This song was just for fun, I did it as a demo at Clarke Drive Studios in Vancouver with producer Rick Welin.  I wrote it kind of as a joke at first, but thought it was sweet and people seemed to like it so I recorded it! 
I did all the instruments and vocals, and had fun with it!  Hope you like it!

From the article: "Camosun musician reveals workplace tragedies"

Nexus Newspaper Volume 19, Issue 7, November 28, 2008, written by Alan Piffer.

"While recording a song exploring how a workplace fatality can impact a family, Camosun business student and punk-influenced singer/songwriter Riley Smith discovered the power music can have.

The single, "Ronnie," produced by Adam Sutherland of the Armchair Cynics, pays tribute to Smith's uncle Ronald who, in 1964, died at the age of 24 in a logging accident, the summer before starting his teaching career.

Part of Smith's upcoming album, The Demolition, the finished track features a verse with lyrics and vocals from Riley's father, Norm Smith-- Ronald's younger brother.

Hearing the song for the first time provided a much-needed emotional release for Norm.  "When Riley first gave me the CD with the song, I started to listen to the words," he says.  "I just broke down and was bawling my eyes out for half an hour."

"Ronnie" explores the devastating and long-lasting effects of the loss of a family member-- especially someone who goes well before their time.

"He died when I was 13; It was right at a crucial time in my life," says Norm.  "My mom, at 93, she lives with it every day. It's not just one person; it's affecting generations."

Norm recognizes the importance of services offered today for surviving families, such as grief counseling, as none existed when tragedy struck his family.

"Back in the early '60s there was nothing for families available," says Norm.  "You just kind of struggled through it the best you could, you know?"

Riley's mother, a WorkSafe BC employee, suggested he contribute the song for use in their educational material.

This prompted Riley to research workplace accident rates in this country.  He learned that Canada has one of the highest per capita death rates in the world.

Workplace statistics state approximately 1,800 Canadians are killed on the job every year-- three people each day.  Inexperienced younger workers make up a large percentage of this statistic.

"Younger people are definitely don't ask that many questions about how to do something," says Riley.

"When you're young, you think you're indestructible," adds Norm.

Through recording the song, Riley learned a lot about how his uncle's passing impacted his family.

He also realizes the gravity of what happened to his uncle, especially now that he has reached the age of 24, the same age his uncle Ronald died.

"There's no rewind button; once you're gone, you're gone," says Riley.  "And then there's going to be a lot of people missing you."

For more info, go to www.mypace.com/rileysmithca"

Ok, so there's a story behind my new song, "Ronnie".  It's not new.  I wrote the song a few years ago, (2004 - 2005), with my acoustic guitar, almost unknowingly.  It's one of those songs where, it just came out of nowhere-- I didn't really plan it.  But, you could say it was inspired by someone in my family I never had the chance to meet.  In 1964, my dad's brother, Ronald Smith, was tragically killed in a workplace (logging) accident, the summer before he was to start his teaching career.  This was a devastating, unexpected loss for my family, and generations later, I decided to record this song in his memory.   Did you know that approximately 5,500 Americans and 1,800 Canadians are killed on the job every year?  That's 20 a day.  20 moms, dads, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, and friends won't ever come home from work each day.  That's too many.  This song tells just one of those stories, think about how many others have gone through the same thing. 

This track is my final single/demo before I start recording my first full length album, "The Demolition," which I expect will be completed by June, 2009.   It was interesting working on "Ronnie" with my dad, because the emotional connection for him is still very strong, and he truly will always miss his older brother.   It was also great to collaborate with him, and include the verse he wrote.  

Who played what?
Riley Smith: acoustic, electric, 12-string, and bass guitar, vocals
Norm Smith: accordion, 12-string guitar, vocals
Jason: drums and percussion

"Ronnie" was produced and mixed by Adam Sutherland at Infiniti Studios in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.  Mastered by Alex DeGrace at Suite Sound Labs in Vancouver, BC.  Dedicated to Ronald Smith (1940 - 1964).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_HWx8pkX1I

Riley Smith playing Kim Mitchell's "Patio Lanterns".

From the article "Look, Mom: I'm Gigging with Green Day again" Times Colonist Newspaper, October 1, 2005.By Adrian Chamberlain"Riley Smith, a 21-year-old from Esquimalt, was having a really crappy week.  He walked to the grocery store and forgot his bank card. It meant trudging home and back. Then he backed into an expensive automobile at the driving range. And then his own car-- a humble 1979 Volkswagen Rabbit-- was vandalized, with both locks being broken.It wasn't the end of the world, just a run of lousy luck.  Nonetheless, when Smith went to Tuesday's Green Day concert at GM Place, he didn't expect to be picked to perform with the band.  (The punk-pop band has a ritual of choosing three audience members-- guitar, bass, and drums-- to play their song Knowledge.  It's part of the punk rock do-it-yourself ethos, dictating that anyone can grab an instrument and hammer away.)Smith was in the mosh pit with a sweaty, churning mass of tattooed rockers.  They alternately shoved each other and propelled crowd surfers --their arms and legs flailing like impaled insects-- towards the stage.  Smith bulldogged his way to the front clutching a sign that said "Billie Joe-- I can play guitar, pick me!"Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day's hyper-frenetic singer, spied the poster and invited him onstage.  The pair hugged, with Armstrong jokingly grabbing Smith's butt.  Then Smith, his bleached hair leached white under the glare of spotlights, seized the rock star's black guitar and grinded out the chord progression to Knowledge.  The sold-out crowd of 14,000 cheered, making an ear-searing sound like a 747 achieving lift-off.Afterward, Armstrong gave Smith that same guitar: an Epiphone Les Paul Junior.  I was amazed how confident this young man was.  At the end of the tune, he leapt off the drum riser as though he'd been doing this for years.  It turns out this is the third time Smith has been chosen to play onstage with Green Day, which surely is a record.  No wonder he prowled the stage like Dave Navarro."I was confident even the first time I did it," he said this week.  "I don't know why."He first got into Green Day in Grade 5.  His babysitter used to play the band's 1994 album, Dookie.  Something about the music-- buzzcocks-style guitars and catchy melodies-- grabbed him.  Smith bought his own Dookie cassette tape and became hooked.When he was a Grade 12 student at Esquimalt High, Smith traveled to the Tacoma Dome to see Green Day.  That was the first time he played with the band.  He held up a yellow poster with purple letters that read:  "Billie Joe, I can play guitar, pick me.""I'll always remember.  It was pretty insane," said Smith, who recalls the experience as surreal-- and incredibly loud.  "For some reason I didn't feel scared or nervous.  I just felt basically nothing but excitement and joy."On this occasion, Billie Joe told the crowd Smith's name was "Jump".  Concert-goers started screaming "Jump! Jump!" and at Armstrong's urging, he stage-dived into the audience.The Second time was Nov. 17, 2004 at the Pacific Coliseum.  He brought along his girlfriend, Stefanie.  She became frightened in the mosh pit, so Smith pushed his way out, holding her hand.   One concert goer-annoyed at his aggressiveness, slugged Stefanie in the face.Smith then struggled back to the front with his usual poster and was chosen.  Afterward, Billie Joe presented him with a black-and-white Fender Squier Stratocaster.  As he waded back into the audience, a weeping girl tried to throttle him."She was all pissed off she didn't get picked, I guess," he said.Smith confesses he had hesitations about trying to play guitar with Green Day for a third time this week.  For one thing he wondered whether Billie Joe would recognize him ("Hey dude, weren't you up here twice before?")  As well, he was worried the crowd might remember him from the Pacific Coliseuem gig and deem him a stage hog. An ulterior motivie spurred him on.  Smith had invited his mom to the GM Place concert with the express hope she would see him jam with one of the world's top rock acts.  His ace-in-the-hole was the flip-side of his sign, which said: "My mom is here watching!"Says his mother, Margaret Smith, who witnessed her son's star turn from a safe perch in the stands:  "I was thrilled, absolutely."Smith, not surprisingly, is a singer-songwriter who hopes to assemble his own rock band.For a few weeks he lived in Burnaby, working in the shipping/receiving warehouse at Sears.  He's now back in Victoria, driving truck for a food delivery outfit.  Smith is pleased with the change, since the new job comes with health benefits.  "I have to get my wisdom teeth taken out pretty soon," he confides.And he's plenty happy his mom finally saw him rock out for an arena jam-packed with howling fans.  "After all, she's put up with Green Day music coming out of my room for the last 11 years."

"Trying to rock from the bottom to the top"
By Alan Piffer
Nexus Newspaper at Camosun College

    No matter what direction your life may be heading, there's always the possibility of trying a different path, and maybe enven taking the chance to realize your dreams.
    Riley Smith, a Camosun College Criminal Justice graduate, is doing just that.  Smith is taking some time to pursue his dream of becoming a full-time musician.
    "I guess about three-quarters of the way through the Criminal Justice program, I started to realize that that career choice wasn't for me, so I chose not to follow through with the university transfer," explains Smith.  "I've been doing music my whole life and it's what I love to do.  So I figure, why not?"
    Recently, Smith purchased a package deal with producer Cody Osborne of Vancouver's Platinum Tracks to record a professional quality single, ready for radio airplay.  Although it's ultimately up to Smith to submit his demo to interested record labels and radio statinos, he did receive lots of useful advice for starting his musical career.
    "They definately help out," says Smith of producers like Osborne.  "He's given me a lot of pointers on what to do to try and get the songs out there."
    Smith plays music that mixes the acoustic guitar-based Neil Young songwriting style with a more modern folk-punk edge a la Green Day and Jimmy Eat World. 
    Smith even experienced a brief brush with fame getting to play guitar on stage with Green Day during their cover of the Operation Ivy song, "Knowledge."
    "I made a big poster out of paper from the art room at school," explains Smith.  "I painted on it, with purple paint-- 'Billie Joe, I can play guitar! Pick Me!'"
    Smith's initial plans for promoting his music include a radio tour.  "I'm trying to send the song out to radio stations all over BC.  Just go to the stations and inroduce myself and do interviews, if necessary, and play a song or two.  And also do pub or cafe shows in the evening while on tour."
    One of the singles Smith has completed is "A Song For Dave," a tribute to his recently deceased stepfather.
    "I really wanted to honour the positive influence he's had on my life, so I wrote this song," says Smith.  "I was playing guitar one day and it just came out.  It's had a really positive response so far.  When I was talking to the engineers in the studio about it, they were just speechless."
    Smith realizes the risks involved in embarking on a career in music, and is also considering Camosun's business program for later ventures in life.  Right now, however, he just wantes to take the chance on a musical career.
    "I just really want to share the songs with people," explains Smith.
    To hear some of Smith's music, check out www.myspace.com/rileysmithca

From "The Province" newspaper, September 28, 2005
Written by Tom Harrison

"Green Day No Idiots"

Maybe the drunk bunny was there before the start of the show to tell us this was supposed to be whimsical.  The bunny staggered onto a tape of the Village People's YMCA and left to the Ramone's Blitzkrieg Bop.  So hey, ho, let's go.  If the social and political climate in president George W. Bush's U.S.A. isn't to lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong's liking, the dislike isn't getting in the way of Green Day's need to party.  Armstrong was the consummate entertainer at last night's sold out punk party at GM place. 
    He got the audience clapping, swaying, singin' and chanting.  He frequently led a cry of "Hay - oh".  He struck exquisitely arranged poses.  He had a kid from the audience spray the crowd. 
    He also got a girl to play bass, a guy to drum, and Riley from Victoria to take his guitar.  The resulting trio played a pretty convincing three chords. 
    The band wore silly hats.  Armstrong put a cape on in the manner of James Brown. 
    Billie Joe, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool ran around with boundless energy and weren't afraid to appear goofy.  In fact, they exploited their goofieness.  Anything for the show.
    Green Day might be in a quandary about when a punk band is too successful or popular to be a punk band.
    A 35 dollar and upward concert ticket should be unheard of in punk circles, and an album that has sold millions means there is public acceptance of Green Day - rather than marking the trio as a social pariah.  Maybe the multi-platinum American Idiot defines the mainstream rather than exists outside it.
    And maybe there are questions that don't matter to Armstrong, Dirnt, and Cool right now.  They can be addressed later.
    Presently, Green Day is having fun, and the audience is soaking up the mayhem and madness with glee.
    The Green Day of the present is a great rock show.  It almost makes you forget the group is one of the only major bands that is making a political statement.  Just watching Armstrong strike a pose, it's easy to do.  But for all the fun, there is a serious undercurrent that gives weight to the performance.  Although the emphasis was on American Idiot, the is a generous overview of the band's career.  Plus, a parody of Isley Brothers "Shout" and Ben E. King's "Stand By Me".
    The "American Idiot" songs showed how much the group has progressed.  "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" are strong, confident songs that would stand out on any album, any time. 
    Green Day played for two hours, exploded plenty of pyro, paid tribute to Queen, and had a good time.
    So hey, ho, let's go.

From "The Esquimalt News" Newspaper May 8, 2002
Written by Jim Zeebin

"Local Teen Jams With Green Day"

    Note to Esquimalt community school staff: you can forgive young Riley Smith if he appeared to spend a little more time daydreaming than usual last Thursday.  Smith made an extraordinary effort to get to class after staying up most of the night on an amazing adventure. 
    The tale begins shortly before spring break when Smith and a pal bought two tickets to a rock concert by Green Day in Tacoma, Washington on May 1. 
    Smith, now in grade 12, says he's been a fan of the punk-rock trio since the fifth grade.
    "They're my all-time favourite band," says Smith, who has his own band, "Standard Issue," which plays their own songs, as well as the odd cover-- including a few by Green Day.
    And while playing the band's music is a thrill in itself, the idea of playing with the band was an impossible dream.  That is, until he saw the band perform last summer.
    "They picked three people from the audience at the show and that's what gave me the idea," he says, recalling the start of a master plan.
    Once he knew he was going to the Tacoma show, Smith says he fashioned a big poster to help him get noticed.
    Finally, the night before the concert, Smith stayed over at his dad's house-- packed and ready to leave the next morning.  The only trouble was he was too excited to get much sleep. 
    "By the night before, I was actually believing it was going to happen," he says.  "I had my poster made, and I had pretty high hopes of getting up on stage."
    After a fitful night, father and son, and fellow Green Day fan Jake McEvoy left (Victoria) for the ferry.  McEvoy goes to Uvic and Smith says he was the only student from ECS going to the show.  After crossing the border and driving past Seattle, the trio went to the Tacoma Dome.
    "We just went straight to the line-up," says Smith.  "We were like the first ones there."
    Smith's dad left the two pals to hang out where they met up with fellow fans from Oregon.  Smith and McEvoy didn't have general admission tickets which meant their seats were in the stands where they would have no hope of being picked to play on stage. 
    However, when the gates opened, the two followed the fellows from Oregon, and the rush of the crowd took them to their fateful spot-- right in front of the stage.
    By the time Green Day came up, the BC boys were about 15 feet back.  The band opened with "Maria" and, after plenty of pyrotechnics and high energy music, they played the first few notes of the song "Knowledge."  It was the song that the band uses for their random jam with fans. 
    "I had some guys around me that knew I had the sign and they were going to pick me up," says the six-foot Smith.  "I was holding the sign with my arms stretched out."
    The yellow sign had purple writing.
    About halfway through the song the band stopped and lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong announced, "we're going to make a band right here on stage."
    After selecting a drummer and settling on a bass player, Armstrong looked towards Smith.
      "You with the poster-- what will you do if i don't pick you?"
    Smith, who by this time had lost his shirt, motioned like he would cry.
    That was all it took and, suddenly, the ECS grade 12 student was atop the crowd being carried toward his idols. 
    "I was like oh my god I can't believe this is happening," he says.  "Then I kind of walked up to him to shake his hand but he kissed me-- my idol kissed me on the lips!"
    On stage in front of 30,000 fans, Riley Smith of Esquimalt held his rock star's guitar and began imitating the moves he knows so well.
    "There was a roar from the crowd when I started playing.  It was great," says Smith with a sigh.
    And then, for the length of a Green Day song, Smith and the two other chosen fans actually played music they adored in the company of those they adored even more. 
    To end the number, Smith says he and the bass player climbed on the drum platform and leaped off.
    The song over, it was time to step out of the spotlight.
    But wait.  While the bass player and the drummer were allowed to go, Smith's experience as a super fan wasn't done.
    Armstrong told Smith to stay behind, and began chanting "Jump! Jump! Jump!"
    "So I just jumped into the crowd," says Smith.  "I just remember landing on people's heads.  I felt pretty bad for those people."
    After making his way to the back of the mosh pit, Smith says other teens were coming up to him for high fives while girls just wanted to touch him. 
    "I kind of got pretty emotional," he said. 
    After the show, the two boys milled about the stadium, finally meeting up with Smith's dad and heading north in the wee hours of the morning.  They crossed the border in Vancouver, waited for the first ferry and were home in time to make it to the second class of the day.
    Other than memories, Smith says he plans on framing the guitar pick he used on stage.  He also wants to find anyone who took photos or video of the Tacoma concert to convince those who doubt his tale. 
    Until then he has his memories-- and his daydreams.