The Trews have been Canadian road warriors for many years, but aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. They are embarking on their first Canadian tour in support of their latest CD “Hope and Ruin,” which was released last year.
“ This is our first Canadian tour in support of ‘Hope and Ruin.’ We wanted to do one earlier, but couldn’t do it because we were in Australia and the United Kingdom,” said the Trews vocalist, keyboardist and guitarist Colin MacDonald, getting attacked by his dog, taking a quick breather from the road.
They will be back on the road and heading to Lethbridge to play Average Joes with the Poor Young Things, March 6.
They are proud of the new CD.
“It’s one of these CDs that wasn’t supposed to be a CD. It was co-produced by The Tragically Hip’s Gord Sinclair and my brother Angus. We were recording with Gord Sinclair in his studio in Hamilton and started jamming and an album came out of it. We took it down to Austin. There are a lot of different songs,” he said adding all four members contributed songs to the project.
“People of the Deer” is one of the highlights.
“That was one of mine. I’m always voting for the big rock songs,” he said adding they chose them out of about 15 songs as opposed to the 30 or 40 they usually write for an album.
The CD also includes ““I’ll Find Someone Who Will,” which was co-written with maritime county/ folk musician Ron Hynes.
“He’s one of the best songwriters in the country. He’s always sending me these great countryish lines. He sent me ‘If you won’t break my heart real soon, I’ll find somebody who will. And Gordie has written a song on every album we’ve done,” he continued.
MacDonald credited Gordie Johnson for their success.
“We wouldn’t have got as far as we have without the exposure he gave us ,” he said.
“We had a regular weekly gig at Jeff Healey’s bar and Gordie came to see us and really took to the band. He produced our first album and the first single “Not Ready To Go,” then took us on Big Sugar’s cross Canada farewell tour,” he related.
They have become close friends since then, recording with him in Austin.
So the Trews were happy to pay back their support as Johnson credits the Trews for getting Big Sugar back together.
“We were doing a couple of New Year’s Eve shows in Saskatoon in Edmonton. We were his backing band and we were doing a combination of Big Sugar and Trews songs. I would have these long conversations with him about how great I think Big Sugar is. I wanted to do a tour like that and the next thing I knew he got Big Sugar back together. But that’s all right, they released a dynamite album,” he enthused.
The Trews just returned from a tour of the United Kingdom as part of the HMV Next Big Thing Festival.
“It’s kind of funny. We’ve been a band for many years. We’ve been touring Canada for a lot of years, so we’re not a new band, but we are a considered to be a new band in the United Kingdom,” he chuckled.
The tour went really well.
“We got a lot of experience and sold a lot of records and made a lot of new friends. We’ just got up and played 45 minutes of our strongest material and just rocked it,” he said.
“There were a lot of English speaking people and ex-pat Canadians who knew us.
He said the highlight was the first gig of the tour.
“We played with a great band called the Virgin Marys . I can’t remember the name of the venue, but we had a great set,” he said.
The Trews are looking forward to playing Lethbridge again this week.
“It’s been a long time. It was 2008 and we played the university, so we’re looking forward to playing Lethbridge again. We’ve always been known as a great live band and we’re even better now. We’ve toured the world since we last played there,” he said.
But there is always room for improvement.
“The highlight of our career is just being able to have a career playing music. There is always something new to do and to learn,” he said.
“You get off the road and you’re tired and jaded, but after a few days you pick up the guitar again and start to play again. There is always something new to learn,” he emphasized.
That is where he’s at now.
“I’m listening to a lot of influential music now. It’s important. You don’t want to write to a formula,” he said.
“ I really like the Black Keys and I was listening to Queen’s ‘News of the World,’” he said.
There are always old bands to be influenced by and new bands playing older sounding things — like the Black Keys,” he said. He encouraged people to show up early and catch the Poor Young Things’ opening set.
“They’re a great band from Thunder Bay. They have great voices, great songs and they’re great live act,” he said.
The Show begins at 9 p.m., March 6 at Average Joes. Advance tickets cost $25.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
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