice program at the stone church in Alma. Their music was also recorded at Chuck Pierce’s recording studio. Unfortunately, many of the members moved away to other states, and the short-lived Faire River Consort disbanded.
Smith, through her membership in Park County Creative Alliance, is always looking for ways to collaborate with other musicians both for performing and song writing.
“PCCA ‘Pass Notes’ events in the fall have provided opportunities to perform live in beautiful settings. I’ve written a few new songs, mostly as a hobby, but hope to keep creating music with various instruments including dulcimer, guitar, and piano,” she concluded.