Sam will be a Songwriting Coach at New Songs Fest

April 05, 2024  /  Misner & Smith

We are both huge fans of the work that The Center of the Arts do in their community up in Grass Valley, CA. This year we’re pleased to announce that Sam will be joining in on the fun by providing songwriting coaching on Sunday, April 28th. This is a great opportunity to immerse yourself in the creative process and be around other folks who are also learning, playing, and sharing their music. There will be workshops, coaching sessions, an open mic night, as well as shows every night from some amazing artists including Rufus Wainwright, Brett Dennon, and Ayla Nereo. Come on up and join in the fun! Sign up HERE.

(From New Songs Fest): Happy April! This month marks our second annual songwriting festival April 25th-28th and we thought no better way to kick off the countdown than with a series: Meet the New Songs Fest Workshop Instructors

Meet Sam Misner of Misner & Smith!

Sam Misner is the main songwriter for the unclassifiable Northern California-based duo Misner & Smith. Known as much for their soaring vocal harmonies as they are for their poetic and technically precise songwriting, the pair has been touring and recording music for the past 20 years. Sam has also written music for several professional theater productions at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Sacramento Theater Company, and Marin Theater Company. Misner & Smith will be releasing their new album, All is Song, in April 2024.

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Just Announced: Misner & Smith will perform at the Alaska Folk Festival

March 15, 2024  /  Misner & Smith

We’re heading up to Alaska to take part in one of the longest running free folk fests in the country and we couldn’t be more excited to be playing our set on the very day that our new album, All is Song, will be officially released into the world! Our set is on Friday, April 12th at 8:30pm. If you want to come to the 49th annual Alaska Folk Fest, check out all the information on their site. Can’t wait to party with you Juneau!

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Americana Highways premieres our new single "Silence of the Sun"

March 06, 2024  /  Misner & Smith

Americana Highways premiered our song, “Silence of the Sun” and our handmade stop-motion animated video that we crafted over the course of about a week. With over 2800 individual shots and lots of handmade artwork, it features the lyrics and puts a spotlight on the poetry and story of the song. Get the track HERE.

Watch the stop-motion animated video for “Silence of the Sun”, the second single off of our new album, All is Song, which will be released April 12, 2024.

“Misner & Smith search deeply in their songwriting, and their music is beautiful complex poetry … Listen to the lovely vocal harmonies and acoustic instruments in an existential slow dance.” - Melissa Clarke, Americana Highways

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New Album Update!

October 05, 2023  /  Misner & Smith

New Album Update!

Happy Fall to all you music lovers!

As we write this we're only a few hours into autumn and it feels like the air and light took their cues to shift the scenery for the next act. Seemingly overnight the warm sun has that hint of cool to come, and the sloping shadows seem to be leaning into the new season like the spent towers of sunflowers in the fields. This time of year is one of our favorites. There can be a calm, reflective, and energizing feel to the air, as we shift ourselves into the changes around us. Here at Misner & Smith headquarters we're feeling all of that, plus a huge amount of excitement! 

After having spent the better part of the last twelve months in the studio, we're thrilled to announce that we  recorded our last instrument and vocals in September, and the album is now in the mixing phase! For those of you who don't know, mixing is what happens after you've recorded all the instruments that you're going to have on the record, and when you start leveling out volumes and timbres and tonalities, choosing when that electric guitar comes in or goes out, or maybe pulling up a harmony to better support a lyric in the song. 

We've never worked harder on a project than we have this year, recording our new album. It's taken an immense amount of focus (and organizing): from pre-production planning, gathering ourselves and guest musicians, to figuring out schedules, traveling to and from the studio, making countless decisions big and small, and being meticulous about every last note that makes it onto the record. We truly believe we've created something that is more than the sum of its parts, and we couldn't be prouder--or more excited to share it! But there's still work to do...

After mixing, we usually spend a week or so living with the mixes to make sure we've made all the "right" decisions before we send them off to be mastered. The mastering process is hard to describe, and even after all these years still feels like some sort of alchemical wizardry that we'll never quite understand completely. We just refer to it as "the magic sauce".

At the same time, the rest of the behind-the-scenes work for a record release are in full swing. We're in the middle of building our team that will help us get this new music to as many ears as possible. That involves a lot of things, but namely finding a publicist to work with us on the campaign. The old adage "If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it..." comes to mind. The truth is, in this world of constant streaming content, we independent artists have to contend with both the staggering amount of content out there, and the huge corporations who have unlimited resources to dominate the field. So we're gathering a posse of stout-hearted believers in this music in order to help raise it up above the fray. We're also in discussions with a graphic designer about the album art, which is already starting to shape up and is looking great! After all of this, everything gets sent off to the presses, and if all goes according to plan, we will release the new album early next year. 

Now, you may be thinking this is taking longer than you expected. So are we! But there are very good reasons for it. After having had to wait to record this album for as long as we did, due to the pandemic, we made the decision early on that a we didn't want to cut any corners or rush our process if we could help it. We have one chance to make this record, one chance to release it, and we want it to be the best it can be. And to the angels who donated the money that made this whole project possible (and chose to receive a thank you gift), rest assured you will all be receiving your thank you gifts, just a bit later than anticipated. We know that you all have as much excitment and anticipation as we do about the release of this album and we hope you all know how grateful we both are to you all for your patience and support as we come around the last leg of this incredible journey.

This project is a marathon, not a sprint, and with every choice we were faced with over these many months, we asked ourselves this question: what is best for each song? We could go the easier way, or the right way. Sometimes the right way meant that things would take a little longer, but to our ears, the results speak for themselves. The songs are soaring. There is no substitute for time. It is truly a gift, and not one we take for granted. We took so much care in making this record, we want to take just as much care in releasing it. 

In the meantime, we do have some secrets to share about the album itself that we've been holding close to our chests:

• The title of the album is "All is Song"
• There will be 12 songs! (This includes all of the new songs you've been hearing us play live)
• The record includes 2 re-imagined older songs, "One Day" and "Compose" (More on that later...)
• There is one brand new song that no one has heard! 
• We've included a cover of "Rising of the Moon" by Kate Wolf. (This track also features the great Nina Gerber (!!), Kate's long-time guitar player and collaborator, on lead guitar.) 

All in all, the album has so many surprises in store for you. It is full of joy, it is full of love, and these songs on this record have come into bloom with the time we've had to make it. 

As we get closer to our release date we plan to release a number of singles off the album, so stay tuned! In the meantime, we are so grateful for all of your support and patience as we get our many ducks in a row and position ourselves to launch this album into the world!  

Thank you!!
Your friends,
Sam and Megan 


We may be busy preparing to release the new album, but we're still booking shows and House Concerts are some of our favorites, so if you're interested please drop us a line at misnerandsmith@gmail.com and we can talk about making your house concert dreams come true!

And we've updated our Bandcamp Page, now we have our full catalogue of past albums available for you to listen to or purchase whenever you like.

Thank you as always for supporting and listening, we are so excited to share all that is to come!

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Grass Valley House Concert this Sunday

June 21, 2023  /  Misner & Smith

We'll be playing a special house concert in Grass Valley, CA on Sunday June 25th at 5pm, and we can't wait to get back up to the foothills! This is where it all started for us about 19 years ago--on the shores of the beautiful Yuba River, on the airwaves of KVMR, and on the historic stage of the Nevada Theater. No RSVP needed, just pay at the door when you arrive. To get the address and more info email us at: misnerandsmith@gmail.com

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March 04, 2023  /  Misner & Smith

Tune in to KALW RADIO at 2pm TODAY! It’s been a number of years since we’ve had the pleasure of visiting KALW and JoAnn Mar and we’re so glad to be coming back. JoAnn is one of the hosts of their program, Folk Music and Beyond and as well as being a veteran radio announcer and producer, she is also an acclaimed investigative journalist. It’s always a real pleasure to talk music with JoAnn and also play some live songs on the air, be sure to tune in at 97.1 FM or online at https://www.kalw.org/

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