NATE SMITH

(Artist Management, Booking Worldwide excluding Europe & Japan)

WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
YOUTUBE CHANNEL
PROMO PHOTOS
biography

NATE’S PROJECTS:

ACTIVE TOURING PROJECTS:

NATE SMITH (SOLO):
Nate is available for recording, producing, arranging, film scoring, solo drum set performances, masterclasses, panels, and more.

NATE SMITH (BAND):
Lineup varies—typically (3-4p).

UPON REQUEST:

NATE SMITH + KINFOLK:
Latest album, KINFOLK 2: see the birds, released September 2021 on Edition Records, featuring several very special guests -- Amma Whatt, Brittany Howard, Joel Ross, KOKAYI, Michael Mayo, Regina Carter, Stokley, and Vernon Reid. Touring Lineup: 4-6piece touring band.

NATE SMITH + KINFOLK + strings (SPECIAL PROJECT):
KINFOLK + strings features Nate's core band from KINFOLK with a string octet and performs repertoire from all of his albums as well as some unrecorded compositions. Special guests are available depending on budget. The project debuted in Memphis, TN in May 2022, with members of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and was documented by NPR Jazz Night in America, who released their full-length concert feature on December 1, 2022.

TOUR:

*SEEKING ARTIST RESIDENCIES / EVENT CURATION*

2025 - Available upon request

2026 - Available upon request

NEW ALBUM

live-action - RELEASING august 29th via naïve records.

BIO:

NATE SMITH | Biography

Nate Smith is a GRAMMY-nominated polymath musician — bandleader, composer, producer, and virtuosic drummer — whose groundbreaking work as a recording artist and performer in multiple genres has made him a unique figure in popular culture and one of the most in-demand players of our generation.

Born in Norfolk, Virginia and a devoted student of music since his teenage years, Smith was invited by Betty Carter to join her legendary Jazz Ahead program, performing on drums at New York’s Blue Note with Carter at the age of 20. Smith began his career as a professional songwriter and producer in 2001 with Michael Jackson’s “Heaven Can Wait.” In 2003, Smith joined Dave Holland’s jazz band and toured the world. And in 2008, Smith began his recording career, first as a solo artist and later with his band,KINFOLK. Smith received two GRAMMY nominations in 2017 for KINFOLK: Postcards from Everywhere, for his composition “Home Free (for Peter Joe)” — Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella and Best Instrumental Composition. As part of the Dave Holland Octet, Smith received another nomination in 2011 for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.

Over the years, Nate Smith has collaborated and toured with renowned artists like Brittany Howard, Pat Metheny, Ravi Coltrane, Van Hunt, Childish Gambino, Norah Jones, Jon Batiste, Vulfpeck, Lauren Daigle, The Fearless Flyers, Chris Potter, Kiefer, CARRTOONS, Charlie Hunter, and Kurt Elling. He’s graced the cover of Modern Drummer magazine, and provided the backbeat for Late Night with Seth Meyers’ house band.

In recent years, through a series of viral videos, Nate Smith has emerged as a new kind of influencer: a popular teacher who makes complex rhythmic principles simple. That role expanded with Smith’s Pocket Change project in 2018 — a combination breakbeat album and transcription book; and a follow up, Pocket Change 2: Mad Currency, in 2023.

Nate Smith conceived his latest album, LIVE ACTION, as a producer-led project in the manner of Quincy Jones. Smith explains: “It was a way to activate all of these relationships that I've been building over the last five or six years since the pandemic, many of them through social media.” The album features performances from horn players Josh Johnson and Marquis Hill; the rapper JSWISS; guitarists Charlie Hunter and Lionel Loueke; bassists Michael League, Ben Williams, and CARRTOONS; keyboardists DJ Harrison and Keifer; the group säje and vocalist Jermaine Holmes; and Lalah Hathaway, who sings an unsurprisingly daring cover of “Automatic,” the 1984 hit for The Pointer Sisters, reharmonizing and recontextualizing the track alongside Smith. Even though the album is collaborative, Nate Smith keeps the sound cohesive through discipline: “I wanted to make a record that sounded like it was recorded on a cassette in my bedroom,” he says. “I limited my options. I used analog gear. I used the same instruments throughout the album. I did two or three takes of each element, no copy and pastes or anything like that. All of the instruments on the album are played live, nothing is programmed or sequenced.” It is from this ethos that LIVE ACTION derives its name, and it is that spirit that makes Nate Smith himself a sought-after collaborator and one of music’s most creative minds.

DOWNLOAD BIO

ENDORSEMENTS:

Ludwig Drums (NATE SMITH SIGNATURE SNARE)
Vic Firth Sticks (NATE SMITH SIGNATURE STICK)
Zildjian Cymbals
Evans Drum Heads
Yamaha Pianos
Yamaha Keyboards

RECENT ALBUMS:

VIDEOS:

NATE SMITH (SOLO):

NATE SMITH (BAND):

NATE SMITH + KINFOLK:

KINFOLK + STRINGS:

LIGHT AND SHADOW:

PRESS:

“…his drumming is a marvel unto itself. Humid and broad of palette, it has the rare ability to dial up the complexity and the sensitivity at the same time.” - THE NEW YORK TIMES

“…a firecracker of a drummer.” - THE NEW YORK TIMES

“If you’re looking to satisfy your groove craving, look no further.” - DOWNBEAT

DISCOGRAPHY:

LEADER:

• Kinfolk 2: See the Birds (Edition Records, 2021)

• Light and Shadow (Waterbaby Music, 2020)

• Pocket Change (Waterbaby Music, 2018)

• Kinfolk: Postcards from Everywhere (Ropeadope, 2017)

• Workday, Waterbaby Music Vol. 1 (Waterbaby Music, 2008)

SIDEMAN:

• With Jenny Lewis - Joy’All (Blue Note 2023)

• With The Fearless Flyers - The Fearless Flyers III (Vulf Records, 2022)

• With James Bay - Leap (2022)

• With James Taylor - Coming Back To You (2022)

• With Larry Klein - Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen (2022)

• With Nathaniel Ratliff - Famous Blue Raincoat (2022)

• With Cory Wong - Power Station (2022)

• With Norah Jones - Steer Your Way (2022)

• With Somi - Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba (Salon Africana 2022) 

• With Anderson East - Maybe We Never Die (2021)

• With Dave Koz/Cory Wong - The Golden Hour (2021)

• With Jon Batiste - We Are (2021)

• With Jon Batiste - We Are (2021)

• With The Fearless Flyers - Tailwinds (Vulf Records 2020)

• With The Fearless Flyers - Live at Madison Square Garden (Vulf Records 2020)

• With Walter Smith III - In Common 2 (2020)

• With Norah Jones - Pick Me Up Off The Floor (2020)

• With Cory Wong/Jon Batiste - Meditations (2020)

• With Brittany Howard, Jaime (ATO Records 2019)

• With The Fearless Flyers - The Fearless Flyers II (Vulf Records 2019)

• With Cory Wong - Motivational Music for The Syncopated Soul (2019)

• With The Fearless Flyers - The Fearless Flyers (Vulf Records 2018)

• With Jose James - Lean on Me (Blue Note, 2018)

• With Paul Simon, In the Blue Light (Legacy 2018)

• With Karel Ruzicka, Grace & Gratitude (Animal Music, 2018)

• With Adam Rogers, Dice (Adraj, 2017)

• With Eric Roberson, Fire (Blue Erro Soul, 2017)

• With Jose James - Love in a Time of Madness (Blue Note, 2017)

• With Scott Colley, Seven (ArtistShare, 2017)

• With Somi, Petite Afrique (Okeh, 2017)

• With Chris Potter - Imaginary Cities (ECM, 2015)

• With Randy Brecker, Randy Pop! (Piloo, 2015)

• With Robin Eubanks - More Than Meets the Ear (ArtistShare, 2015)

• With Nir Felder, Golden Age (Okeh, 2014)

• With Robin Eubanks - Klassik Rock Vol. 1 (ArtistShare, 2014)

• With Takuya Kuroda, Rising Son (Blue Note, 2014)

• With Jose James - No Beginning, No End (Blue Note 2013) 

• With Alex Sipiagin, Live at Smalls (Smalls, 2013)

• With Monday Michiru, Don't Disturb This Groove (Grand Gallery, 2011)

• With Dave Holland - Pathways (Dare2, 2010)

• With Chris Potter - Ultrahang (ArtistShare, 2009)

• With Patricia Barber, The Cole Porter Mix (Blue Note, 2008)

• With Chris Potter - Follow the Red Line (Sunnyside, 2007)

• With Chris Potter - Underground (Sunnyside, 2006)

• With Dave Holland - Critical Mass (Dare2, 2006)

Smith co-wrote and produced the Michael Jackson song "Heaven Can Wait.”