image of Nigel Smith, Songwriter sitting on rocks with the Ocean in the background

Hello!

I’m Nigel Smith, a songwriter and musician based in the South Hams in the rolling Devon Countryside. Welcome to my story so far and I hope you like listening to my music…

New music for 2026

Coming soon… a 16-minute instrumental track: Beyond the Dark Oceans – a musical accompaniment to the novel of the same name by Alison Huntingford.

Available on download through Bandcamp shortly.

CD Cover Art: A young couple in love set against a backdrop of WW1 imagery - sandbags, explosions, a dark ocean with mountains and trees off in the distance

Investigate and discover what some critics have described as a cross between Kate Bush, Pink Floyd and the Stranglers! I call it Folky-Pop with a Rocky Prog tinge and occasional Dance grooves. You decide...

Nigel
Piano keyboard graphic
Image of Andy Taylor and Nigel Smith with an urban graffiti background
NIGEL SMITH and ANDY TAYLOR: START POINT
Image of Nigel in a pub setting drinking a pint of 'Nigel's' own beer
This is my beer

It all began in 1977...

In Bude, North Cornwall. A musical collaboration in the 6th form between a musician and a lyricist; Nigel Smith and Andy Taylor.

However, it took thirty years of gigging pubs and clubs across the UK for Nigel and stints in the Army and the Police Force for Andy before the two re-united in 2007 in Devon. They re-discovered their calling and wrote, recorded and released three independent CDs in 2016, 2019 and 2023 as Start Point.

CD - Album Cover artwork in Black and White: 5 men mopping up the deck of a Royal Navy warship. Artist: Start Point, Album: Mopping Up
Mopping Up by START POINT (2025)
CD Cover Image: A close-up of a rough, weathered stone surface in mottled browns and greys, with the words “START POINT” near the top and “OLD AND WISE” at the bottom.
Old and Wise by START POINT (2023)
Sea of Treason CD Cover Image: depicting a calm ocean with several hangman's stands each with an empty noose - the reflection in the water has a body hanging from each
Sea of Treason by START POINT (2016)
A small, colourful house is swept through dark, violent water under a low storm cloud, with lightning striking the horizon ahead. White text around the image reads “START POINT,” “SLOWBOAT,” and “TO SAUL.”
Slowboat To Saul by START POINT (2019)

Steady sales and occasional live performances to enthusiastic crowds around the Southwest prompted Nigel to release his first solo CD – A Pirate’s Life in 2021. Regular airplay on local and internet radio sustained a growing fanbase until Covid made life complicated and halted momentum.

But as if like a phoenix rising from the ashes, in 2025 Nigel has recorded and produced two new works: one solo, one band.

The Plough incorporates more diverse instrumentation from Nigel and unique and insightful lyrics from Andy whilst a fourth Start Point CD – Mopping Up gathers more eclectic and hitherto unreleased treasures.

CD Cover Image: A crescent moon glows in a star-filled blue night sky above dark pine trees, with the Milky Way stretching across the scene and gold text reading “The Plough” and “Nigel Smith.”
The Plough by NIGEL SMITH (2025)
CD Cover image of a book on an old table titled: A Pirate's Life with the words Nigel Smith carved into the table
A Pirate's Life by NIGEL SMITH (2021)
Black and white image with the wording: Nigel Smith with a flat - lay piano keyboard
Nigel Smith / Songwriter

A lifetime of originality in both songwriting and musicianship drawing on many and varied influences brings the story right up to date.

Tour dates are being tentatively drawn up for 2026.