Interview: Kevin A. Smith (guitar9.com)

Kevin A. Smith of The Seven recently released “Crux” a progressive, open-format, instrumental musical landscape. He worked on song ideas for years before coming out with this debut album, in which he wrote, arranged, and performed all of the instrumentation (aside from drums on two tracks) on the thirteen song recording. Dan McAvinchey posed a dozen questions for Smith, which the guitarist and studio owner was most enthusiastic to answer. Here’s how it went down.

Dan McAvinchey: Kevin, looking back, when did you first get interested in guitar, and how did you learn and progress as a player?
Kevin A. Smith: I can remember an interest in music from a pretty early age but the biggest catalyst for my guitar playing would definitely be a family friend named Scott Miller. He lives and plays music up in G9 territory. He was the quintessential “cool older guy” that I wanted to emulate in every way… he was passionate about rock music and guitar playing. He pointed me towards many great players and taught lots of “guitar” knowledge.

I distinctly remember a road trip when I was maybe 11 or 12 and Scott was explaining to me about Gibson and Fender guitars – his influence on me was profound. From there I took a few lessons… read more at guitar9.com.