Album Review: The Thrill of It All by Sam Smith

November 9, 2017 Jackson Shrout 0

The refrain of “Too Good at Goodbyes” pretty succinctly sums up Sam Smith’s recent career as a blue-eyed soul superstar: “I’m never gonna let you close to me/Even though you mean the most to me.” Smith is nothing if not a passionate soul singer, dynamic and talented enough to tackle a genre marked by some of the greatest […]

Just The Tip Keeps It Up

March 29, 2012 Carolyn Quimby 0

Just The Tip hasn’t had a hard time thrusting themselves into the New Paltz music scene. The band members, fifth-year contemporary music studies major Damien Jackson (guitar), fourth-year jazz performance major Sam Smith (bass) and first-year biology major Jeremy Truitt (drums), have been working to expand their musical catalog for nine months. The band came together when Smith, who had a few classes with Jackson, asked him to play a Slash Root gig with him. They decided to start with just cover songs, then tried out drummers and eventually joined up with Truitt, Smith’s hometown friend. “We just started to play a bunch of shows last semester,” Jackson said. “It just seemed to happen naturally. It wasn’t forced.” Both Smith and Jackson started playing music when they were young. Smith learned the bass through his friend Ray when he was 13. Jackson, once a self-proclaimed jock […]