April Smith and Caroline Smith have more in common than identical surnames and clever band monikers. They’re both smart song crafters who are making room for themselves under the vast, hand-crafted, fully organic, animal cruelty-free umbrella that is our current definition of “indie” music.

The former has most recently lent retro-pop songs to highly visible TV shows (“Terrible Things” was on Weeds, for example) and commercials (catch April’s cover of “You Don’t Own Me” in an NFL ad). Her most recognizable track off the 2010 release, Songs For A Sinking Ship, might be “Colors”, which provided the soundtrack to a popular Lowe’s commercial. I don’t use these references to insinuate that Smith and her band are cut from an overtly commercialized musical cloth. Quite the opposite, in fact.

On stage, Smith is a disarming, just slightly sinister circus leader in a vintage polka dot dress. Once the singing begins and her smooth, gimmick-free voice is revealed, expect to be swayed and to be smitten.

On to the latter Smith. I’ll just disclose, Friday will be the third time in two years I’ve seen this lady and the Goodnight Sleeps at Off Broadway. Like I’ll probably have a few beers and buy a CS+tGNS shirt for Christ’s sake…That’s where I’m at at this point, you know? And I’ll go ahead and say that Smith along with her talented band – Jessie Schuster, Arlen Peiffer (of Cloud Cult – neat, right?), and David Earl – didn’t reinvent the folk pop wheel with their 2008 debut full length, Backyard Tent Sets, and they didn’t do it with their more mature and pretty excellent 2011 release, Little Wind.

That said, this band’s sincere, memorable music is what I want played during important past and future events in my life and/or in the unlikely circumstance that a biographical film is made about me at some point.

Caroline Smith and the Goodnight Sleeps and Pabst at Off Broadway.

Leading the evening off (at 9pm sharp!) is Jump Starts, a St. Louis duo featuring two of our personal favorite humans/musicians, Sarah Ross and Justin Johnson, who are close to finishing the follow up to their first record, Ready, Set, Go.

Tickets for April, April, & Jump Starts at Off Broadway on Friday the 13th are $10 ahead and $12 dos if you’re 21+. But IWTAS happens to have a pair up for grabs! Leave us a comment on this post for a chance to win, and don’t forget to include an email address where we can reach you. Contest ends on Friday at 3pm – good luck!