Teacher Profile: Dallas Smith
About Dallas Smith
Dallas Smith is a guitarist and music educator from Little Rock, Arkansas. He started taking guitar lessons from his uncle Darren at his family's music store in 2004 when he was 8 years old, and has been playing music ever since. Growing up in a richly musical family established a deep love and passion for the art form at an early age. In high school he studied percussion instruments while playing for the orchestra, jazz, and marching bands.
During and after college, Dallas started playing guitar with various local bands such as the power rock trio We Few, the country-fried hippie folk group The Fried Pies, and the swingin' jazz quartet The Goat Band at their usual Little Rock haunts such as Cregeen's Irish Pub and The Lobby Bar at the Studio Theater. In this phase of his musical journey, Dallas developed a deeper fascination with the world of jazz and jazz guitar. He is profoundly influenced by listening to New Orleans jazz guitar phenom Ted Ludwig who would grace the lobby of the Capital Hotel with his trio every weekend.
Aside from playing gigs at local venues, Dallas has also hopped into the orchestra pit at local community theaters such as The Studio Theater and Argenta Community Theater to play guitar for a number of live musical productions, including Memphis, Spring Awakening, and Pippin.
In November of 2022, Dallas moved to Falls Church, VA, where he is pursuing the next phase of his musical chapter and continuing his teaching. He loves working with Guitar students and having the opportunity to share the joy of music, as well as live it every day. Teaching has also allowed him to meet more musicians, make new friends, and join new bands, which is an aspect of music Dallas hopes to pass on to others.
Currently, Dallas plays Bass Guitar for local DC alternative rock band Milo In The Doldrums, as well as his own solo acoustic shows for local venues in the NoVA and D.C. area. Dallas appreciates every day that he can continue on with his musical journey and looks forward to inspiring the next generation of players to enrich their lives with music.