G.E. Smith, Portraits, 2024. Photo: Jessica Dalene Photography
Produced by Taylor Barton
Join us for a night of extraordinary music and storytelling featuring the legendary G.E. Smith and the multi-talented Louis Cato as part of the 2025 G.E. SMITH’S PORTAITS series.
This special evening brings together G.E. Smith, the masterful guitarist and bandleader known for his work with Bob Dylan, Hall & Oates, and Saturday Night Live, alongside Louis Cato, the Grammy-nominated multi-instrumentalist and bandleader for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Together, Smith and Cato will blend blues, rock, and soul in an electrifying performance filled with masterful musicianship, spontaneous collaborations, and behind-the-scenes stories from decades on the road and in the studio.
PORTRAITS is a uniquely intimate concert series created by Taylor Barton & G.E. Smith, showcasing in-depth musical conversations with some of the most dynamic artists of our time. Through song and storytelling, these performances offer a rare glimpse into the artistry, influences, and experiences that shape a musician’s craft.
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G.E. Smith
G.E. SMITH was bandleader and Musical Director for Saturday Night Live (SNL) band from 85-95'. During this time he also toured with Bob Dylan for four years. He was bassist on THE WALL LIVE TOUR for Roger Waters, 2010-2016 and sideman to Jagger, Bowie, and guitarist for Hall & Oates. He also helped Mike Myers write a song for Aerosmith, called Wayne’s World which went multi-platinum when they performed on SNL. gesmithmusic
Photo: Rick Wenner
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LOUIS CATO
"In many ways, Louis Cato began growing toward the role of bandleader on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert when he started playing drums at the age of 2. His love of music evolved into an appreciation of gospel and contemporary Christian music from his native North Carolina and continued into his education at the Berklee College of Music.
Since then, Cato has become a Grammy-nominated and internationally acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer and songwriter. He has an undeniable ability to craft sonic landscapes into timeless masterpieces and has worked with an array of artists including Bobby McFerrin, Snarky Puppy, Jon Batiste, Q-Tip and A Tribe Called Quest.
After two decades of lending his talents to other creators Cato released his first solo record Starting Now in 2017 and more recently released Reflections in the summer of 2023. True to form he played every instrument on each of those albums, which leads to his next original endeavor – a compendium of his infamous Cato Covers – a weekly cover series made popular on his Instagram. Music is Louis’s lifeblood and it brings him unbridled joy to share his gifts, feelings and energy with those around him."
Photo: Shervin Lainez
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TAYLOR BARTON
Taylor Barton is a multi-talented, writer, producer, and singer-songwriter. She is Vice President of Green Mirror Corp, a multi-media entertainment company. She has worked for four decades in the Music Industry and produced over 50 Events Worldwide.
She has released ten critically acclaimed solo albums all available on Apple, Pandora, Spotify, and other digital platforms. Vanity Fair calls her voice beautiful and seductive. Rolling Stone calls her beguiling. She is the recipient of ten ASCAP Popular Panel Awards. Her film, 50 Watt Fuse, documenting G.E. Smith’s career as a sideman, was an Official Selection of the Mill Valley Film Festival. Written and directed by Barton with cameos from Lorne Michaels, Jimmy Buffett, to Bob Dylan and Hall & Oates; it garnered Barton a standing ovation.
She is the producer of the performance series GE Smith’s Portraits at Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY. Featured guests have been The Avett Bros, Billy Squier, Roger Waters, Ethan Hawke, Trevor Hall, LeRoy Bell, The Bacon Bros, Sarah Jarosz, Paula Cole, and Carter Burwell to name a few. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the Hamptons International Film Festival where she is the Founder of the Melissa Mathison Fund.
She is married to GE Smith and lives in Amagansett, NY with their daughter Josephine Smith.
Sponsors
Performing Arts programming is supported in part by funding from Galia Meiri-Stawski and Axel Stawski, Henry and Peggy Schleiff, The Melville Straus Family Endowment, and Monica and Peter Tessler. Music Programming is supported in part by The Ellen and James S. Marcus Endowment for Musical Programming.
Additional support provided by Friends of the Theater: John and Joan D’Addario, Natascia Ayers and Jim Ciquera, Christine and Bill Campbell, Gabrielle and Gianpaolo de Felice, Lena Kaplan, Hilarie and Mitchell Morgan, Michèle and Steve Pesner, The Schaffner Family Foundation, Lisa Schultz and Ezriel Kornel, Jayne Baron Sherman and Deborah Zum, Stacey and Oliver Stanton, Leila Straus, Susi and Peter Wunsch, and Andrew Yuder and Kyle Glaeser.