The Good Hand

Michael Patrick F. Smith is a writer and musician. His first book, The Good Hand, a memoir about working the rigs during North Dakota's Bakken oil boom, was released on Viking Press in February of 2021. His journalism has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post Magazine, and The Guardian. As a musician, Smith has shared the stage with folk luminaries such as Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Happy Traum as well as several prominent indie rock bands. His albums and EPs feature members of Wye Oak, Arbouretum, The New Volcanoes, as well as John R. Miller's band, The Local Honeys and pedal steel player Susan Alcorn.