LA Treasures: Rod Smear

Los Angeles is a sprawling, messy city. It's not easy to see and understand what this place has to offer, except perhaps the weather and a chance to see movie stars (but those are harder to find these days).

But don't be fooled, LA has as much if not more to offer the observant, active resident as any other major city. One sort of treasure LA offers is a wealth of talented musical performers.

Given the hard economic times, these performers are somewhat more difficult to find, but they are here. One of my personal favorites is long-time Los Angeles resident and local performance legend, Rod Smear.

I first saw Rod perform at the now-defunct Highland Grounds (aka HG), at one of that spot's famous open mike nights. I couldn't believe what I was seeing or hearing. Whether I was witnessing a madman or a genius wasn't immediately apparent, but soon became so.

Rod Smear is a genuine genius, just eccentric as most geniuses tend to be. He has a distinct musical style, with percussive guitar under almost sweet vocals, all of it delivered as I imagine a true poet might.

Wit, sarcasm, irony - even a dash or two of anger, mix with uplift and whimsy in his songs.

Over the years I came to base my review of a night at HG on whether Rod performed or not. The nights he played were always the best, especially when he took his performances into unknown territory, taking big chances but always pulling it off to the audience's delight. Luckily for HG, Rod was a fixture and a fundament of the scene.

Of course all good things do come to an end, and Highland Grounds is no more. It's old location is occupied now by a trendy eatery called 'Street'. I've been there and the food's excellent, but there is no live music, and no Rod Smear or his many compatriots that filled those walls with sound and meaning for so many years.

With HG's going, a vibrant scene in LA music disappeared. Hundreds of performers, including dozens of extremely talented ones like Rod, moved on. A very few with commercial potential have gone on to larger fame, most others have simply tried to find new places to play.

Rod Smear can be seen live at Canter's most Sunday evenings. And you can occasionally find performances on the web. He also has a CD of songs called 'Dot' that's been out for years, but is worth tracking down (it's on Amazon). Rod will tell you he's not enamored of it, but that's just because it's a polished effort, and doesn't completely reflect the ragged but captivating vibe of his live performances. His songs on that CD are wonderful, though, and add to his live performances in reflecting the full scope of his talent.

Rod in HG's patio,

pre-performance