E. Doctor Smith, inventor of the Drummstick,[1] (born December 2, 1956 in Naples, Italy), began his musical journey as a teenager playing percussion in the District of Columbia Youth Orchestra and in Maryland’s Montgomery County Youth Orchestra. Inspired by the Miles Davis fusion bands of the mid-70s, he continued his studies with Paul Sears, drummer of The Muffins. His first group, Oranus Rey, featured guitarist Paul Bollenback, bassist Ed Howard, and saxophonist Tim Chambers.
In 1980 Smith moved to New York where he met fellow Music Building tenants Madonna and her co-writer, Stephen Bray. With Bray, Smith performed in the Breakfast Club and The Same. The Same was produced by Brian Eno and featured keyboardist Carter Burwell, guitarist Chip Johannsen, singer Cloda Simmons, bassist Stanley Adler, and the motto "Semper Mutants."
Following Bray and Madonna to Los Angeles, Smith assisted on many of Madonna's biggest albums as well as other of Bray's projects including Nick Kamen, Gladys Knight, The Breakfast Club, Bryan Ferry, and Steel Pulse. In L.A. Doc’s sound engineering skills were honed in sessions working alongside Michael Verdick and Tony Shepperd. Back on the East Coast, Smith performed with the New England groups K2, Flash to Bangtime, and Feat of Clay using a Simmons kit he called the “Beast." Inspired by that of British drummer Bill Bruford, Smith’s 12-piece kit was the first embodiment of his love of digital drums.
In 1995, as a member of the trio Between The Lines, and influenced by the work of Roy "Future Man" Wooten, Smith designed and built the Drummstick, a percussion controller consisting rather humbly of a 2x6 piece of wood with 16 finger-pads. Borne of a desire to walk on stage, plug in and play like a guitarist, while accessing his beloved and virtually infinite world of digital sounds, Smith’s Drummstick developed a life of its own.
2000, Smith became the Front of House engineer for the State Theater in Falls Church Virginia, mixing and working with the likes of Warren Zevon, Dave Mason, David S. Ware, Mickey Hart, Bill Bruford, John Mayall, Little Feat, John Scofield, and a host of D.C., Maryland and Virginia local acts.
In 2000 Smith debuted his first CD of original music, The Drummstick, with his band of the same name, which featured core members Jack Wright on guitar, Neil Mezebish on horns, and Celia DuBose on bass. That year he also performed using the Drummstick with guitar legends including Bon Lozago of Gong, Tom Principato, Bill Kirchen, Paul Bollenback, as well as bansurist John Wubbenhorst, tabla master Sandip Burman, and the famed Howard Levy.
Now living in San Francisco,[2] Smith performed at the Edgetone New Music Summit of 2006 with horn player Eric Dahlman. In March 2007, Smith released a new Drummstick 2 CD, a long-distance collaboration with the original Drummstick band and other musical friends (and the re-release of his first Drummstick CD) on Edgetone Records.
Smith also produced and performed on an Edgetone release entitled Robert Anbian and UFQ: the Unidentified Flying Quartet. This timely and troubling work of jazz and poetry features poet Robert Anbian, saxophonist Charles Unger, keyboardist Sam Peoples, and bassist Mike Shea.
In 2008, the makers of the Zendrum, a MIDI percussion controller, built a custom Zendrum for Smith that he has been using exclusively. This Zendrum is black, modeled after Jimi Hendrix's black Fender Stratocaster and is played vertically like the Drummstick.
In 2009, Smith had been asked to perform at Oakland's Rooz Cafe which led to his first encounter with the bassist Edo Castro. Like Manring before him, Castro was another master of the "E-Bow". His 7 string bass playing was simply gorgeous and his ability to build loops and solo live was equally astounding. Needless to say, Smith was surprised when Castro graciously asked him join him for a "gratuitous funk" tune. The result was a truly magical experience and a unique new musical friendship was born.
The pairing of Smith/Castro has often been compared to acid-jazz "jam band" of the Benevento/Russo Duo; intensely powerful, yet poignant music. Their recent album, "Live with Edo Castro"[3], features the music of Smith's earlier Drummstick 2, K2, Robert Anbian and the Unidentified Flying Quartet CDs, and culled from performances recorded at the Sheba Lounge in San Francisco and Mill Valley's 142 Throckmorton Theatre.