Gary Smith (March 28, 1958 – January 16, 2023) was an American businessman, record producer, and artist's manager, known for his work recording albums by

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

musicians since the mid-1980s at

Fort Apache Studios Fort Apache Studios is a New England recording studio focusing on alternative rock sessions produced there since 1986. It is currently located in New Hampshire. History The studio was initially built by a collective begun in 1985 by musician/p ...

. Smith, who was sole owner of the studio, first became a partner co-owning the studio business in the late 1980s, moving it from

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, to Bellows Falls, Vermont, in 2002. A

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

native, Smith gave supportive early guidance to

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

Throwing Muses Throwing Muses are an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was original ...

group, advising them to move to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

's burgeoning alternative music scene in 1986. That year he saw a new band called the Pixies opening for Throwing Muses at The Rat in Boston and convinced them to let him produce their first demos, known as ''The Purple Tape'', in spring 1987 at an early incarnation of Fort Apache's studio digs, then a "ramshackle" building in a dangerous neighborhood. Since joining Fort Apache in the mid-1980s, Smith produced dozens of influential recordings, including the Pixies' ''

Come On Pilgrim ''Come On Pilgrim'' is the debut mini-album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released on September 28, 1987, on 4AD. Produced by Gary Smith, the release consists of eight tracks from a seventeen-song recording session that the ...

'' EP on the

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

and

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis, who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. It is currently run by co-managing directors Travis and Jeannette Lee and ...

labels. Other artists he produced include

Tanya Donelly Tanya Donelly (born July 14, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New England. She came to prominence as a co-founder of the band Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersh. Donelly went on to co-form the altern ...

Blake Babies Blake Babies were an American college rock band formed in 1986 in Boston, Massachusetts. The three primary members were Freda Love, Juliana Hatfield and John Strohm. They recorded three albums before splitting up in 1991. They reformed to reco ...

The Connells The Connells are an American musical group from Raleigh, North Carolina. They play a guitar-oriented, melodic, jangle-pop style of rock music with introspective lyrics that often reflect the history or culture of the American South. Though the ...

, Juliana Hatfield, Scrawl, 10,000 Maniacs, and

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...

. Smith resided in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

across the border from his Vermont studio. There, Smith founded WOOL-FM, a community radio station, launched a regional events magazine, opened Popolo, an Italian-inspired, farm-to-table restaurant, and worked as a manager, representing talent such as

and

Natalie Merchant Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter. She joined the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and was lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the group. She remained with the group for their first seven albums before ...

. Having battled cancer since September 2022, Smith died in January 16, 2023.

Production discography

* Pixies - ''

'' (September 1987) *

- ''

House Tornado ''House Tornado'' is the second studio album by the alternative rock band Throwing Muses. Produced by Gary Smith and engineered by Paul Q. Kolderie, it was recorded at Fort Apache Studios in Cambridge, MA. The album was released in 1988 ...

'' (March 1988) * Throwing Muses - ''

Hunkpapa The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...

'' (January 1989) *

- ''

Earwig Earwigs make up the insect order (biology), order Dermaptera. With about 2,000 species in 12 families, they are one of the smaller insect orders. Earwigs have characteristic cercus, cerci, a pair of forceps-like pincer (biology), pincers on ...

'' (1989) *

- '' Fun & Games'' (1990) *

The Chills The Chills are a New Zealand indie rock band that formed in Dunedin in 1980. The band were fronted by founding mainstay singer-songwriter, guitarist Martin Phillipps (singer), Martin Phillipps (2 July 1963 – 28 July 2024). During the mid-1 ...

- ''

Submarine Bells ''Submarine Bells'' is an album by New Zealand group the Chills, released in 1990. This was the band's first album on a major label, as Martin Phillipps signed to Warner Bros. Records subsidiary Slash Records, to release the album in the U.S. T ...

'' (1990) * Blake Babies - ''

Sunburn Sunburn is a form of radiation burn that affects living tissue, such as skin, that results from an overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, usually from the Sun. Common symptoms in humans and other animals include red or reddish skin tha ...

'' (1990) * Blake Babies - ''

Rosy Jack World ''Rosy Jack World'' is an EP recording by the Blake Babies, released in 1991 (see 1991 in music). The album title was taken from a song on The Frogs' 1989 album '' It's Only Right and Natural''. Track listing #" Temptation Eyes" - 2:59 (Harve ...

'' EP (1991) *

The Feelies The Feelies are an American rock band from Haledon, New Jersey. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992 after having released four albums. The band reunited in 2008, and released new albums in 2011 and 2017. Although not commercially suc ...

- ''

Time for a Witness ''Time for a Witness'' is the fourth studio album by the American rock band the Feelies, released in 1991 on A&M/Coyote. The band supported the album with a North American tour. Production Most of the lyrics were written by Glenn Mercer. The a ...

'' (March 1991) * Juliana Hatfield - '' Hey Babe'' (March 1992)

References

External links

Fort Apache official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Gary 1958 births 2023 deaths People from Bellows Falls, Vermont People from Rhode Island Record producers from Rhode Island Record producers from Vermont