Introducing the band

On Alto Sax: Lois Smith

Lois joined beginners’ band in 6th grade, intending to play trombone beside the boy she had a crush on. However, she was absent the day school-owned horns were assigned, and found the only horn left was a bari sax. She fell in love with it, though, and forgot about the boy! (Well, almost.) In 7th grade she acquired her own alto sax, which she played for the next 10 years in school bands. As the only female in her college dance band, she studied clarinet too.

On obtaining her “MRS degree,” Lois took time out to raise a family, and didn’t play her horns again for 17 years. Eventually she joined Beaver’s Tucson Concert Band and, over the next 35 years, played alto sax, clarinet, and bari sax, as needed. During seven of those years she also played in the Kline-Smith Dance Band. By the early 1980's she and two other “gals” formed an eight-piece dance group, called it The Fairer Sax, and averaged two “gigs” per month for its two years of existence.

In recent years, Lois and her husband, guitarist Howard Smith, have been playing with Retro Swing 7 (founding members), The Rhythm Gang, and The Bouncing Czechs.