Singer Reeny Smith will be performing at the upcoming Feel the Love benefit concert for Dartmouth's Akoma Family Centre, a short-term care facility for children in the foster care system, and an organization that Smith has been involved with for "a few months on a few different occasions, I go in and play music, get (the kids) on instruments, sing some of their favourite songs."
Alongside Corey Adams, Marcell Symonds, Asia & Nu Gruv and others, Feel the Love will see Smith singing two originals from her debut EP I Am Reeny, which has been "unofficially released already" but sees a proper release next month. She describes her sound as "pretty much pop/soul with some gospel-ish bluesy-ish influence. It's really, really fun and I think people will like it."
Despite spending much of her upbringing performing music with her parents and siblings at her grandfather's church, it wasn't until Smith scored parts in her high school's productions of Aida and Jesus Christ Superstar that "everything started to click and I went, 'OK, maybe this is what I should be doing.'" The support of family and friends, "people encouraging me, helping me gain self confidence, telling me this is something I could do," cemented the idea in Smith's mind.
After Free the Love, Smith will open for Lisa Fischer at the Rebecca Cohn in April, followed by a possible tour in the fall. In the meantime she'll be filling her days with "songwriting, working, practicing—all of that good stuff."
Feel the Love
Wednesday, February 11 at 7:30pm
Casino Nova Scotia Schooner Room, 1983 Upper Water Street
$100
