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Phill Smith

@_phill_smith_

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drummer/improviser/computer musician/booking contact for project project in omaha, ne

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Coming in hot: the first show of a new performance series at Project Project — the OSB Series!

The OSB Series focuses on (but isn’t strictly limited to) minimally amplified solo and small ensemble free improvisation.

We’re kicking off the series on Saturday, June 26 with a bunch of my favorite Nebraskan improvisers: @kylexjessen @bgearx and Lillian Kraft (I’ll also be performing).

The plan is to have these OSB shows monthly-ish (quarterly? every two months?), and will always be free/PWYC.

If this sounds like a new name for what we’ve been doing for the last few years, that’s because it is — but there’s some other exciting stuff in the works. Stay tuned! #omahamusic #freeimprovisation #orientedstrandboard taken in Project Project by @_phill_smith_

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19 days ago

David Lord is coming back to Project Project this Friday! From his website:

Guitarist and composer David Lord has developed a singular approach to composition and improvisation. His music has been featured in publications such as Downbeat, Dusted Magazine, A Closer Listen, All About Jazz, Under the Radar, Bandcamp Daily, Pop Matters, NPR, Aquarium Drunkard, Magnet and Tiny Mix Tapes.

Lord has recorded and collaborated with Jeff Parker, Chad Taylor, Devin Hoff, Billy Mohler, Charles Rumback, Dave Easley, James Singleton, Jason Stein, Mai Sugimoto, John Tate, David Tranchina, Nathan Hubbard, Christine Tavolacci, Chris Schlarb, Dale Black, Timonium and many others.

Lord has released five albums under his own name, Forest Standards Vol. 1 (2018), Forest Standards Vol. 2 (2020), Forest Standards Vol. 3 (2023), Forest Standards Vol. 4 (2024) and Way Over the Rainbow (2025).

Lord has created his own extended lydian polychordal system which can be heard throughout his music. Grounded in the natural world, Lord’s musical logic involves themes of the forest, fungi and ecosystems.

Also featuring: Jeff Kolega performing Frederic Rzewski's To The Earth. If you liked the Odyssey, you'll love this.

Lillian and I are playing some music I wrote for vibraphone, accordion, and live electronics. Far out.

#omahamusic #homeric #mushrooms taken in Project Project by @_phill_smith_

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2 months ago

This Saturday, at @weareprojectproject in the back! About the artists:

Sholeh Asgary (b. Iran) engages performance, interdisciplinary forms, and collective processes to investigate, memorialize, and express the complexities of joy and survival inherent in diasporic and refugee experiences. Her work challenges colonial assumptions about what is heard, proposing new futures through sound. (her most recent record,
آبـان (Aban), is fantastic)

Dereck Higgins: Active in music since the 70's Dereck is known for his bass playing skills and diverse musical interests. He has played many styles from punk to jazz to blues to electronic to Cajun. (feels a little silly to put Dereck's blurb in here — we all already know and love him)

GMT: amplified yard games. Will there be costumes, ladders, stilts, and/or minor electrocutions? Probably yes, but you'll have to see it on Saturday to find out.

#omahamusic #projectproject #hotdawg by @_phill_smith_

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2 months ago

July shows at Project Project! Both total rippers that deserve (and will receive) individual posts, but I’m so excited that I just gotta get the news out.

July 18, in the backyard (!!), @sholehasgary with @dereckhiggins and GMT (@harvestgoth )

July 24, @davidlord109 , @jeffkolega , and massasauga (new vibraphone/accordion duo with Lillian Kraft)
#omahalivemusic #experimentalmusic #improvisedmusic #wow #neat by @_phill_smith_

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3 months ago

GET READY TO CRANK YER HAWGZZ OVUR 2 THE COVEN FRIDAY JULY 10 IS GUNNA BE A DAM GOOD NITE FOR REAL MUSIC ........

WINNINGFRESD WORM FRIEN.D AND X-ID A.ND PHIL.L SMITH DAM RITE

DOORS OPEN @ 8 EEEEYUUUUPPP

DEBRUH COME BACK................ by @_phill_smith_

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3 months ago

So psyched to have heavy hitters Stein/Smith/Shead coming to Project Project on May 22nd!

Jason Stein — Damon Smith — Adam Shead (often billed as Stein/Smith/Shead) is a Chicago-rooted improvising trio uniting bass clarinetist Jason Stein, double bassist Damon Smith, and percussionist Adam Shead. Since forming in late 2021, the group has toured extensively across the Midwest and beyond, becoming a fixture in the creative music circuit and collaborating with influential figures such as Roscoe Mitchell. Their recorded work documents a remarkably productive period, encompassing four releases: Volumes & Surfaces (2022), Hum (2023), spi-raling horn with Marilyn Crispell (2024), and Live at the Hungry Brain with Marilyn Crispell (2025). Together, these albums trace the group’s evolution from kinetic, small-ensemble interplay toward expansive collaborations that bridge generations of avant-jazz practice.
Critics have consistently praised the trio’s fearless energy and deep listening. All About Jazz described Volumes & Surfaces as “undiluted free jazz with energy as its calling card and attention as its driver,” while The Free Jazz Collective called their collaboration with Marilyn Crispell “stunning” and “full of muscular interplay.” Known for their balance of precision and volatility, Stein/Smith/Shead channel the improvisational lineage of Chicago’s creative music scene into a sound that is at once restless, focused, and alive to the moment.

Also performing: Smith & Jessen with Damon Smith (Smith & Smith & Jessen?!) and perennial favorite Lillian Kay. I cannot adequately convey in words my excitement for this gig — do not miss this one. #omahamusic #freeimprovisation taken in Project Project by @_phill_smith_

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5 months ago

April gigs, no fooling:

4/12: @one.aux Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffestival in Tulsa, OK (whole festival looks incredible)
4/14: @mke_ultra in Milwaukee, WI, solo and trio with @jhn_lrkn and @pmgpmgpmg (both of whom are fantastic and I’m excited to meet)
4/15: @marmaladepreserve in Chicago, IL, duo with @robbiehunsinger (so psyched to play with Robbie again and on a bill that is SO stacked)

Real excited about each of them, can’t wait to get out there.

#improvisedmusic #drums #supercollider #molasar by @_phill_smith_

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6 months ago

The Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffestival of Music, Sound & Noise comes back Sunday April 12 at Riverside Studios / Spotlight Theater starting at 2pm and the afternoon lineup is stacked from the jump:

doom.kit — A violin and piano duo that uses electronics to blur the very cognition of sound. They find exquisite moments in psycho-acoustic phenomenon and weave them into something that defies easy categorization. That description is just the beginning of their aural adventures.

Ugly Feelings (aka halo_error) — Assemblage and transformation of field recordings and untidily designed instruments. Messy in the most intentional, gorgeous way possible.

BIRD DRUGS — Four simple words: post ambient dub noise. Infinite implications.

Phill Smith — Omaha drummer, improviser, and software engineer whose drumming has been called “restrained but propulsive” by Byron Coley in The Wire, and whose compositions have been called “high velocity, quasi-grindcore feedback music” by KLANG. Has performed internationally and appeared at festivals across the country. An absolute heavy hitter and we are thrilled to have him.

Der Wurm — Indescribable noises for the everyday worm. We could not have said it better ourselves.

Three days, three venues, nearly 40 acts. We’ll have more lineup announcements dropping soon so stay tuned!

#tulsadit #thingstodointulsa #tulsamusic #experimentalmusic #soundart noisemusic noisetulsa taken in Tulsa Spotlight Theater by @_phill_smith_

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6 months ago

Show alert 🚨🚨🚨 March 14 at Project Project: @kylexjessen @sbarelos and introducing new duo @sener.mx & @jen.mcevoy not to be missed!#omahamusicscene #orientedstrandboard #freeimprovisation #toypiano #engagingcontent by @_phill_smith_

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7 months ago

First of a good handful of shows to announce: the ultra spacious @v.vecker makes his triumphant return to Omaha on March 5, with local support from justly intoned electronic wizard @dylan84rry and I'll do my thing, too. #omahamusic #experimentalmusic #ambient #justintonation #wow #graphicdesigner taken in Project Project by @_phill_smith_

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8 months ago

1. doing my best
2. LA friends! Got my first performance of the year at @suddensomethingsimprov this Friday
3. real excited about performing with/in Volumes at @bemiscenter in March
4. Ed’s got the right idea by @_phill_smith_

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8 months ago

One last show for the year: randomized duos and trios at @weareprojectproject on December 20 with some stone cold rippers. #hellyeah by @_phill_smith_

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10 months ago