“Congratulations to John Smotherman, the Palm Beach Gardens guitarist whose rocking composition, La Furia Nascosta finished in the top 5 in the Instrumental catagory of The Great American Song Contest”

"..Make no mistake, the soft-spoken Palm Beach Gardens resident(John Smotherman) often speaks volumes with his hands, yet he always displays taste and creativity and knows when to downshift.

"John's practically the anti-guitarist,"says Blatant Disregard bassist Mark Braun. "he has great technique, yet he'a a very giving player and actually listens."

“JOHN SMOTHERMAN is a native of TN,whose range of style is unmatched.After performing for several years in FL area clubs,he spent 6 months touring Sweden.Impressed by his dynamic performance at a local club in Indianapolis, The Jes Richmond Band invited him to "sit in"...and the rest is history.”

“The real treats were positioned adjacent to the dessert bar when Shelbyville native Jes Richmond made a local appearance with partner John Smotherman. The Jes Richmond Band played Thursday at Fat Daddy's Bar and Grill.... Richmond has been playing with Smotherman since 1994.”

“..Gonzalez's 301East group has become a rotating collective with guitarists Steve..and Mike.. both out. Enter John Smotherman,the area guitar hero from the mid 80s/early 90s who left a decade ago but returned to a fruitful freelance career within the past year..With drummer,Chris Peet....”

“A reticent guitar hero returned here recently after coming to SoFlorida in the mid 80's,then seeing,conquering and leaving a decade ago.John Smotherman's day job has been in the aviation industry..but it's onstage where he truely flies..Humble and soft-spoken, JS spoke loudly through music..”

“Rarely does a musician make such an imprint on So Florida's musical consciousness,only to leave and return even better 10 years later,as did TN-born guitarist Smotherman..can exactingly replicate Vaughan and Hendrix,plus fuse influences like Jeff Beck & Eric Johnson into his own creative synthesis”