The Smugglers (band)


The Smugglers are a Canadian indie rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. The band consists of vocalist Grant Lawrence, guitarists Nick Thomas and David Carswell, bassist Kevin "Beez" Beesley and drummer Graham Watson. Past members include Paul Preminger, Adam Woodall, Bryce Dunn, Danny Fazio and John Collins.

History

The Smugglers formed in 1988 when Lawrence, Carswell, Thomas, Woodall and Preminger were students at Vancouver's Hillside Secondary School. They started by playing covers of then popular songs at local events and venues, and went on a short tour to Alberta and Saskatchewan during March Break week.
Over the course of their career, the band released material on a variety of record labels, including PopLlama, Radiation, Mint and Lookout.
In 1998 the band released an album of live recordings, Growing Up Smuggler. Soon after, Dunn left the band, and was replaced as drummer by Watson.
In 1999 the band performed in Toronto in support of their album Rosie. Lawrence was also a frequent contributor to the CBC Radio 2 programs Night Lines and RadioSonic, recording audio diaries of his experiences on tour with the band; he became the host of RadioSonic in 2001.
The band continued performing their high energy live shows, and in 2004 released a CD, Mutiny in Stereo.
After 2004 the band went into hiatus. Lawrence remains with the CBC as a host on CBC Radio 3, Beesley is currently a co-owner of Mint Records, and Carswell and Collins are partners in JCDC, a recording studio in Vancouver.
In 2017, Lawrence published a memoir, Dirty Windshields, based on the diaries he kept of the band's activities. The Smugglers reformed for a series of reunion shows, including one in Saskatoon at the Amigos, where they performed on their first tour.

Discography

Albums