New York’s elusive guitar legend can now not cover within the shadows.
After 30 years of discreetly postering town with flyers promoting his guitar classes, Dan Smith’s grassroots marketing campaign has earned him essentially the most elaborate poster but: a Instances Sq. billboard.
Since 1992, New Yorkers have seen his face and slogan plastered on phone poles and storefronts throughout Manhattan and requested, who’s Dan Smith? Is he a legit guitar trainer? To New Yorkers, he’s considerably of a contemporary Bigfoot or Sasquatch.
“I’ve all the time hoped to catch him within the act,” one Gothamite wrote on Reddit.
Recognized throughout town because the “poster man,” Smith’s “plain and boring” fliers with simply his photograph, contact info, and the daring phrase “Dan Smith Will Educate You Guitar” plastered across the metropolis in varied neighborhoods have made him a neighborhood legend.
A lot to Smith’s disappointment, nobody referred to as at first. However after two years of constantly following this easy technique, he constructed a gentle enterprise that allowed him to go away his restaurant job behind.
He didn’t begin to really feel like a recognizable determine till 2000, when he first put his photograph on his flyers, which coincided with the rise of the web.
“I actually admire utilizing printed flyers; it’s this analog, hands-on expertise that’s deeper than digital types of promoting,” Smith instructed The Submit, including that speaking to retailer homeowners behind the counter and constructing relationships with them earlier than hanging his flyer has been essential for his advertising and marketing.
His minimalist strategy by chance constructed a legendary model. The phrase “Dan Smith Will Educate You Guitar” turned a popular culture staple, referenced and parodied on The Each day Present, BoJack Horseman and in John Mayer songs.
Smith recalled taking an previous BuzzFeed quiz titled “Are You a Actual New Yorker?”— and was shocked to see the query “Who’s Dan Smith?”
“I don’t really feel totally different from everyone else, but my flyer created a dynamic the place it’s within the cloth of town,” he instructed The Submit.
A lot in order that his iconic flyer has been elevated to the most important promoting show in Manhattan: a Instances Sq. billboard, as Hewlett Packard printing firm pays homage to Smith’s flyers by means of their Hometown Heroes marketing campaign, which might be on show on the Nasdaq billboard in Instances Sq. right this moment by means of Oct. 12.
Smith calls this honor a deeply gratifying affirmation of 30 years of onerous work.
Regardless of some “fame,” Smith’s day-to-day hasn’t modified.
He nonetheless opens his studio round 9 a.m., teaches into the night and spends his free hours strolling by means of town, quietly taping up his posters simply as he did three a long time in the past.
Amongst his lengthy listing of scholars is former New York Governor David Paterson, who picked up the guitar once more in 2020 after his spouse talked about seeing the ever-present fliers.
“I instructed (Smith) my story, began taking part in with him and located him to be a wonderful trainer,” Paterson instructed The Submit.
As a result of Paterson is legally blind, Smith tailor-made his instructing model to assist him really feel his approach across the instrument with out studying notes. “He’s a quiet hero — very hometown, proper right here 20 blocks from me in Manhattan.”
The duo even carried out collectively at an occasion with Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2023.
“I believe he’s made a “grassroots” influence and placing the fliers up was ingenious,” the previous Governor instructed The Submit. “He doesn’t over publicize himself or attempt to be a well-known guitar trainer,” he added, saying his classes really feel like being part of an “underground membership.”
Different locals, like Ivan Rivera, have been drawn in after recognizing a flyer taped to a deli window at seventeenth Road and ninth Avenue.
“It’s therapeutic for me as a result of it’s not simply concerning the music — he appears like a good friend I can sit and speak to,” Rivera instructed The Submit, including that he was thrilled to see Smith’s work acknowledged in Instances Sq..
“I’ve a fantastic relationship with New York Metropolis and I really feel comforted by the truth that folks see my flyers round,” Smith mentioned. “NYC is fertile for anyone with a dream, and placing my small flyers up helped me discover my voice, so it’s the right place.”
