Cameron Smith

Cameron Smith plays the State Fair of Texas on Sunday, October 18, at the Backyard Steak Out. It's a solo acoustic set, just him and his guitar, which fits the kind of songwriting he does.

Smith is a Fort Worth singer-songwriter whose work sits in that high and lonesome territory—melancholic folk with a Texas lean. He describes his music as blending melancholy with resilience, and the songs tend to circle back to fate, family, legacy, and the way things don't stay put. His album Gold & Rust pulls those threads together, weaving tales of love, regret, and the passage of time. If you're familiar with the Texas songwriting tradition, you'll recognize the lineage: he cites Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and John Prine as influences, and his sound fits right into that alternative country and Americana wheel.

There's a bit of a story behind the songs, too. He grew up in Fort Worth, the son of a race car driver and an elementary schoolteacher, and he talks about drawing on lessons learned from the blacktop to the blackboard. At 19, he dropped out of Bible school and hit the road with a punk band, and he says he found songs that speak truth and offer solace rather than salvation. That trajectory—from the church to the road—shows up in the way he writes: he sings from life's shadows but keeps a hopeful heart.

It's a solo acoustic show, so you'll hear the songs stripped down to their basics. The set is at the Backyard Steak Out within the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, starting at 7 PM on Sunday, October 18.