Who the F*&% is Kyle Smith? Really? If you listen to today’s reggae and haven’t heard of Kyle Smith, get ready for a real treat. Kyle hails from Southern California, and his life story is built for writing great songs. His approach is simple: rip out your heart and put it on display for the world. It absolutely works. His fans know that he plays to thousands like he’s playing to five close friends—and he plays to five like it’s the biggest concert of the year. A true troubadour, he performs not for accolades but for pure entertainment. And man, does he entertain.
It’s a Wednesday night in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the back room at Bell’s Brewery fills with fans gathered to hear two amazing performances: Highdeas and Kyle Smith.
Highdeas is a local band with a fierce following. They make the room come alive with their own tunes “Bongs n’ Songs” and “Hello” to start, then treat us to a cover of Stick Figures’ “Coming Home.” The crowd responds with cheers and dancing as Ethan MacDonald (lead vocals, lead guitar), Ben Dorsey (drums), Nate “Tusky” Smith (bass) and Nick Ploof (keyboards, guitar, vocals) launch into fan favorite “Super Dope.”
This multi-talented quartet lays down infectious grooves that feel at home on the cold streets of the Midwest, yet carry just enough sunshine and slinky vibes to cement their place in the reggae scene. Songs like “I Don’t Wanna Go to Work,” “Feels Good,” “Burnt Out” and “Life Is the Shit” speak to modern times and are enthusiastically embraced by the local college crowd. The set closes with another fan favorite, “Return to the Flow,” complete with its haunting guitar solo and meaningful lyrics.
Check them out on streaming platforms and YouTube, and catch them live on July 12 at The Good Ole Days Music Festival and July 26 at Liquid Note in Otsego, Michigan—where they’re hosting a reggae day.
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It’s no accident that Kyle chose Kalamazoo as the first stop on his tour. “Where the hell is Kalamazoo?” T-shirts were all the rage back in the ’70s when the city seemed lost. How can you be a mid-sized city in the Motor Capital with a now-forgotten car company (Checker), or in the Great Lakes State but not on any of the lakes? Kyle is kind of like that.
He’s one of the fastest-rising stars in reggae, yet he comes from Surf City. A poet who writes deep, profound lyrics but delivers them with a lighthearted swing that keeps fans dancing—and reveals a man who’s still finding himself. A new-age reggae performer, his style and sound are definitely Caribbean-based, but his stories are pure Americana. His life’s troubles, losses and pain seem improbable coming from a muscular, good-looking Californian who appears carefree—but don’t let that fool you. The truth is in the songs, as he sings his heart out about the path his life has taken.
Tonight at Bell’s, he is pure magic. Starting with “On My Way,” the band immediately moves the crowd. Kyle speaks directly to the audience as if they were in his backyard and he’s just picked up the six-string. He powers through “Can’t Remember,” “News Flash” and “Tired”—songs that feel raw and honest, yet somehow make the sad seem okay, just part of life. He throws in a bit of punk rock with “Lost Cause” and plays to the response. After rollicking renditions of “Did My Best” and “No Body Speaks,” Christopher Nishida—the band’s bassist and tour manager—breaks into some Dr. Dre. The crowd is loving it, and so begins a playful back-and-forth banter.
Scotty Brown, a truly gifted drummer, and Chris Nishida rise effortlessly to anything Kyle and the fans throw at them, morphing from Weezer to NOFX to Misfits and The Offspring on the fly, seamlessly matching each band’s style and wowing everyone with their versatility.
As the band settles into the second set, Kyle unveils a new anthem, “By Myself,” which speaks to anyone who needs to know they are worthy and will be accepted by the world. “I’m the Lonely One” and “Just Like Them” lead us to the very special “Wither,” written when Kyle was just 17. It’s deep and foretelling—much like the artist himself—and offers a glimpse of the young man destined to become one of the most polished performers on today’s reggae circuit.
By the night’s climax, Kyle is fully in tune with his audience. He reaches into the crowd, pulls up two young boys attending their first concert ever, and invites us all to cheer them on. The youngsters are blown away as Kyle’s fans rally behind them as if they, too, were on stage. That moment of shared joy—that sense of belonging—is the real magic of Kyle Smith: he and his band treat all of us like a tribe.
His new album, Bad for Business, is now available on streaming platforms, but the best way to snag a copy is at a show. Buy the merch, follow him on social media, show him some love on Spotify, and spread the word: tell everyone you meet to find out who the heck Kyle Smith is. They’ll thank you for it.
