Kendra Smith (born March 14, 1960)[1] is an American
musician who was a founding member of
The Dream Syndicate, a member of
Opal, and later recorded as a solo artist.
Biography
After one privately pressed release with Suspects in 1979, Smith formed
The Dream Syndicate in 1981 with
Steve Wynn, and went on to record an
EP and an album as
bassist with the group before leaving in 1983 to join former
Rain Parade guitarist
David Roback in
Rainy Day (she had worked with Roback before, providing backing vocals on the Rain Parade album Emergency Third Rail Power Trip).[1] Rainy Day released an album and a single in 1984 before Roback and Smith became a duo in the psychedelic-tinged band Clay Allison, later
Opal.[2][3]
Opal only released one record, the Northern Line EP, and one album, Happy Nightmare Baby, before they split up but had recorded enough material for the Early Recordings compilation.[4] Smith left Opal during the band's final tour and was replaced by
Hope Sandoval, with Opal changing its name to
Mazzy Star after the tour.[3]
Smith formed a new band, The Guild of Temporal Adventurers, with Jonah Corey and A. Phillip Uberman,[5] who released an eponymous
mini-LP in 1992, with Smith playing the
pump organ. Her next release would not be until 1995 when the
4AD label issued her debut solo LP, Five Ways of Disappearing, described by Trouser Press as "an impressive — and colorful — achievement".[3][6]
Not much is known about her after the solo album came out except according to 4AD she had moved to the woods of Northern California in the early 1990s, living in a small cabin with no electricity, and returned there after making two appearances to promote the album.[7]
In 2017, Smith sang vocals on the last track on The Dream Syndicate's reunion album How Did I Find Myself Here?, her first appearance on a musical recording since 1995,[8] and returned with the Syndicate [9] for her first live performances since
Terrastock 2 in 1998.[10] In 2018, she contributed the song “Moon Boat” to the soundtrack for the film Leave No Trace.[11]
Discography
With Suspects
"Talking Loud" 7" (1979)
With The Dream Syndicate
The Dream Syndicate mini-LP (1982) Down There (
UK Indie #25)[12]