Sy Smith is a born storyteller. Get her started about her days in a D.C. go-go band, or her tenure as Whitney Houston's back-up singer, and she'll spin many a long and wondrous tale. Better yet, check out her live performance at L.A.'s Temple Bar with her band Deeznuts and you'll agree that with her incomparable beauty and many talents, Sy Smith is an exciting new star on the ascent.
A Washington, D.C. native, Sy loved all kinds of music, from Bach to Sarah Vaughan to Earth, Wind & Fire. Sy studied classical piano for most of her childhood and early teens, and later found a musical outlet in the school choir. Sy went on to attend Howard University, earning a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Music Therapy. Soon Sy became a member of an all-female band and felt the lure of performing, so in 1997 she packed up and moved to L.A., hoping to get a toehold in the business.
She didn't have to wait long. Her singing and songwriting ability soon attracted the attention of producer/songwriter Sauce (who has created hits for Somthin' For The People, Will Smith and Eric Benét). Sy also sang background vocals on television shows and on the road with the likes of Usher, Me'shell Ndegeocello, Eric Benét, Somthin' For The People, Ginuwine, and Brandy, as well as touring for more than a year with Whitney Houston and Macy Gray. She also appeared in a string of popular GAP commercials and regularly sang with Vonda Shepherd on the popular FOX network's Ally McBeal.
As a singer/songwriter, Sy Smith was recently named as a 2001 Emmy-nominee in the category of Outstanding Music and Lyrics. She penned the lyrics and performs the song "Welcome Back (All My Soulmates)" which is the title track of HBO's original movie, Dancing in September starring Isaiah Washington and Nicole Ari Parker. This original tune is an accolade to soulful things of old and the people who remember them. In addition, Sy shares the vocal spotlight with legendary singer Al Green as the duet performed the title song to the Showtime series "Soul Food". On "We Won't Stop", the latest release from Brand New Heavies, Sy is featured on 7 tracks, of which she co-wrote 4! She is also featured on the latest release from Blue Note Records' jazz guitarist Ronny Jordan on "Once or Twice", a tune she co-wrote which is noted by a critic as being an "instant soul classic". Mya can be heard singing "Do You Only Wanna Dance" - another song co-written by Sy - in the motion picture Havana Nights. Sy's writing styles are boundless, stretching from jazz to Latin, soul to Afro-beat. She displays the latter in the short film Black Rose; she not only co-writes the film's key performance songs (alongside hit-producer Terry Lewis) but she stars in the film as the lead character Rose (a South-African recording star).
While Sy eagerly looks forward to hitting the road with her band, she has plenty to keep her busy at home. She has formed Psyko!, Inc. a production company through which she plans to help promote other artists through regular events; the first being "B!tchcraft a venue for She". Sy also serves as the musical director for BET's spoken word series, Lyric Café. She is a much-in-demand session singer for jingles and album recordings alike, having recently done commercials for Barbie and on-the-spot vocal arrangements for Macy Gray, Jada Pinkett and Christina Milian. Sy's live show is also in demand after lately completing stints in Hong Kong, the first annual Ghana Jazz Festival and the Bermuda Jazz Festival, where the Royal Gazette reported, "this pretty young thang's talent was just about as awesome as the stars that night were."
