A conversation with internationally renowned string improvisor LaDonna Smith. LaDonna Smith is a musician and artist based in Birmingham Alabama. She has been deeply involved in the surrealist movement through projects in the southeastern US, including groups such as Glass Veal and Fresh Dirt and collaborations with other musicians and artists such as Davey Williams and Janice Hathaway. Along with Williams, she founded and has run the Transmusiq record label since 1976. Smith also serves on the board of directors of the International Society of Improvised Music; founding, publishing, and functioning as editor in chief for their periodical “The Improviser" from 1980 until it was retired in 2010. She has recorded with musicians such as John Zorn, Anne LeBaron, and Derek Bailey. She is also the founder and current board president of the East Village Arts space in Birmingham. Smith joins us on Mumbling Planet for a wide ranging conversation about music, art, composition, improvisation, oral histories of southern surrealism, and more.