Putnam Smith, who hails from Portland, Maine, could be an old-world troubadour fresh from the
19th Century.  After all, he lives in a log cabin,  plays his Grandfather's banjo, and prints up
the jackets to his CDs on a 1901 Pearl Letterpress (hand set type, pedal powered!).   Yet this rootsy
multi-instrumentalist songwriter (he also writes and performs on guitar, mandolin, fretless banjo, and piano),
steeped as he is in Appalachian traditions, is very much a storyteller for the modern age.

Putnam first came to national attention with his 2009 release, "Goldrush," which went to #5 on the national Folk & Bluegrass
DJ Charts (and made it on 6 "Favorite Albums of 2009" lists).  His latest release, "We Could Be Beekeepers" shot right up
to #2 the month it was released, charting 3 songs in the top ten (www.folkradio.org).   Selected as an "Emerging Artist" at the
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (2011), and noted as "One To Watch" (Rob Reinhart, Acoustic Cafe),  Putnam has begun to
establish himself as an acoustic tour-de-force not only in his hometown of Portland, but as a nationally touring musician
as well.  Putnam has won over audiences from the coast of Maine to the coast of California; from Winnipeg, Canada to
New Orleans, Louisiana.  He has also shared the stage with such folk notables as: Amy Speace, Mark Erelli, Spuyten
Duyvil, Madison Violet, Garnett Rogers, Richard Julian, and Bruce Molsky.   Says Sarah Banks, of Spuyten Duyvil,
after a house concert: "One of the most magical performances I've had the luck to attend!"

Some favorite venues that Putnam has played, include: Club Passim (Boston), Johnny D's (Boston), Rockwood Music
Hall (NYC), Me and Thee Coffeehouse (Marblehead, MA), Caffe Lena (Saratoga Springs, NY), One Longfellow Square
(Portland), Psalm Salon (Philadelphia), Trinity House Theatre (Livonia, MI), MAMA's coffeehouse (Bloomfield Hills,
MI), Uncommon Ground (Chicago), Ginkgo's (St. Paul, MN), Flipnotics (Austin, TX), Chickie Wah Wah's (New Orleans),
Studio Live (Sedona, AZ).

Putnam's songs sound like they've come from a back porch in the Blue Ridge Mountains, or some cabin on the coast of
Maine.  From whiskey-slinging good-time banjo numbers, to intimate heartbreakers on the guitar, to lighthearted tunes
about 'lawnmower repair' on the mandolin, Putnam is able to connect with each member of his audience as if each one
were an old friend with whom he were spending a precious evening. 

He lives in a log cabin just north of Portland, Maine, and loves compost.