The Barstool Prophets were a rock band formed in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, in 1989 and active throughout the 1990s. The members were bassist Glenn Forrester, singer/songwriter Graham Greer, guitarist Al Morier, and drummer Bobby Tamas. In 1995,

The Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools ...

called them "one of the best guitar-rock bands to emerge in Canada since

The Tragically Hip The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, was a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassis ...

History

Originally known as the 'Wallflowers', the band changed its name due to avoid confusion with the American band of the same name. They moved to Ottawa to attend university and, in 1992, independently released their first album, ''Deflowered''. They landed tours with

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, 54-40, Moist, and The Age of Electric, then opened for

Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known as DMB) is an American rock band from Charlottesville, Virginia. The band's lineup consists of Dave Matthews (lead vocals, guitar), Stefan Lessard (bass), Carter Beauford (drums), Tim Reynolds (lead guitar), R ...

. Along the way, they sold 8,000 copies of the album and built a solid fan base. In 1994, the band was signed to

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

and released ''Crank'' in 1995. This album initially produced two hit singles: "Mankindman" and "Paranoia", which charted in the top-10 in Canada. The videos for both songs got heavy rotation on MuchMusic and "Paranoia" was used in the soundtrack for the 1995 film '' Never Talk to Strangers''. They played the MuchMusic stage several times, toured with

Junkhouse Junkhouse is a Canadian rock band, formed during 1989 in Hamilton, Ontario. They released three albums during the 1990s, which spawned numerous charting singles in Canada. They initially disbanded in 1998, and have performed occasional shows afte ...

and

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, and landed a US distribution deal. A third single, "Little Death (Oh Mary Mary)" charted and sales hit 50,000, certifying the album gold. Barstool Prophets released the third album, ''Last of the Big Game Hunters'', in 1997. From this album, "Last of the Big Game Hunters", "Upside Down" and "Friend of Mine" all charted in the top-20. They spent the next two years touring, with I Mother Earth, The Tea Party,

Our Lady Peace Our Lady Peace (sometimes shortened to OLP) is a Canadian alternative rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Led by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band currently also features Duncan Coutts on bass, Steve Mazur on guit ...

and Big Sugar. Between non-stop touring and the turmoil of record label mergers and losses, the band members had had enough and broke up in 1999. Greer went on to produce two solo albums: ''Moonlight Graham'' and ''Graham Greer''. Morier released three solo albums: ''Ensemble'', ''Distance'' and ''Images''. In 2015, Barstool Prophets reunited to play a concert in Ottawa in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the release of their first album. They played another concert in 2016 and four in 2017. Their most recent show was in 2018.

Discography

Albums *''Birdman'' (1992, as 'Wallflowers'), Independent *''Deflowered'' (1993), Independent *''Crank'' (1995), Mercury Records (#63 Canada ) *''Last of the Big Game Hunters'' (1997), Mercury Records *''Greatest Hits'' (2015), Stool Sample Music

Singles

References

External links

Barstool Prophets Site

Graham Greer's site

Al Morier's site

* {{Authority control Canadian alternative rock groups Musical groups established in 1989 Musical groups disestablished in 1999 Musical groups from Ontario Cornwall, Ontario 1989 establishments in Ontario 1999 disestablishments in Ontario