The Groovesmiths are an Australian roots-music band, founded by

Gavin Shoesmith Gavin Dominic Shoesmith is an Australian singer, songwriter, double bassist and bass guitarist. He was a founding member of the John Butler Trio, from 1998 to 2001. In 2004 he formed a roots music group, the Groovesmiths. Biography In the ea ...

, former bass guitarist from

John Butler Trio The John Butler Trio are an Australian roots/rock band led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler, an APRA and ARIA-award-winning musician. They formed in Fremantle in 1998 with Jason McGann on drums, Gavin Shoesmith on bass and John Butler on vo ...

. Originally located in

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the smalle ...

, Shoesmith relocated to

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

. The band is recognized for its unique style and live performances, blending strong elements of Reggae, Jazz, and Hip-Hop into traditional Blues and Roots music. The Groovesmiths released a debut five-track extended play, ''Demonstrations of Intent'', in 2006. It featured guests,

John Butler John Butler may refer to: Arts and entertainment *John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American performer *John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist * John Butler (author) (born 1937), British author and YouTuber *John Butler (born 1954), ...

and Saritah. In November 2007 the Groovesmiths with Shoesmith on lead vocals, bass guitar, lap steel bass and harmonica; Alex Dew on lead guitar; and Matt Wright on drums performed at the Blues at

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Island ...

festival. A follow up self-titled album was issued in July 2008 on

MGM Distribution MGM Distribution (Metropolitan Groove Merchants) is the largest independent distributor of Australian music and music related merchandise and was established in April 1998 by Sebastian Chase. MGM Distribution was specifically set up as a dis ...

Style and songwriting

''Rockus Online Magazine''s Dominic Pearce reviewed ''Demonstrations of Intent'': Shoesmith explained that his song writing was partly based on experiences with indigenous

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

peoples while growing up in Lockridge (a Perth suburb) and are also based on "general political topics, I'm quite a political animal, mainly Australian and a bit of general politics as well. I don't really try to write songs so much as they just come to me, I really try to write in metaphors, for example, there are songs on the album where the meanings are quite hidden in the metaphors."

Discography

Extended plays * ''Demonstrations of Intent'' (2006) The band's debut EP features five original songs, written by Gavin Shoesmith. # "Bushranger" – 3:51 # "Lonely" – 4:05 # "Rebirth" – 5:04 # "Viva La Revolution" – 3:33 # "Oh the Sun Is Shining" – 4:35 The EP features performances from previous band-members Michael Boase (Drums) and Jesse Moore (Guitar), as well as

(Lap-steel Guitar), Saritah (Vocals), Mark Robinson (Didgeridoo), and Francis Diatschenko (Guitar) Albums * ''The Groovesmiths'' (Hello Operator) 14 July 2008

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

(MGM GS002) The band's album featured four more of Shoesmith's songs as well as reworked versions of the five featured on the EP. Guitarist Alex Dew contributed "Sun and Moon". # "Bushranger" – 3:51 # "Oh the Sun Is Shining" # "Red Fox" # "The Rebirth of Cool" # "Viva La Revolution" # "The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith" # "The Gypsy Song" # "Sun and Moon" # "Blues and Roots" # "3AM Monday Morning' The recording of their self-titled album saw the return of Mark Robinson on Didgeridoo as well as percussionist Walter Piccolruaz and drummer Matt Wright joining the core group of Shoesmith and Alex Dew. Sometimes erroneously called ''Hello Operator'' due to its cover art.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Groovesmiths, The Northern Territory musical groups