ZG Smith Releases Debut Single 'Let Me Back In'

Following more than a decade as the frontman and principal songwriter of the accomplished Americana duo Smooth Hound Smith, ZG Smith steps out on his own with the release of his debut single "Let Me Back In" out today via Tone Tree Music. The song was co-produced by Smith alongside Jonathan Smalt (Devon Gilfillian) and features Antibalas' Ray Mason on trombone.

"Though it sounds like a love song, I actually wrote this song about my old roommate's dog. My roommate had an office job, so he'd get up early and go to work, then his dog, Moses, would paw at my door and want to come and jump in bed with me, hence 'Let Me Back In,'" explains ZG Smith.

"This was back in 2014/2015, and I'm pretty sure there's a lost studio recording of it floating around somewhere for when we tried it out for a Smooth Hound Smith album around that time. It didn't end up feeling right stylistically then, but I think this version is how it was always meant to sound. I'm a bit of a better singer now than I was back in the day, so it feels like I can perform and own the song in a way that wasn't possible before, especially because I think of this as a soul song, which requires a certain vocal ability. For the recording, we talked about doing a Prince kind of thing: using a dry, close-mic'd vocal, on an inexpensive dynamic mic, and really have my voice be what it is. I like how my vocals record when they're layered, so it was a little scary to do a single vocal track completely free of effects in the verses, but ultimately I think it worked really well. Other aspects of the recording that I love include being able to lay down a track of electric pandeiro (Brazilian tambourine) going through my pedal board, really getting to unleash on the electric guitar at the end, and lastly, having brass master Ray Mason from the Brooklyn-based Afrobeat band, Antibalas, take a wonderful and frenetic trombone solo."

ZG Smith is the Los Angeles-born, Nashville-based son of an English professor mother and a shipwreck diver and underwater archaeologist father. For over ten years, he fronted the band Smooth Hound Smith who headlined tours in the US, Europe and UK and supported artists like The Chicks, Collective Soul, Trombone Shorty, Jamestown Revival and many more. Following the release of their third album in 2019 and a month long European tour in February 2020, the band's forced hiatus caused Smith to refocus on other artistic pursuits and what he wanted his future to look like.

"I started actually seeking out music again, like I did when I was younger. I realized that I had been so focused on Smooth Hound and trying to push the band forward, that I kind of stopped listening to music just for enjoyment. I had the time, so I dug this massive hole in my backyard, leveled it off, and laid a patio made up of over 1,200 bricks, all by hand. It took me about a month, and I would just be out there all day in the sun listening to North African desert blues, or EDM, or '90s hip hop, or bizarre, outsider folk music. A lot of that stuff that I only realize now with some perspective, really informed the music I ended up creating months later."

Listen to the new single here: