CC Smugglers

British "old-time" outfit CC Smugglers rose from street-level poverty to self-built festival prominence inside a handful of years, propelled by relentless effort and an inventive approach to building an audience.

Richie Prynne, the group's vocalist and guitarist, launched the project in rural Bedfordshire at the center of England. A dedicated busker, he drew initial inspiration from Jamie Cullum's Twentysomething and saw his sound expand after a producer layered double bass and electric guitar onto his lone demo recordings. Prynne forwarded those tracks to his childhood companions Ryan Thomas, who handles lead guitar, dobro, and banjo, and Dan Edwards on double bass, both then journeying through Australia. Once the pair returned home, the three adopted the name CC Smugglers in tribute to the 125cc bikes they had raced through local fields as teenagers. The roster later locked into place with the arrivals of Sam Barret on guitar and fiddle, Iain McFarlane on drums and percussion, and Tom Seals on piano and accordion.

The ensemble blended country, folk, blues, R&B, jazz, and swing into its signature old-time style, beginning with busking on the pavements of Bedford and Cambridge and accepting any booking that came their way, whether bar mitzvahs or working-men's clubs. They later refined a tactic they called "guerrilla busking," arriving unannounced at shows by acts whose crowds might overlap with their own and performing for ticket holders queued outside. This method secured both grassroots followers and opening slots alongside Seasick Steve and Old Crow Medicine Show; the latter act, learning of the street performance midway through their own set, marched outside and invited the Smugglers onstage.

A sustained partnership with the Cambridge Folk Festival also marked their path: persistent requests for stage time began in the smallest tent and culminated a decade later on the main stage. Following a high-profile support date with Bruce Springsteen, the band graduated to bigger events including Latitude, Milton Keynes, Greenbelt, and Kate Rusby's Underneath the Stars. Their first album, How High, appeared via self-release in March 2019.