Brian William Smith is a British–Canadian guitarist, known for being a founding member of the rock band Trooper. He was born in London and emigrated to Canada in 1951. Smith began performing on the guitar before he was fifteen years old. Some of his first gigs were playing with Don Geppert and Anne Attenborough in a band that played Hawaiian music. By the age of 16 he was playing guitar almost professionally. He graduated from Vancouver City College with a degree in Arts and Merchandising, but his love of music led him along another route. He is known as a guitarist and also as a co-writer of more than 100 songs, many of which have become hits. Smith has performed with Trooper along with Ra McGuire since 1975, when their first album was released, to the present day. He currently resides in Langley, BC. At the 1999 SOCAN Awards, Smith and songwriting partner Ra McGuire received SOCAN Classic Awards for "We're Here for a Good Time" and "Santa Maria", presented for songs that have received over 100,000 documented radio plays. Smith received a third SOCAN Classic Award in 2005, for "Oh, Pretty Lady." Smith and Trooper continue to tour and perform across Canada. As part of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics festivities, Smith was featured when Trooper performed on February 21, 2010. Coverage of the event was broadcast in Canada and around the world on networks such as CTV and MuchMusic. On November 19, 2012, Smith was presented with a SOCAN National Achievement Award, which is presented to artists who have had outstanding success, predominantly in the Canadian music industry, over the span of their career. He also received three SOCAN Classic Awards for "Raise A Little Hell", "General Hand Grenade", and "Janine", co-written with songwriting partner Ra McGuire. He was also nominated for the Composer of the year Juno award several times. Brian and his wife Joanne have been living for 40 years together, he is three times grandfather and his granddaughters have inspired him to stay healthy and to continue creating.
Notable instruments
Smith has a large collection of vintage guitars, including the following:
A Bill Lewis handbuilt guitar which Smith played mostly when Trooper was known as Applejack. Several times he was nominated for the Composer of the year Juno award.
