According to the biography included in the liner notes of Blues On The Moon although Byther received some local recognition in the '60s and '70s, it wasn't until the 1980s and the recording of his first full length album, Housefire on the Razor label, that he began to garner attention. Listening to Byther Smith for the first time, you have to wonder how the hell a talent as impressive as this could have been missed for so long. His voice is as strong and authentic as any of his more storied contemporaries, his guitar playing assured and stirring, and his own material is the equal to anything I've heard written with few exceptions.

Some Blues musicians are known for their ability to wring emotion out of lyrics, others for the way their guitar playing pulls at your heart strings. Byther Smith brings to his music an intensity of emotion that shines through in the forcefulness of both his guitar playing and his vocals. If emotion is an electrical current powering music, than Smith is a conductor who translates it into guitar and vocals that pulses with an intensity that could power a small city. Constantly driving forward, his music challenges the listener to keep pace with the level of emotion he's transmitting and to let it carry them places where others aren't able to venture.

Eight of the 12 songs on the DVD are Byther's own compositions and each one is as assured and professional a song as you're liable to hear from any Blues musician no matter what their experience and credentials. "Blues On The Moon" and "Give Up My Life For You", the third and fourth songs on the disc respectively, are two that stood out in particular for me due to the two different perspectives they give a listener into Byther's personality.

"Blues On The Moon" can be seen as a funny song about being offered $5 million to play Blues on the moon. It's sort of silly, but think about his career as a musician and the lack of financial success he's experienced to date, and there's also a certain amount of irony you can attach to the song. Being paid a large amount of money for a gig is as likely to happen to him as he's likely to play a gig on the moon. What's nice about this song is that's there not an ounce of self pity to be heard, It's just a simple statement of fact, and an acknowledgement that you don't play the Blues in the hopes of fame and fortune.