Chris Smart and his five-year-old son Jacob greet the day with music on the stereo.

The Beatles, Ray Charles and Johnny Cash – “all the good stuff” – fill the air, says Smart.

“We get a couple of minutes of dancing time in,” he adds of their morning routine.

A professional musician renowned for his fleet-fingered guitar work, the Cumberland Beach man is drawing on his passion for another musical genre to support a cause close to both their hearts.

Jacob was three when Smart learned that his son had what he describes today as a spectrum of autism, exhibiting a variety of behaviours particular to the disorder.

He likes to bounce and gets easily excited, sometimes walking in circles and moving his arms and hands in ways others may find unusual.

“In my eyes, he is no different than any other boy,” says Smart, describing his son as outgoing and happy. “He is going to grow up having the same as everyone else.”

Proceeds raised through a two-day “blues summit,” taking place April 4 and 5 at Tux II nightclub, will go to support the Achimota Centre For Children With Autism.     

The Barrie-based agency provides specialized programming for children two-and-half years of age and older.

“I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can about autism, what it really is and what I can do for him and I so we are on the same page,” Smart adds, noting that Jacob has no affiliation with the agency.
Smart will perform with the Real Deal, his band of more than seven years.

Others scheduled to play the two-day summit include Ronnie Douglas, Doug Trucker, Brian Good of the Good Brothers, Methodology, and Burke and Gowan.

“People can dwell on it and say, ‘My son has a disability,’ or you can do something to make someone’s life better,” Smart says.

The single father came to the guitar at age three, some two years before he himself began to speak.

He plays by ear, never having learned to read music.

Smart does not know the difference between an A major and a cowboy C chord, but can mimic the works of Stevie Ray Vaughan and other favourites with ease.

“Every child,” Smart surmises, “has their own gift.

“Jake, he doesn’t forget. If you tell him something that you are going to do, he is going to expect that,” he adds. “He knows the planets in the solar system, he knows the difference between a comet and an asteroid if you give him a chance.”

Tickets to the Orillia Blues Music Summit are $15 for one day or $25 for the weekend.