ZG Smith

ZG Smith is the Los Angeles-born, Nashville-based son of an English professor mother and a
shipwreck diver and underwater archaeologist father. For over ten years, he fronted the
roots/blues/Americana band, Smooth Hound Smith, who headlined tours in the US, Europe, and
the UK and supported artists like The Chicks, Collective Soul, Trombone Shorty, Jamestown
Revival, and many more. Following the release of their third album in 2019 and a month-long
European tour in February 2020, Smooth Hound Smith’s eventual hiatus caused ZG to refocus.
“I started seeking out music again like I did when I was younger. I realized that I had been so
focused on Smooth Hound Smith and the process of trying to push the band forward, that I
stopped listening to music just for enjoyment.” The time away gave Smith an opportunity to write
more and listen to a more diverse selection of music. “I was listening to North African desert
blues, EDM, Indian classical music, ’90s hip hop, or bizarre, outsider folk music…stuff I hadn’t
really had in my ears since back at college when I studied Ethnomusicology at UCLA, and that
stuff ended up really informing my writing; it felt really liberating to get into the studio with some
of my best friends, and no objective to speak of, and just create music that I thought sounded
good. That’s what the Nighttime Animal EP is, and I hope I get to do that for the rest of my life.”