About this Event

Listener began in 2007 when Dan Smith wrote a series of songs about a traveling knife salesman who was struggling through some of life’s hardships. These were songs of the heart, intended to be heard by everyone who could gain something from them and were released as part of Smith's solo project, on a hip hop/poetry album called Ozark Empire. The outcome of the project was less than what Smith had hoped for. Smith had been working on what he called “Talk Music,” a genre consisting of radical poetry and more traditional folk/rock music. He had a vision but had not found the right pieces to make that vision a reality. And in 2007 Smith approached his good friend Christin Nelson about starting a new project. Nelson ended up being the perfect choice and they quickly began taking the songs from Ozark Empire and reworking them into a new album. This album was titled Return to Struggleville, and marks the first studio release of the band Listener. (It was later remastered and re-released in 2009 with two additional songs.)