Happy Birthday, Elliott Smith: Played First Solo Show in 1994

The late and great singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Elliott Smith was born on this day (August 6) in 1969. Smith began to play music at a very young age, taking the piano up at the age of 9 and later learning guitar, clarinet and various other instruments. His move from Texas to Portland, Oregon to live with his father at the age of 14 was a turning point for the artist, he began to record music and hone his skills even further. After graduating college in 1991 with a degree in philosophy and political science, he formed the band Heatmiser where they put out several independent releases before signing to Virgin Records, all this while working and performing solo music which began to eclipse Heatmiser.

Elliott Smith's brand of indie-folk music was a surprise success to him as the grunge scene was dominating music at the time, on his first solo release Roman Candle:

"I thought my head would be chopped off immediately when it came out because at the time it was so opposite to the grunge thing that was popularĀ ... The thing is that album was really well received, which was a total shock, and it immediately eclipsed [Heatmiser], unfortunately." - Elliott Smith

According to our setlist.fm data, one of Smith's first known solo performances happened at Umbra Penumbra in Portland, Oregon on September 17, 1994. The setlist was comprised of 10 songs in total with Smith only performing 3 songs from his debut Roman Candle. Other songs on the setlist included material from his band Heatmiser, b-sides and unreleased songs.

Take a look at the full setlist from his solo September 17, 1994 show below.

Elliott Smith - Portland, Oregon - September 17, 1994 - setlist

As a bonus, you can actually listen to his September 17, 1994 show thanks to a fan-uploaded clip on YouTube, check it out.

We're wishing Elliott Smith a happy heavenly birthday, thanks for the music.

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Last updated: 28 Mar 2024, 20:25 Etc/UTC