Palm Beach Gardens resident multi-instrumentalist John Smotherman (reverbnation.com/johnsmotherman) will move back to his native Tennessee soon, meaning South Florida will lose one of its best all-around musicians.

Smotherman initially moved here in the mid-1980s when his engineering skills earned him a job at Pratt and Whitney. From 1990-1992, he was lead guitarist for Lite-N-Up, an original-and-cover variety act that spotlighted his versatility.

He left in 1992 to work in the aviation industry from Indiana to Sweden before returning in 2001, and has since been a spark plug for area bands Blatant Disregard, 301 East, and Big Brass Bed. Yet Smotherman realized in 2011 that he wanted to be closer to his parents in their twilight years.

“Almost all my family is close to Nashville, and I love it there,” he says. “I was born in Manchester, and my parents still live there in the house my dad had built in 1965.”

Smotherman’s electric guitar skills echo Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck and Stevie Ray Vaughan. For the past few years, he’s also wowed audiences on dobro, adding it to a list that includes mandolin, bass, drums, percussion and violin. He’s also a songwriter and vocalist comfortable in any style: rock to country; blues to bluegrass. Even in competitive Nashville, he’ll stand out.

John Smotherman plays guitar with rock band Crazy Chester from 3:30-7 p.m. on Saturday at Two Georges, 728 Casa Loma Blvd., Boynton Beach (561-736-2717), and dobro with bluegrass group Smiley Tunehead from 8 p.m.-midnight on Jan. 11 at South Shores, 502 Lucerne Ave., Lake Worth (561-547-7656).

‘Round town

Guitarist Pete Weintraub flies under the radar compared to twin sisters Gin and Evi, of 1992-1999 Inhouse fame, but that could change. Weintraub’s Frank Zappa tribute band the Merry Franksters salutes the late genre-blurring composer with songs from his complex catalog at 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 10 at the Bamboo Room, 25 S. J St., Lake Worth (free, 561-585-2583)….Kristina Fitzsimmons, Bryce Allyn, Brett Duff and South Side Dub are among the performers at the Greg Hansen Benefit, to aid a young Jupiter resident who suffered a stroke and needs speech therapy, from 5 p.m.-3 a.m. on Jan. 12 at Swampgrass Willy’s, 9910 Alt. A1A, Palm Beach Gardens (suggested $10 donation; 561-625-1555)….Philadelphia guitar-and-vocals couple Kim and Reggie Harris (kimandreggie.com) are civil rights and environmental activists who have shared stages with Pete Seeger, Harry Belafonte and Tom Paxton. They perform to honor Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday at 7 p.m. on Jan. 17 at the Clay Glass Metal Stone Cooperative Gallery, 605 Lake Ave., Lake Worth ($10; $12 at the door, 561-588-8344). billmrdth@gmail.com