Dakota Smith

Born and raised in Dallas, TX, Dakota Smith was heavily influenced by rock and roll legend, Bob Dylan. Dakota Smith learned to play guitar and harmonica at a young age. He developed strong songwriting skills and wrote songs about his life events growing up. A few years ago, Dakota met a pedal steel guitarist, Marco Bartolomei, at the Belmont Hotel pool. The two got together to add layers to his songs. Over time, the two brought in other pieces (drums - Larry Cummings, bass - Charlie J Memphis, keyboard - Drew Chapa) to develop a very unique sound. Dakota's band, named the Texas Heat, have been instrumental in completing the overall sound that Dakota had always dreamed of finding. The songs pack a lot of punch, with pedal steel driving both heavy and angelic melodies. Dakota's guitar and harmonica work adds tremendous depth. The keyboard, which was the latest piece to the puzzle, fills out the sound. Jason Burt is producing the band's debut album. He has worked with reputable Texas artists such as Leon Bridges, Paul Cauthen, Medicine Man Revival, Sarah Jaffe, and David Ramirez. He has described Dakota's sound as a mixture of Bob Dylan and Modest Mouse. The band has had difficulties describing their genre. But Jason's comparison is about as accurate as they've heard. Genre aside, preliminary reception to this unique brand of music has been extremely positive, and there is a lot hope that Dakota will be the next big band that comes out of Dallas.