Singer, Filmmaker, Screenwriter Jace Smith – Settling Down in Panama City
What do you get when you cross a genuinely good person with tremendous musical talent? Jace Smith. He is a one stop shop for music lovers. He plays guitar, drums, bass, mandolin, keyboards and sings! He is also a songwriter, filmmaker, cinematographer, and screen writer! Take all that talent, put it with a positive, charming personality, a lifelong career in music and film production, you are going to have an evening of entertainment that will bring you back time and time again.
Jace grew up in Bruce Springsteen’s hometown of Asbury Park, NJ, a small town on the coast that comes to life every spring/summer and turns into a sleepy coastal community in the cooler seasons (sound familiar?). As a young boy, Jace would listen to 45’s of Elvis and the Beatles with his sister and he gives her credit for inspiring him to pursue music. Jace’s parents gave him a drum set at the age of 11 and by 13 he was in a group who called themselves Chocolate Crisis. By the time he was 18 he was playing real gigs in a band named Max, who became the house band at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park. Jace later toured and cut a record with a new band, Shark Frenzy, whose lineup included Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi fame.
Jace then decided to move to California and while there went to Sound City in Van Nuys California to meet Rick Springfield where he landed the gig with Rick and went on tour with him for two years. After the tour he pursued his own career and put a band together. He was playing at The Viper Room where he was seen and heard by Davey Johnstone (Elton John’s guitar player). The next day, Davey called Jace and asked to write with him. They became close friends and, when Davey was going through a divorce, he asked Jace if he wanted to get a place together. The two ended up roommates for three years.
Jace decided to change career paths and pursued his love of film making in the mid 1980’s and became a Cinematographer. He went to work for Nigel Dick at Propaganda Films. His first music video shoot was “Pamela” for Toto followed by “Sweet Child O Mine” with Guns N’ Roses and he also shot videos with Paula Abdul and other famous artists. He went on to write and direct music videos. He attributes a lot of his career highlights to luck and being in the right place at the right time.
Jace later began to write and direct. He won Best Documentary at the 2001 Atlantic City Film Festival with a documentary he wrote and directed called “Murder in Asbury Park” about the famous 1910 Marie Smith murder. He also directed the full length feature film “Backstage Pass”, a rock band murder mystery in 2006, starting William Katt and Tiffany Brouwer.
At the completion of directing a show about horse polo near Austin Texas, Jace received a phone call from a childhood friend who lives in Panama City. He encouraged Jace to come for a visit and assured him he would love it, as it was much like their hometown of Asbury Park. Nearly three years ago, Jace moved to Panama City after falling in love with the area. But more than that, Jace added, he loves the people of Panama City and he is amazed at the amount of talent that resides here.
A signed, dedicated poster to Jace from Rick Springfield displayed in his Panama City home reads, “To an insane, talented and big-hearted friend”. It is evident that Jace is the real deal, a humble and intelligent man. Jace comments “The most blessed I have been is when I knew my music career wasn’t going where I wanted it to go, it didn’t bother me. I went like, well, I love film. I want to do film. I want to write and direct!” And that was exactly what he did. He is still actively writing and producing videos from his home. Jace still has a passion for music and enjoys writing songs and confided that he probably writes a song a week. His song influences are his own as he is driven to not sound like any other artist. To be true to himself; Jace Smith Singer-Songwriter; is the beat of the drum he marches to.
Jace is a delightful storyteller and his music is inspiring and fresh. He will include original songs into his sets without the audience’s knowledge and is most flattered when he is asked to play it again, unbeknownst to the requestor that it was an original. He enjoys all venues large and small, but is fondest of the smaller venues where he can interact with the audience. To look out over his mic into the audience and see someone really listening makes his night! When asked if he had advice for someone trying to break into the music business his reply was “Practice and don’t try to be the best singer, best guitar player, best drummer in the world…be the best ARTIST you can be.”
Jace’s has two children, a 15-year old son, Storm who lives in Colorado with his mother and a beautiful daughter, Alsatia, 21, who currently resides in California. Now at the age of 56, Jace resides here in Panama City and continues to play and entertain the public at various venues. My husband, Crook Stewart III and I always enjoy going out to see and hear Jace. If you are looking for an evening of laid back entertainment and great music, Jace is a MUST SEE! Follow him on Facebook to see where he is playing next!
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Contact Jace
jacevsmith@yahoo.com
850-319-9097 [/box]
By Victoria Stewart