Allen Smith, 62, a native of Erie, Pa., has been a journalist most of his life and now works in a law enforcement agency as an assistant public information officer. His duties are mostly creative, such as writing, photography (not crime scene), graphics design and desktop publishing.
He has been a musician since childhood, starting with about a year and a half of piano lessons before taking up the French horn at the age of 12. At Penn State, he majored in music for two years and English literature for two years. He began playing the guitar and banjo in high school.
In September 2005, he finally got around to going back to the piano, after procrastinating for half a century. After banging away on the unfamiliar instrument for about six months, he managed to work out a few pieces on piano and harpsichord, some of which can be heard at www.purevolume.com/allenjmsmith .
When his kind of playing and singing was more in demand, he played in public quite a bit, in the 1960s and 70s. Now, however, there is less call for it, and he plays mostly for fun. He did some professional French horn playing in the Boston area in the 1980s.
But, here's the important part, he's ready to start doing gigs again. Private parties, historical re-enactments, small-town festivals, bring'em on.
In any case, he sincerely hopes his efforts will bring a smile, and he thanks you for taking a moment to listen.
April 11, 2007
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