Ladies and Gentlemen! The one, the only: G.E. SMITH!!

Former 'SNL' band leader back to his jam band roots.

Former ‘SNL’ band leader back to his jam band roots

By BILL DEYOUNG

“We start in the bars; we end in the bars,” G.E. Smith tells me, quoting his friend and fellow guitar legend Jorma Kaukonen. “The only difference is where you go in the middle.” Smith is the lead guitarist for the band Moonalice, appearing Thursday at Live Wire Music Hall. Twenty years ago, he was touring the world as Bob Dylan’s musical director (they once did a single show for 600,000 people).

Before that, he’d played the planet’s biggest rooms — and Live Aid — during his seven years with Daryl Hall & John Oates. And from 1985 to ‘95, Smith was the bandleader on “Saturday Night Live” — square-jawed, blond hair, ponytail ... see him in your memory? Yep, that’s the guy. The 57-year-old Pennsylvania native was a professional guitarist — and yes, playing in bars — by age 11.

So he’s done pretty much all there is for a musician to do. He just loves to play, and he doesn’t really care where. “What’s the ultimate goal for me when I go out of my house and go to play for people?” Smith said. “It’s to try to communicate something … to get some emotions over. To have a good time, so what’s the difference if it’s five or 50,000? You’re going for the same thing.” Moonalice has a most impressive pedigree.

The bassist is Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jack Casady (he was an original member of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, both with Jorma Kaukonen); on keyboards is Pete Sears, a British session player who spent a decade with Jefferson Starship (and was in Hot Tuna, too). Steel guitarist Barry Sless plays with the legendary Phil Lesh & Friends; drummer Jimmy Sanchez, singer/guitarist Roger McAmee and lead singer Ann McNamee came from San Francisco’s great “retro” rock band, the Flying Other Brothers.

With those credentials, Moonalice has become a draw on the jam band circuit — hey, Thursday they’re opening for Grand Jam- Daddy Col. Bruce Hampton—but Smith maintains that Moonalice is more about the songs than just noodling and grooving (not that there’s anything wrong with that). “To me, the jam band thing comes out of the Grateful Dead, through Phish, and Widespread and that,” he said.

“There are certainly elements of that in this band — but I wouldn’t say that we are strictly a jam band. Although we do have some songs that are 15 minutes long — if we cut them down.” Moonalice’s self-titled debut album — which will be in stores shortly — was produced by TBone Burnett, who won a round of Grammys this month for his (strictly song-oriented) work with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Most of the songs on the CD were written by the band members, although they’re famous for playing oddball covers (Steely Dan’s “Showbiz Kids,” anyone?) at the drop of a hat.

The only “non-permanent” band member is Casady, who misses about half of Moonalice’s dates because he’s off working Hot Tuna gigs with Kaukonen. All six of the others, Smith included, switch off on bass when Casady’s not on the stage. Smith sees himself as the band member who keeps everyone musically focused — he’s an arranger, an orchestrator and, most of all, a guy who knows how to make things happen.

“I don’t necessarily want people to be mystified when they’re standing there, going ‘What are they doing?’ There’s bands that do that, and it’s really cool, but my training — or whatever — is to be an entertainer, I guess.”

What does G.E. Smith — a man who’s been there, done that and lived to talk about it — want from the Moonalice experience? He certainly doesn’t need the money or the recognition. “Iwanttoplay—it’swhatIdo,”he said with a laugh. “It’s too late to stop now. I want to play in front of people, andIwantthebandtobegood.”

IF YOU GO
What: Moonalice with Col. Bruce Hampton & the Quark Alliance
When: 10 p.m. Thursday
Where: Live Wire Music Hall, 307 W. River St., Savannah
Admission: $10
Information: (912) 233-1192, or go to livewiremusichall.com