They said it couldn’t be done… but The Poverty Plainsmen proved them wrong.

In fact, this Saskatchewan-based country band has been bucking the odds for years, and most times have come up smelling like roses.

Their latest ‘surprise’, has been the phenomenal airplay success of their current hit record “Sister Golden Hair”. The Poverty Plainsmen have been toying with the #1 spot on Canadian Hit charts during the summer months with the song, and they’ve achieved the spins without ‘playing the game’. Take for example: …there is no supporting video for Sister Golden Hair, something that many Canadian country radio stations call for in their litany of ‘pre-requisites’ for airplay consideration…
…and the song is a “re-make” of a past hit…something that country radio is not often interested in re-hashing…
…not only is Sister Golden Hair a “re-make”, it’s a re-make of a Pop hit from the 70’s by the group America…
…the real kicker here comes in learning that Sister Golden Hair wasn’t even being considered by The Poverty Plainsmen as a single release…the song was a favourite of group leader Mark Smith’s, and was added to their latest album, Lap Of Luxury, more as a filler.

So go figure… !!
“Well…if you think you’re surprised about this, you should see all the head-bobbling we’ve been doing”, chuckled Mark Smith. “But, hey man, hits are hard to come by…so we’ll take ‘em wherever we can get ‘em”.

“The truth is though, that is one of the first guitar riffs I ever learned to play. I think I was 14 or so, back when America had their big hit with the song, and I had just started out playing guitar…and that was on the radio all the time…and I learned it…and it’s stuck with me through all these years. It’s just been a fun tune for me…and for the band”.

Mark goes on to explain how the song was pulled from their Lap Of Luxury album.
“Actually, everyone that we sent the album out to, all zeroed in our cut of Sister Golden Hair, and said…’you gotta make that a single release’. Truthfully, we weren’t convinced that country radio would play it…we were reluctant to do it…we cringed…we waited for the backlash. Boy were we surprised when it started to run up the charts. All of a sudden we all looked like experts… but I think it’s just a matter of a good song, being given another chance to be heard. A lot of country fans have never even heard the original song…so to them, it’s now just a good country song”.

“Yeah…you know, I don’t want to get on a soap box or anything like that…but I think this does prove a couple of things that all struggling Canadian artists out there can take some comfort in. First off, you don’t necessarily have to have ‘major label’ support to have a hit…and being an “independent” allows you some degree of flexibility. But more importantly is this thing about having to have a video…what the heck is that all about, when it comes to getting radio airplay. You don’t watch a video while listening to the radio. And it’s been our experience that we’re turned down by CMT more often than not, when we apply for a video spot. I don’t get it. We’ve reached a point where image is more important than substance in the music. I’ve probably shot myself in the foot… but I think you have to stand up for what you believe in”.

The Poverty Plainsmen have had to deal with a more serious situation in recent times. An April 25, 2004 highway accident involving band members returning from a Northern Alberta gig, left group co-founder Sean Smith (brother of Mark), with serious spinal injuries. For several weeks his life was in peril… he remains confined to a wheelchair, and has undergone gruelling rehab.

Sean has since taken over management of the band, and handles all administrative activities, and is already searching out new avenues to pursue.

“Before the accident happened, we were already looking at other opportunities” says Mark. “For years we had run ourselves ragged with gigs… backing every artist and every event that needed a band…we were at the point of burn-out. We had already started out to diversify – we owned and operated The Pump (a country / rock club) in Regina; and now we’ve expanded with a new venture in The Tap, a brew pub and eatery. We also operate our own TV and Audio sound company…and we run a Booking Agency (Big Dog Entertainment)…so it’s quite exciting…and we don’t have to be on the road and away from home as much”.

The Poverty Plainsmen, after all these years of constantly playing a supporting role for other acts and events, are now being very selective. “Yeah, we’ll back our buddies like Duane Steele and Steve Fox, when they have show dates; and we’ve still got a pretty busy schedule of performance dates…it’s not like we’ve put our music aside.

With the move of Sean Smith into a managerial capacity, The Poverty Plainsmen have re-aligned their personnel slightly, adding Johnny Gasparic, and Brian Kelly two veterans of the Prairie music scene. They join original band members Mark Smith, Brad Johnson and Don Jorgensen.

Plus… Gasparic (guitars), Johnson (drums) and Jorgensen (keyboards), have all earned nominations in their respective categories for CCMA All-Star Band…Mark Smith’s Big Dog Entertainment is up for Booking Agent Of Year honours, and they are involved in several other award categories, with Steve Fox up for Producer Of the Year for his work on the Lap Of Luxury album; while the album is also nominated in the Album Graphics of Year category.

But award ‘nominations’ are not something new to The Poverty Plainsmen… “man, we’re The Bellamy Brothers of Canadian country music” laughs Mark Smith… “always a bridesmaid, never the bride”.

One can begin to appreciate what Mark Smith speaks of when you run down the list of past CCMA award nominations… there have been 22 nominations from 1996 to 2004. They won Independent Group Of The Year in 2001. (If your counting…that’s a lot of bridesmaids !!)

The Poverty Plainsmen have faired much better on their home turf - winning numerous band and personal awards from the Saskatchewan Country Music Association.

“It’s never been about awards”, says Mark Smith. “Oh sure, you like to be recognized by your peers…but honestly, we all just enjoy performing our music. We write songs, we play our instruments, we make our records. There’s no big ego thing about what we do… it may sound a bit corny, but the best reward comes from our fans when they acknowledge what we do”.

Poverty Plainsmen have had their share of successful moments before Sister Golden Hair entered the picture. In fact, they actually topped the CMN Top 100 Cancountry Chart in May 2002 with their hit record Eternal Love…and have had Top 10 success in 2000 with the single Same Things, and major hits with singles Borderline, Makin’ Up For Doin’ Time, Time Will Tell. There’s No Lookin’ Back, and other releases.

And now the next challenge for the Poverty Plainsmen will be to follow-up Sister Golden Hair with equal success… “we’re likely gonna go with Secret To My Success as the next single from the Lap Of Luxury album. We’re also getting strong reaction to tunes like Good To Go and Rock On Farm Boy.”

Mark adds a touch of humour to his selection of follow-up hits – “and if that don’t work, we’ll check out some of those old hits from the past, and find us another “Sister Golden Hair”.

While the accident has caused some lasting affects, so too will the music contained in this album. The Poverty Plainsmen have risen above the obstacles put in their path and have delivered their finest, and most adventurous work to date. Once again, Steve Fox has placed his signature on this project, with his songwriting pen attached to seven of the songs as well as co-producing the album with members of the band. The bulk of the lead vocal work is again superbly handled by Mark Smith, with brother Sean Smith taking lead vocal credit for three selections, The Secrets To My Success, He’s A Lot Like You, and What Would You Say.

While the album is almost totally a domestic product (Canadian songwriters / production, etc.), it is somewhat ironic that the current single pulled from the package is a re-make of Sister Golden Hair, remembered as a 1975 #1 rock hit by the band America. Ironic, more because Canadian country radio is jumping all over this Poverty Plainsmen single, making it one of their fastest-rising chart hits; while practically ignoring their previous Everybody Say Eh ! release, which is also included here. That one must have been too “Canadian”….eh !!

The album also contains several other familiar tunes. The Miracle Man, a strong story type song, was originally done by the now-all-but-forgotten Nashville recording group The Smokin’ Armadillos; while the message song, God Bless The Farmer, co-written by Canadian songwriters J.K. Gulley and Bryan Way, was originally recorded by Nashville veteran Jimmy Payne, remembered for his hits with The Glaser Brothers. In fact, the album’s title track tune, Lap Of Luxury, penned by Steve Fox, has also been recorded by superstar Kenny Rogers, but his version was never commercially released, leaving the door open for The Poverty Plainsmen to reap the benefits of this surefire hit.

Other selections here that are certain to attract attention include the country/rock flavored winner Rock On Farm Boy (sub titled: ROFB); the energized My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own and the hurtin’ ballad, Good To Go. Listen also for a touching father/son connection song in He’s A Lot Like You – this one co-written by Sean Smith with Duane Steele, and powerfully delivered by Sean Smith.

Lap Of Luxury was recorded largely at Touchwood Studios in Regina with Steve Fox producing. Edmonton’s Louis Sedmak handled production on the Everybody Say Eh ! track. The original Poverty Plainsmen featuring the Smith brothers, Don Jorgensen and Brad Johnson, are now augmented here by Johnny Gasparic and Brian Kelly. The band is further supported on the album by numerous special guest session players including Jeff Bradshaw (steel), Donnie Parenteau (fiddle / mandolin), Bart McKay (keyboards/accordion).

"It's been a lot different," said lead singer Mark Smith about not having his little brother playing bass beside him on the stage. "It's tough not having the turkey around. He's still always there." "Seventeen years," Sean said yesterday of their existence as band brothers. The real brother ship, of course, has lasted a little longer. "When you work together for that long you don't have to think about some things," Mark said. "We're still rebuilding. We're still trying to get the band back to where it was. And we have even had one or two rehearsals!" That's the R-word for many musicians. "I phoned them and they said, 'Oh we're just starting rehearsal,' " Sean added. "I said, 'You bastards would never rehearse when I was there!' "

We sorta, maybe, might kinda know each other, but not really. I know who you are, but you might not really know me except maybe we met at the CCMA's one time. Anyway, I am the CCMA's Art Director and in the middle of putting together the SOURCE newsletter. I just got sent your album cover to include in the newsletter and I gotta say - that cover KICKS ASS! That is a fantastic painting. I absolutely love it and give you high fives all around for using such a piece of art for your album cover and for advancing art in your packaging as much as in your music. This record cover will likely kick my ass out of the running for Album Cover of the Year and I will fully endorse it to do so. It would be an honour to lose to this cover. Bravo... although having said that, I really hope my Road Hammers cover kicks your ass. HA HA HA HA HA HA ha ha!

Respectfully