Smug Saints by Smug Saints

The Smug Saints began as an acoustic act consisting of Jason Martynowski (guitars, vocals, harmonicas) and Patrick Mulloy (guitars, vocals) in the pubs of the Cleveland Suburbs in 2010. The duo would perform covers by artists that inspired them to play as well as a handful of original songs. Soon enough, Patrick’s bandmates from the Celtic Rock band Marys Lane Mark Whalen (drums) and Matthew Sofranko (bass) joined to record Martynowski and Mulloy’s original songs and to perform full-band live shows whenever possible. The Smug Saints have never had an official lead guitar player, but often play with a guest musician taking on the role.

In 2012, the group recorded a self-titled album at Bad Racket Recording Studo in Cleveland, OH, using their friend and critically-acclaimed singer/songwriter Tom Evanchuck’s lead guitar contributions. Throughout this time, they kept playing familiar pubs as well as some more of Cleveland’s favorite local music venues such as The Grog Shop, The Happy Dog, The Beachland Ballroom and Tavern, etc. Tracks from the self-entitled release were featured on The Perfect 10 Podcast with Ralphie May and Lahna Turner as well as The Film Vault podcast with “Bald” Bryan Bishop and Anderson Cowan.

In 2013, Mulloy began to play less and less to get more time off between playing in two bands. In 2014, he formally left the group and Sofranko took over half of the lead vocals. Sofranko began contributing original songs to the band’s set list and in 2015, The Smug Saints returned to Bad Racket Recording Studio and released their second studio album entitled Good Decent Times. The band has since added lead guitarist Brendan Gilberti and keyboardist Brent Hopper to their lineup.

DiscoveringCleveland.com says “Their catalog is chalk full of good time songs, as positive and relatable as O.A.R., with the humor and songwriting of Barenaked Ladies and the grit of Old Crow Medicine Show.”