Small Town Artillery

Small Town Artillery is a rock group with a horn section originally from Kaslo, British Columbia. They currently live & work in Vancouver BC. Bandleader Tom van Deursen (Guitar, Vocals) & brother Derek van Deursen (Drums, Vocals) have been playing together for 20 years, picking up their first instruments from pawn shops after seeing Colin James perform at the Kaslo Jazz Festival before either of them were teenagers.

The band found a steady lineup in 2014 and began writing and gigging in Vancouver the same year. In 2015 they won Molson Canadian’s “Big Bang” band competition, taking home $10,000. They used this money to make their first public LP, self-titled “Small Town Artillery”. This, plus their highly energetic live show, caught them the attention of British Columbia. They began booking their own DIY tours in the summers, and brought a 3-band bill on the road (including CBC Searchlight winners The Long War), throwing backyard “block parties” in Kelowna, Nelson, Kaslo, Penticton, Revelstoke and beyond.

In late 2017 they were signed to JumpAttack! Records out of East Van, and in summer 2018 they released their 2nd LP titled “Don’t Talk Away The Magic” on this label. It received public and critical acclaim from Beatroute, Won an Akademia Music Award, and yielded 3 singles & videos. They booked another “block party” tour of BC to release the album, culminating in a Vancouver show at The Imperial Theatre.

This garnered the attention of regional festivals, and in 2019 they were booked for prime slots at Kaslo Jazz Festival, Squamish Constellation Festival, Edge Of The World Festival on Haida Gwaii, Kamloops Brewloops Festival & more. They were selected to join Five Alarm Funk on tour through Ontario as support in September 2019, and were signed by Paquin Artists Agency under Aaron Schubert. They played 60+ shows in 2019 alone.

Currently recording their third LP & booking a 3 month tour across Canada for spring 2020 that focuses on playing smaller rural centres and the filming of a documentary, this is a band that has built their name on relentless self-promotion, socially aware lyrics, and an incendiary live show.

The lineup is rounded out by Carson Webber (who won CBC Searchlight 2017 with The Long War and has since left that band to focus entirely on STA) on Bass, Alex Maher on Saxophone & Phil Austrom on Trumpet.