Smith sets reluctance aside to evolve into a frontman
Geoff Smith didn’t set out to become a frontman. He always fancied himself as more of a lead guitarist, being kind of shy. But four years after starting a solo folk project, the Saskatoon native is now heading up a five-member indie rock and country ensemble called Gunner and Smith.
“When I started, I just thought it would be too much work trying to deal with a band,” said the vocalist and guitarist. “But this is a group of people who are creative and want to come up with things, so they are able to make my songs much better than what I would be able to do.”
Now with a female singer and even keyboards in the mix, it’s certainly a lot different than Smith’s original vision — but he says the sound is finally on point, “traditional folk songs, with an element of alternative country and psychedelic, Grateful Dead influence.” Just last month, Gunner and Smith just came out with its first full — length album, He Once Was A Good Man.
It was recorded in a studio above Amigo’s, one of the band’s main stomping grounds in Saskatoon, but that didn’t make the pressure of a debut record any less. Gunner and Smith had only done two EPs beforehand, and this time they were teaming up with a new producer: the Deep Dark Wood’s singer Ryan Boldt.
“I didn’t really have jitters, but I know some of the band did,” said Smith. “But Ryan’s not somebody who wants to completely take control and order people around, so it never became too nervewracking. It set the rest of us at ease very quickly.”
In the studio, the band hit its mark by doing live takes off the floor, instead of recording drums, bass and so on separately, explained Smith. And even though He Once Was A Good Man is freshly pressed, he’s already thinking about the next time around.
“Working in the studio is such a short period of time, so you never get perfection,” he said. “We just spent so much time learning from Ryan and he’s given us so many ideas. I want to take the process further.”
The singer-songwriter isn’t working on new material yet, but focused on the road. After wrapping up the Western Canada tour, including gigs at Regina’s Artful Dodger and Saskatoon’s Amigos, the frontman is playing solo across the East.
“I was in Kansas City for Folk Alliance so I came back … grabbed some laundry and it’s back on the road the next morning,” said Smith. “We’re doing three shows in three nights, so there isn’t a lot of time to sit back and relax or even think.”
But the aspiring musician doesn’t seem to mind. He also works as a youth care worker at a group home in Saskatoon, but would love to do make a career out music. With Gunner and Smith slated to play a full round of festivals this summer (a performance at Toronto’s North by Northeast has just been confirmed), its clear Smith is doing everything he can to make it happen.
“We love playing locally, but we don’t want it to just be that,” said Smith. “The goal is to try and get the music out as far as we can.”