Smokey & The Mirror is husband+wife duo Bryan and Bernice Hembree (Fayetteville, Arkansas). The Hembrees spent 7 years touring nationally as members offolk/bluegrass trio 3 Penny Acre. Building on the critical success of 3 Penny Acre, Bryan and Bernice leaned back towards their early rock&roll, country, and R&B influences to create Smokey & The Mirror.
Smokey & The Mirror recorded a live album with long-time collaborator Daniel Walker (keys) in November of 2013. The live album, released by Goose Creek Records, was recorded over three nights in three venues (Mucky Duck-Houston, Cactus Cafe-Austin, and The Blue Door). In June 2014 they took the same spontaneous approach into the studio. The Hembrees assembled a band (including Daniel Walker on keys, Terry Ware on guitar, Nooch Carnuccio on drums, and Travis Linville on lap steel) and entered Breathing Rhythm Studios in Norman, Oklahoma for a 3 day session. The result is the new album “Thin Black Line”. The album was tracked live to 2″ reel-to-reel tape.
Smokey & The Mirror tours constantly as a duo, and often as band including Ryan Pickop on drums, Terry Ware on guitar, Daniel Walker on keys.
The Hembrees are also co-founders of the Fayetteville Roots Festival in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
“Bryan and Bernice Hembree (Smokey & The Mirror) are making some of the best folk music today. The songs remind me of a time when Guy Clark was unknown and Ray Wylie Hubbard was still a folkie. Smart, cool and never pretentious.”
– Greg Johnson, The Blue Door
“The thing I love most about this band and the evening with them is not only the powerfully beautiful voice of bass player, Bernice Hembree, or the well-written songs of Bryan Hembree, sung with his rustic, true American voice—it’s the energy they bring on stage and to the audience! You can tell when they are performing; they truly treasure what they do. They feed off each other to the point it’s sometimes hard to tell where the guitar stops and the bass starts!” —Chris Roberts, Red Arm Music
“This past Friday, I was lucky enough to see Elephant Revival with special guests, Smokey & The Mirror. And what a night it was! I’ve seen numerous husband and wife duos in my time, especially in the folk scene. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this duo. Bernice and Bryan Hembree have so much chemistry and musical talent it’s ridiculous. It’s the perfect complement of a female and male vocal. She has the soothing, higher pitched voice and his, is that of a weary traveler. His vocals really nail that Americana, folky, “I’ve been traveling this long road for a while” style voice. Their set was solid and just really, really good!” —Adam Robinson, Honest Music Review
Show Details
Thu, September 21, 2017, 8:00pm
Tickets: $20
Doors open half an hour before show time.