The Fernie community gathered to celebrate and remember the life of promising young musician Nell Smith on Apr. 10, with the launch of her new posthumous album.
A crowd gathered at Vogue Theatre to hear Smith's first original album Anxious played for the first time. The 10 track album is a window into the life of a teenage girl who was gaining independence and finding her way in the world, one that burned bright before being cut short all too soon.
17-year-old Smith last year in a car collision in Alberta, and the album was finished posthumously with help from her family and friends.
At the event, Smith's parents Jude and Rachel delivered some words of remembrance and told story of her life and career.
"The time has honestly seemed to pass like a heartbeat. It's still not real that she's gone and we are both expecting her to call and walk through the door at any moment," said Rachel, as she addressed the crowd at the event.
"[Grief] it's an individual journey and it's one you don't have a map or a guidebook for. What I can say it's that it's a very tough and challenging road to be travelling on, but we're getting glimmers of hope and light. We're pretty positive that life does not end here and that Nell is watching on," she added.
Songs from Anxious were played alongside commentary from some of the musicians she collaborated with, including local Fernie band Shred Kelly and Penelope Isles.
The event revisited songs from her debut album Where the Viaduct Looms, released in 2021. Her first album was a collaboration with psychedelic rock band The Flaming Lips, featuring cover songs from Nick Cave.
A short documentary walked the audience through her day-to-day life, as she prepared for a global tour with the Flaming Lips.
Slowly, the story of Smith's life began to unfold. From a young age, she had a natural gift for music and worked hard to hone her craft in pursuit of her dreams. She was only 12-years-old when she recorded her first cover album, and she was writing and recording her own music by age 15.
Jude read a letter that she wrote as a young girl, addressed to the The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne, where she spoke of her desire to be on stage and tour with him. While this particular letter never made it to Coyne, it foreshadowed what was to come.
"I know people who wanted to be astronauts, or rock stars, or racing drivers, or hockey players, whatever it might be. This kid, she wrote down what her dreams were and they came true. I take some comfort in that," said Jude.
As the music played, Smith's voice ebbed and flowed like a soft river, drawing the audience inside her world. She found inspiration in the unforgettable people that she met, the places she travelled, and Fernie's majestic mountains and natural beauty. Her own feelings guided her songwriting, as she navigated a complex world within the entertainment industry.
"It kind of looks effortless, but what you don't see here is the amount of hard work she put in. She had a lot of self-doubt. There were a lot of barriers. Every time there was a barrier and she had self-doubt, she just pushed through it and got to her goal," said Jude.
Proceeds from the show's ticket sales, sponsors and merchandise will support the Nell Smith Memorial Fund to help aspiring musicians achieve their dreams. 台湾MM裸聊室 $50,000 has been raised so far, putting the family halfway to their target of $100,000. $10,000 will be awarded to one lucky musician annually, for a decade. Jude said the selection process will be through video submission.
The Smith family said they received incredible community support with event sponsorship from more than 50 local businesses.
"Having the music, all the film footage is a huge legacy," Rachel told The Free Press. "That's a big part of the music fund. We wanted people to be able to follow their dreams and do the same thing she was able to do."
"I just wish she was here to see it. I just wish she could see how appreciated it is," she added.
