The story so far....

In 2016, Paul Smith ( ex AC-DC touring tribute guitarist ) came up with the idea of the Poachers band. The idea would be to bring together a group of like minded musicians to perform songs that not every covers band usually plays and to put on a really good show.

Paul had worked with John Davies ( ex Love Street guitarist ) for some years prior, and with him, they went about putting together a band. These players consisted of guys that they had seen perform and really liked, hence The Poachers was created and formed after poaching one or two of those players...!

Over the next two years, they had established a decent fanbase and regular bookings in and around Essex. Then covid hit us all, live music performances were cancelled for everyone.

Paul started to gather the group back together in 2021 when they were allowed to gig once again, but during that time some members had decided to leave the group to persue other interests. Paul and John then set about looking for replacements to join the band.

John had seen Jack Corder ( ex Small Town Rumour / FRO / Phil Burdett ) at certain events and mentioned to Paul about asking him to join. Paul already knew of Jack and had previously invited him to join a couple of years earlier. The time was now right, and Jack was available . He said " YES ! ''.

Rehearsals had begun with the new line up, consisting of bassist - Sean McNulty ( ex The Business, ), Jack on drums and Joe Beer on vocals and acoustic guitar. But not too long after, Sean had to exit the band for personal reasons. Luckily, Jack had been working with Russ Strothard ( ex Tonight / Wilko Johnson / Snafu / Eddie and the Hot Rods ) on a recording project and he had also worked with Russ on and off for the previous ten years, so he knew they would work well together. Russ initially joined as a depp for Sean. But sadly Sean passed away not long after. But before he did, he gave his blessing for Russ to take his place at the back. Russ became a permanent member of the Poachers.

Joe exited the Poachers in Sepember 22 to take advantage of other musical opportunities. At this time, Russ suggested that he knew of a great singer and performer. Gary Porter ( Singer Song writer who has recorded six studio abums in the U.S.A. and Europe ). Paul also knew Gary, a professional singer with acclaimed albums and BBC performances including Radio 2 Paul Jones show. Gary was available and joined the Poachers. Paul quotes " Having Gary front the band is a huge step forward for us, so here we are now, it's taken a few years, but we are now at our best...''

More recently the Poachers have gained another valuable member to the team. Dave Goodman ( Nightwatch / Cadence / RGP ) as their sound engineer. Dave brings with him over half a century of live performance and recording studio experience, as a guitar player, stage sound management and song writer...  The Poachers are looking forward to entertaining you !