Rhythm guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith (Frederick Dewey Smith, September 13, 1948 – November 3, 1994) was born in the Harts Creek area of Lincoln County. According to family lore, an electrical storm delayed the midwife’s arrival, and his grandfather ended up delivering him in the family kitchen. When Smith was very young, his family moved to the Detroit area in search of work, although their Appalachian roots ran deep: his mother, Kathleen, was from West Virginia, and his father, Dewey, from Kentucky.

Smith showed an early passion for music, playing bongos and guitar by age 12. Soon after, he formed his first band, Smith’s Vibratones. After meeting guitarist Wayne Kramer, who played in another local group, the two joined forces to create Motor City Five in 1963, which they later shortened to MC5, a nod to their love of hot rods and the Detroit Dragway. Smith’s purchase of a Fender Duo-Sonic electric guitar earned him the nickname “Sonic.”

Blending blues, jazz, and garage rock with the rebellious nature of the 1960s counterculture, MC5 became the voice of Detroit’s anti-establishment movement. Serving as the house band for the Grande Ballroom, MC5 opened for legends such as Jimi Hendrix and Cream and signed with Elektra Records. The band’s explosive debut album, Kick Out the Jams, recorded live at the Grande, captured their raw energy and political defiance. Even before the album’s release, the band was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

In 1968, MC5 performed at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago—the only scheduled act that refused to cancel amid the chaos in the streets and on the floor of the convention. They famously played for eight straight hours.

Despite their cultural influence, MC5 struggled to achieve commercial success beyond the Midwest. The band disbanded after a final performance at the Grande Ballroom on New Year’s Eve, 1972. Smith went on to play with former bandmates in a short-lived project called Ascension and then founded Sonic’s Rendezvous Band. He married future Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith in 1980 and joined her band briefly in 1988.

Fred “Sonic” Smith died of heart failure in 1994. Nearly a decade later, Rolling Stone named him one of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time,” and in 2018, he was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, honoring both his Detroit sound and his Appalachian roots.