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Nina Jo Smith
 
Hello, I'm Nina Jo
(Nina rhymes with China)

photo credit: Max Dubler

 
Woman in newsboy cap playing ukulele on stage
photo credit: KC Turner
 
Folk Music To Go
 
I play guitar and ukulele, write songs and share them in person, on radio and online. 

I like a song that goes from the sublime to the ridiculous and back again

 
What's New
 
Check out my Tiny Desk Contest entry for 2023! Clarion Alley
 
I'm recording my first album since 2013! I've worked very hard to rehab my voice after an illness that was probably COVID before anyone knew what it was. Ed Tree is producing. New songs, new guitar, new voice; new poems, even. Expect new releases in 2023.                                                                     
 
About Nina Jo
 

Nina Jo Smith likes to eavesdrop. She borrows stories from small town cemeteries and kitchen confessions. She imagines what her underground neighbors might be saying.

Nina Jo is a deft and rhythmic fingerpicker on both guitar and ukulele. She spent the last two years reclaiming her voice after an illness left her lungs scarred. 

On her forthcoming album she lets her scarred lungs fly free. Delicate and tough—just like her songs. And while you might hear a lot of songs in a day, you’ll wake up in the morning humming hers.

                                                                                                                                    
Teaching     
 
Beginning guitar and ukulele lessons online. Why not try?  
   

Here's what one student says:

Nina Jo is wonderful. In addition to being a gorgeous, thoughtful and politically activated singer-songwriter, she is also a patient, nurturing and motivating guitar teacher. Because of an old injury to my left hand and wrist, I thought I would never be able to play guitar in any sort of meaningful way. Nina Jo has not only taught me how to modify my playing to suit my hand, she has also shown me that such injuries do not have to hold a person back. Working with Nina Jo has given me a courage ind inspiration that I did not previously have…and my confidence continues to increase by leaps and bounds all the time. Thanks to her patience, flexibility, and genuine kindness, as well as her energy, presence and wisdom, I am absolutely loving learning to play the guitar! I cannot recommend Nina Jo highly enough.--Sam Whitehouse

AWARDS

LA Man wins Global Music Awards, honored with Silver Medals for Outstanding Achievement in folk and lyrics/songwriting (2016)
 
Global Music Awards Medallion
 
I'm a Standing O Project artist. Standing O Project is the online community that gives fans a wealth of music & interviews, and supports working musicians with a monthly income. Check it out at www.StandingOProject.com

 Watch this short video to see how we can make a difference in the streaming age: https://vimeo.com/179838203

 If you like what you see & hear, and sign up as a fan or artist and please tell them I sent you!

Standing O Project logo

 

Nina Jo playing her 1968 Gibson Heritage in high school

 

 

 

 

 People, Places and Sings CD Cover: angel holding a globe with image and text from old sheet music

 

"Nina Jo Smith has written and recorded a seminal folk classic in 'Hey Songwriter'."

"This is what every songwriter feels when the song comes out of nowhere. Sure, we’re none of us 'Dylan, Taylor & Prine', but we’re fishing in the same stream, just downstream a bit. Produced by Martin Young, with Alan Thornhill on backup vocals, you’ll get goose pimples if you’ve ever wondered where some songs come from."

-–Stephen Foster, “Stephen’s Indie Picks”

You can find Hey Songwriter and more on People, Places and Sings on iTunes, Amazon.com or CDBaby and buy the CD from me at any live show. 

Graphic artists Original artwork for CD cover by Nina Jo Smith, graphic design by Diana Lerwick

Header & Redwood River Music Logo design by Alicia Buelow

Redwood River Music with treble clef partially composed of graphic elements river and branches