Elliott Smith

There are some artists who seem to make the distance between the performer and the listener disappear. Elliott Smith was one of them.

Born Steven Paul Smith in 1969, Smith became known for songs that could feel extraordinarily intimate — often built around acoustic guitar, understated arrangements and a voice that sounded less like a performance than someone letting you overhear a thought.

Before his solo career became widely known, Smith played in the Portland band Heatmiser. But it was the quieter music he began releasing under his own name that established the sound so many listeners still recognize immediately.

His 1997 album Either/Or became a turning point, and a year later his song “Miss Misery,” written for Good Will Hunting, was nominated for an Academy Award. Suddenly an artist associated with small rooms and independent records was performing at the Oscars.

Yet the scale of the music never really changed.

That may be part of what has given Elliott Smith’s recordings such a long life. Beneath the apparent simplicity are beautiful melodies, unusual chord changes, carefully layered voices and arrangements that reward another listen. His records can sound fragile at first — and remarkably sophisticated once you begin listening closely.

Smith died in 2003 at only 34, leaving behind a relatively small body of work and an influence that continues to turn up in musicians decades later.

Today at Berry Point Studio, we’re putting some Elliott Smith into the mix.

Where the playlist goes from there is part of the fun.

Keep on Listening at Airstreaming.org or Airstreaming on TuneIn Radio.