Jonah Smith Band
"Soulful music, which calls to mind J.J. Cale & Van Morrison." Wall St. Journal
Jonah Smith is a critically acclaimed American artist. He has released several records and has performed around the world at places like Bonnaroo, BAM Festival in Barcelona, The Bowery Ballroom in NYC, Ronnie Scotts in London, SXSW, and countless others. He was a semi-finalist on America’s Got Talent, where he received a standing ovation from Howard Stern. He went on to perform four times on national television from Radio City Music Hall wowing the judges and audiences with his big soulful voice and considerable keyboard chops. In 2022, Bonnie Raitt released a recording of Jonah’s song, “When We Say Goodnight” on her grammy-nominated album “Just Like That”.
Jonah Smith is a critically acclaimed American singer-songwriter. His music ranges from soul to folk and Americana and he moves effortlessly on stage between keyboards and guitar. Smith’s vocals bring to mind Steve Winwood and even Ray Charles but his songs are crafted stories with lineage traced back to his love of Bob Dylan and Paul Simon. His song “When We Say Goodnight” was recorded by Bonnie Raitt for her record “Just Like That…”.
His last record, Stay Close was released in 2018 and was nominated for Album Of The Year by the Independent Music Awards. It won the award for Best Story Song for his epic true tale, Ocala. Smith wrote and produced the record himself. He raised money through a successful fundraising campaign, which gained national attention after the story behind Ocala was featured on the front page of the Washington Post on Christmas Day, 2016.
Smith’s songs are in rotation on SiriusXM as well as radio stations around the country. He has also had songs featured on NBC, ABC, FX, and the USA network including Good Morning America and America’s Got Talentwhere he was a semi-finalist on Season 9. On AGT, Smith received a standing ovation from judges Howard Stern and Howie Mandel after performing his song Skyscraper Blues. He went on to perform three more times that season – two performances were live at Radio City Music Hall.
Smith has toured throughout America as well as Europe and Asia. He has appeared at Bonnaroo and other festivals and has been an opening act and guest singer with artists such as Los Lobos, Little Feat, Taj Mahal, Madeline Peyroux and many others.
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The seed for Satisfied, Jonah Smith’s newest effort, was planted in January 2018, when Family Company staged a tribute to Bill Withers and invited Jonah Smith to perform. Backstage, a hum of excitement rippled through the green room: Withers himself was in the house. The band opened the night playing for their hero; it ended with Withers onstage, cradling Smith’s guitar as a roomful of singers joined in a communal rendition of “Lean On Me.” It felt like a benediction. Smith and Family Company knew, in that moment, that their creative paths would cross again.
In the years that followed, Smith joined the band for sold-out shows and filmed a series of soul-rooted covers—Sam Cooke, Ray Charles—that reaffirmed his gift for interpreting classic soul. Then the pace shifted. The pandemic arrived. Smith became a father. Retreating to his studio, he began writing again, sending songs to Family Company bassist Alex Kyhn and drummer Josh Teitelbaum, who recorded remotely from their home studios. The results—tracks like “No Time To Wait” and “If You Say So”—leaned into a funkier, looser feel, reconnecting Smith with the sound of his early New York years.
The collaboration continued after Smith moved back East. In 2024, Kyhn sent him an instrumental asking if Smith heard anything for it. Using Logic Pro’s then-new stem-splitting tools, Smith deconstructed the track, reshaping its internal architecture—shifting bass lines, muting piano figures, carving out space for a melody that quickly took shape. Within hours, the song existed. When Smith suggested polishing it further, the band pushed back - they recognized the raw energy of the song. “Satisfied,” released in June 2024, became an unexpected breakout, surging across TikTok and streaming platforms and emerging as the most successful release of Smith’s career.
That success lit a fuse. Smith began building material for a full album. In February 2025, he flew to Los Angeles to record with Family Company live to tape at Kingsize Studios. He arrived with six finished songs, expecting to capture maybe half of them. Instead, the band—hearing the material for the first time—tracked three songs before lunch. By day’s end, basic tracks were complete for all six, including “New Lows, Old Highs,” “Irma,” “Strivers,” “Gathering Forces,” “We Plan,” and “Learned From The Best.”
Back in New York, Smith added guitar work with longtime collaborator Andy Stack and Al Street, one of the most distinctive rhythm players in his orbit. Eric Krasno contributed guitar to “Irma.” In April, Smith returned to Los Angeles to record a four-piece horn section featuring Bob Reynolds, Paulie Cerra, Mike Cordone, and Lemar Guillary. In May, Larry Goldings added keyboards to “Give & Take.”
Satisfied finds Jonah Smith at a moment of convergence—between patience and momentum, craft and instinct, independence and collaboration.
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