Smoother was a Canadian rock band from

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...

, headed by lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Andrew Franey. Members included Beau Cook on bass and vocals, keyboardist James Fleming, drummer Adam Benning and Todd Knight on guitar and vocals.

History

Smoother started out with the name Sponge; They signed with Sonic Unyon and recorded an album, ''Trendbender'', in cassette form in 1993 under that name. The band also contributed to a Sonic Union compilation album, ''Not if I Smell You First''. The band changed its name to Smoother after the American band with the same name began to achieve success in North America. They then released an album, ''Copycat'' in 1994 through Sonic Unyon. Smoother performed at the

NXNE North by Northeast (or NXNE) is an annual music and arts festival held each June in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival's main focus is live music, but it also includes an eSports gaming tournament, comedy, a conversations series, a flea marke ...

festival and

Edgefest Edgefest was an annual outdoor rock festival in Canada. It was founded by staff members of Toronto radio station CFNY-FM. From 1987 to 2015, the festival was held every year in the summer (except for 2007). The festival was most frequently hel ...

in 2001. The band's first and only major label release, ''Chasing the Dragon'', was released in 2001 through

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

Canada. The album was well received critically but failed to meet the sales expectations of EMI. The single "East Side" received extensive radio play in Canada, and was among the top 70 most played radio tracks in Canada in 2001. "East Side" was also featured in the motion picture '' Men With Brooms''. The band was nominated for Best New Group at the 2002 Juno Awards.

Discography

*''Trendbender'' (as Sponge) (1993, Sonic Unyon) * ''Copycat'' (1994, Sonic Unyon) * ''What a Life'' (1999, Sonic Unyon) * ''Chasing the Dragon'' (2001, EMI Music Canada)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smoother (Band) Canadian alternative rock groups Musical groups from Hamilton, Ontario Sonic Unyon artists