Welcome to the MetalSmith Musik website,
The definitive official source for information on the musical offerings of
~Paul J. Smith~

Noteworthy News
Fishbone Bass Guitars, the St. Louis company who made my outstanding 6-string bass, has finally put up a website.  They are apparently making their fine instruments more widely available.  If you're in the market for a custom bass to take your playing to the next level, you owe it to yourself to check out what these guys are doing.  If nothing else, just visit the site to check out the gorgeous bass on their homepage.  A link can be found on my Links page.

My attempt at being a good boy and not pursuing the purchase of a pipe organ has failed.  I found one - a 1935 Wicks Sonata - in Perryville, MO.  I picked it up on the weekend of 12 May 2007 and brought it to my house, where it will be erected in my living room.  I'll expand on this in the Blog, and will be maintaining an Organ page to chronicle the...uhm...adventure.

I would like to extend my thanks to Deron, Steve, and Craig of the St. Louis area band Röck Böttöm for the great time I had filling in with them in their time of need.  Derrick Howard is their new bass player, which is sure to add to the party atmosphere.

My Blog is probably the best source for the most up-to-date music news, as well as a record of the trivial events in my otherwise boring life.

There are new transcriptions available on the Strings page.  These PDFs are FREE!  Download them and play them today.

...and, thanks for checking in on me every so often.  I really appreciate it.

~PJS~

Coverband Stuff
I am told that the band BenWahBob no longer exists in the state that it has been known for the past 15 years.  I am, however, playing with guitar player and founding member Carlos Bedoya and former drummer Bobby Deskins in a cover band trio under the name "BenWahBob-less".  There's a long story behind that that I may recount in a future blog.  See the schedule page for upcoming dates.

Acknowlegements
Thanks to John Piskulic & Thom Kieffer at Fishbone Bass Guitars in St. Louis, MO for the outstanding 6-string bass guitar.
I couldn't ask for a better instrument.

Thanks to Jerry Taussig at Taussig Violin in Chesterfield, MO for the nice German violin, viola, & cello bows, and for all he has done for me and my cello (and Dawna's violins) over the years.  Jerry has closed his shop now and gone into retirement due to some nagging repetitive motion injuries and the early onset of arthritis in his neck.  He is a great guy and a true professional, and will be sorely missed.  Enjoy the new life, Jerry!