Ballads & Barsongs by Iain Campbell Smith

Sent to the islands by the Australian Foreign Ministry, he learned pidgin dialect and began writing songs, in both English and pidgin, from the stories of the people he worked with as they struggled to build trust and peace after a bitter civil war.

He became a celebrity on Bougainville Island collaborating with local musicians to release 20,000 copies of a "Songs of Peace" cassette, and hosting a weekly program on the island’s only radio station.

His Bagarap Empires CD reflects his experiences working in Pacific island conflict zones. The album won the Screensound Australia National Folk Recording Award and was rated among the top 5 albums of the year by ABC Radio's Paul Petran.

Smith is a regular at major Australian festivals including the National, Woodford, and Blue Mountains. He has led workshops on "Songs of Peace" during which he often has attendees singing along in Papua New Guinea pidgin language!

In concert he performs songs ranging from wry comic dirges to tender ballads of loss and survival reflecting personal experiences from life in a conflict zone. He presents with a wise humor and a unique gift for illuminating worlds both familiar and unfamiliar to the audience.

Iain relocated to the USA in November 2004 and has already won a huge fan base here in North America. He won the Ploughshares Songwriting Contest in March 2006 and has played by invitation at a number of prestigious American venues including Rich Warren’s Folkstage in Chicago and opening for Rosanne Cash at the Birchmere in DC.

In November 2006 Iain Campbell Smith will release his second US CD Ballads and Barsongs. In this new record showcases some of the best of Smith’s writing as he turns his attention away from the South Pacific conflict towards his new home here in the United States. There are touching duets interspersed with comic snapshots of modern America from the viewpoint of a bemused interloper. The recording features Australian upright bassist Liz Frencham and Jon Jones (Eric Bogle Band) and backing vocals from Katie Graybeal and Brian Gundersdorf (We're About 9) among others.

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