Craig Smith | Theatre Musical Director & Session Musician UK

Musical Direction & Theatre Productions

In recent years, Craig has worked as musical director, musical supervisor, producer (or a combination of the three) for various live shows including Contempo Productions Ltd's The Vintage Boys Rock 'n' Roll Tour, The Opera Boys UK Tour, Simply70s: Ultimate Classic Rock, The Gary Barlow Live Tribute and various musical theatre shows and pantomimes. He has worked within the bands for numerous other shows as a regular or dep session musician.

A very short list of musical shows on which Craig has worked includes, amongst very many others:

• A Complete and Utter History of Liverpool 1207-2007 (Abridged) Original (score also composed by Craig)
• American Clock Miller
• Come From Away Sankoff & Hein
• Fame Fernandez, Margoshes & Levy
• Footloose Pitchford, Bobbie & Snow
• Les Misérables Schönberg, Boublil & Natel
• Lucky Stiff Ahrens & Flaherty
• Sweet Charity Coleman, Fields & Simon

Craig is also available as a theatre pit musician playing piano, synthesisers, Hammond, keyboards, accordion and percussion in the North West.

Solo Piano Performances / Corporate Events

Craig is a popular choice as a restaurant, hotel and corporate pianist in Lancashire, Cheshire, Liverpool, Manchester and the Lake District. He plays all styles from classical to modern chart music. Please see the Video Page for clips, and the Songs Page for an idea of Craig's huge repertoire.

Craig's corporate bookings have included bookings for / from the following clients local and national:

Studio Recording

Craig is available as a recording session musician for producers, singers and bands. Most recording takes place remotely from Craig's own project studio, with full audio files being sent electronically following approval of an MP3 sample. This method is a lot cheaper than booking Craig to travel to the studio, saving studio time, travel expenses and possible accommodation costs too, and also meaning Craig can record in his own time between other jobs, so the price needn't be as high. Piano, EPs, organs, synths etc are all covered, as is drum and other programming.

Samples

Just a couple of samples to demonstrate Craig's work live and recorded:

Funk/Soul:

Craig: all keys / synths, percussion

Pop

Craig: all keys / synths / programming

Chillout Arrangements:

Craig: keys, arrangements

Rock 'n' Roll

Craig: acoustic guitar, keys, programming, arrangements (inc. vocal)

Classic Rock

Craig: keys, backing vocals, arrangements

Dep Musicianship

In addition to his regular bands, Craig plays as a dep or session musician with several other function bands, some of whom are amongst the UK's elite. His training at Sir Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) was largely popular music performance based, focusing on ensemble playing and playing by ear, with tuition from top session musicians and artists.

Craig can pick up a full setlist of music very easily, so is easily able to slot in to any band who's keyboard player falls ill or leaves at short notice. All that is required is an accurate set list with keys, and either charts or structurally correct recordings (YouTube is great for this), and Craig will have the set down in no time. The majority of function bands' songs are already in Craig's repertoire anyway. Usually, Craig's dep gigs are without rehearsal, but there's no problem having a pre-gig rehearsal for the other band members' peace of mind. Craig is also a solid live sight reader of both dots and charts.

Discretion Guaranteed

Craig has filled in for periods of time with several top UK function bands and corporate entertainers who've lost their keyboard player but didn't want to tell agencies, clients etc that they were a member down. Discretion in these matters is guaranteed; there is no reason to concern your clients when you lose a keys player with their wedding next week!