Iain Campbell Smith - Musical Career

Musical Career

As a sideline, Smith began performing his own songs at pubs and clubs around Canberra under the stage name Fred Smith. He released his first album Soapbox in 1997. He has appeared at numerous Australian and international folk festivals.

While in Bougainville Province, Smith talked extensively in pidgin with the locals about the peace process and set some of their ideas to music. The songs, performed by Smith with local musicians, were compiled on a cassette titled Songs of Peace and 20,000 copies were distributed around the province. The albums Bagarap Empires and Independence Park, and the documentary film Bougainville Sky are responses to his work with the peace monitoring mission.

Around 2002 Smith wrote a number of songs for a woman's voice. He began a search for the right woman, and began working with the singer and double bass player Liz Frencham, forming Frencham Smith.

He moved to Washington, D.C. in 2006, touring the USA presenting his songs and guest lectures in peace studies. and returned to Australia in late 2007 with an album of songs from that time entitled "Texas".

While working in Uruzgan, he entertained the Dutch and Australian troops stationed there. On his return to Australia from Afghanistan he released an album entitled "Dust of Uruzgan", consisting of songs responding to the war in Afghanistan.