The Trews are a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from

Antigonish, Nova Scotia , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

, consisting of vocalist Colin MacDonald, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, bassist Jack Syperek, and drummer Chris Gormley. The band is currently based in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. From their formation in 1997 to 2016, The Trews were among the top 150 best-selling Canadian artists in Canada and among the top 40 selling Canadian bands in Canada.

History

The band started their career with the name ''One I'd Trouser'', a line taken from a song in ''

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'', also known simply as ''The Meaning of Life'', is a 1983 British musical sketch comedy film written and performed by the Monty Python troupe, directed by Terry Jones. ''The Meaning of Life'' was the last f ...

''. They changed their name to ''Trouser'' and eventually ''The Trews''. They released an EP as ''One I'd Trouser'', and a second EP under the name ''The Trews''. In the early summer of 2002 the band entered Rocksearch, a high-profile contest that is held annually by

CHTZ-FM CHTZ-FM (97.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, serving the Niagara Region. It is owned by Bell Media and it broadcasts an active rock format, branded as ''97.7 HTZ-FM'' (pronounced "Hits FM"). CHTZ shar ...

, a St. Catharines (Southern Ontario) rock radio station. Winning the contest would prove to be their big break as they soon landed a recording contract with Bumstead Productions. The release of their first full-length CD '' House of Ill Fame'' followed in 2003. Produced by Big Sugar's

Gordie Johnson Gordie Johnson (born 22 May 1964) is a Canadian musician, best known as the front man for the blues/reggae rock band Big Sugar, Austin-based blues/gospel band Sit Down Servant, and southern rock band Grady. Johnson is a Grammy nominated pr ...

, the album contained the singles "Every Inambition", "Not Ready to Go", "Tired of Waiting", "Fleeting Trust" and "Confessions". "Not Ready to Go" hit number one on Canadian rock radio and was the most played song of 2004 in that format. The band was nominated as New Group of the Year at the 2004 Juno Awards and "Not Ready to Go" was nominated as Single of the Year in 2005. ''House Of Ill Fame'' has been certified gold in Canada. It was re-released with a bonus live album called ''The Live Cut'' which featured live versions of songs taken from the album. The song "Hollis and Morris" on their first album, refers to an intersection in the city of Halifax and not an intersection in Antigonish as previously speculated. The band has mentioned during concerts and in interviews that the corner of Hollis and Morris is notorious for prostitution. The band released a follow-up to ''House of Ill Fame'' on August 16, 2005. The album, '' Den of Thieves'', was produced by legendary producer Jack Douglas (Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, John Lennon, New York Dolls). The first single, "So She's Leaving", was released to radio June 28, 2005 and was followed by the singles "Yearning", which was their second single to reach number 1, "

Poor Ol' Broken Hearted Me Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

", and "I Can't Say". In the summer of 2005 the band was invited to share the stage with the Rolling Stones at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto as part of the Stones' Bigger Bang Tour. In fall of the same year they were invited to open for

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

singer

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

on his cross-Canada arena tour. '' Den of Thieves'' was certified Canadian Gold in April 2006. The album was released 18 April 2006 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on Red Ink and Sony BMG. The Trews were nominated in the Best New Band category in

Classic Rock magazine ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 60, ...

's 2007

Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards The Classic Rock Roll of Honour was an annual awards program that ran from 2005 to 2016. The awards were founded by Classic Rock Magazine. Winners of the awards were chosen by the awards team and voted on by readers of the magazine. Winners are ann ...

. Issue #104 of the magazine (the April 2007 edition) also included a four-track promotional EP entitled ''Out of the Past, Into the Dark''. The Trews' third album, ''

No Time for Later ''No Time for Later'' is the third full-length album by Canadian rock band The Trews. It was released February 19, 2008 on Bumstead Records. It was recorded in 2007, and produced by Gus Van Go and Werner F. The first single, " Hold Me in Your Arm ...

'', was released in February 2008. The first single, "Hold Me in Your Arms", was made available on 25 November 2007. It premiered at the 2007 Grey Cup pre-game show and was immediately released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

; the video for the song eventually went to number one on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

for a week in April 2008. In early 2009, "Hold Me in Your Arms" won in The 8th Annual Independent Music Awards (US) for Best Hard Rock/Metal Song. A bonus song called "Long Way from Freedom" was included with the single but was not released on the album. "Hold Me in Your Arms" went on to spend 22 weeks in the top ten at rock radio in Canada and in May 2010 was certified Canadian gold the commemorate the sales of over 20,000 digital downloads. In early February 2008, the band added keyboardist Jeff Heisholt to their live lineup. The second single from ''

'' was "Paranoid Freak", the video for which was released in May and went straight into rotation on

. The third single, a ballad called "Man Of Two Minds", was released September 8, 2008 and the video reached number one on

sister station

MuchMoreMusic M3 was a Canadian English language Category A cable and satellite specialty channel owned by Bell Media. Established in 1998 as MuchMoreMusic, the network began as a spin-off of the youth-oriented MuchMusic, targeting an older demographic with ...

. The fourth single, "Can't Stop Laughing", was sent to radio in January 2009 with a video that followed in April and became the band's tenth single to enter the top ten at Canadian rock radio. The band was nominated for two Juno Awards in 2009, Album of the Year (for ''

'') and Group of the Year. ''

'' was released in the United States on April 7, 2009, on

Merovingian Music Merovingian Music also abbreviated as MRV or MRV Music, is a non-genre specific record label in Red Bank, New Jersey. The label was founded by Jack Ponti who is also CEO of the company. Shortly after, independent label owners Gregory Edgerton and ...

. The first single "Paranoid Freak" was sent to radio a few weeks prior to its release and was added in heavy rotation at Sirius Satellite Radio's Alt. Nation. The second single in the US was "Hold Me In Your Arms" and garnered significant play at Active Rock. Their second live album, ''

Acoustic - Friends & Total Strangers Acoustic may refer to: Music Albums * ''Acoustic'' (Above & Beyond album), 2014 * ''Acoustic'' (Deine Lakaien album), 2007 * ''Acoustic'' (Everything but the Girl album), 1992 * ''Acoustic'' (John Lennon album), 2004 * ''Acoustic'' (Love Amo ...

'', released Oct. 6, 2009, was an acoustic session recorded over two nights at Toronto's Glenn Gould Studio in January 2009 for a live audience. It was released without any edits or overdubs and was produced by the band's guitarist John Angus MacDonald. There is also a 23-song DVD of the same name available which captures the second nights performance in its entirety as well as candid interviews with the band. The release earned the band their fifth Juno nomination for DVD of the year in 2010. The album's only single, "Sing Your Heart Out", a new song written specifically for the performances, won Best AAA/Alternative Song at the 2010 International Acoustic Music Awards (US). Following ''

'' the band released the single "Highway Of Heroes". It was inspired by the 2006 death of Capt. Nichola Goddard, the first Canadian female soldier killed in Afghanistan and a schoolmate of members of the Trews. It refers to the stretch of Highway 401 in Ontario, between

CFB Trenton Canadian Forces Base Trenton (also CFB Trenton), formerly RCAF Station Trenton, is a Canadian Forces base located within the city of Quinte West, Ontario. It is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is the hu ...

and downtown Toronto, where hundreds gather on bridges and overpasses to mourn soldiers killed in Afghanistan while the bodies of the fallen soldiers are transported from Trenton to the coroner's office in downtown Toronto. The song was made available on ''

'' in Canada only, with all proceeds from the sales of the song going to the Canadian Hero Fund, a charity that provides academic scholarships to the spouses and children of soldiers killed in combat. In October 2014 "Highway of Heroes" was certified Gold in Canada for sales of over 40,000 digital downloads. In November 2010, the band performed the Canadian National anthem at the 98th Grey Cup in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. The band's fourth studio album, '' Hope & Ruin'' was released on April 12, 2011. The album was co-produced by John-Angus MacDonald and the Tragically Hip's Gord Sinclair and was recorded at the Hip's own Bathouse Studio in Bath, Ontario. The album was mixed by Canadian engineer/mixe
Mike Fraser
(AC/DC, Franz Ferdinand, Aerosmith, Mother Mother). The first single "Hope and Ruin" entered the top ten at Canadian rock radio within 3 weeks of its release. The video for Hope and Ruin received significant play on MuchMoreMusic. The second single and video from the album, "The World, I Know", received significant play and is the 12th single to enter the top 10 at rock radio in Canada. The third single from Hope and Ruin was "Misery Loves Company" which climbed to #6 on the rock charts making it the band's 13th top ten rock single. '' Hope & Ruin'' was released in Australia with first single "Hope & Ruin" receiving heavy airplay on Australian rock radio chain triple M; the band toured the continent three times during the album cycle. ''Hope & Ruin'' was also released in the United Kingdom, with "The World, I Know" acknowledged in the Top Songs of 2011 by Classic Rock Magazine. The band toured the UK and the USA heavily during this time. In August 2012 the band supported

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

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outside of

Moncton, New Brunswick Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces. The city has earned the nickname "Hub City" because of ...

. They were invited by Bruce to join him in his encore for a 10-minute rendition of "Twist and Shout". On November 6, 2012 the band issued a 7-song EP entitled ''...Thank You and I'm Sorry''. Co-produced by John-Angus MacDonald and Gordie Johnson, the EP features guest appearances by The Black Crowes' Rich Robinson as well as ex-Black Crowes Eddie Harsch. Ian McLagan of The Small Faces and the Faces also makes an appearance. The EP's first single "The Power of Positive Drinking" received extensive airplay across Canada reaching number 1 on the CBC rock chart the week of December 7, 2012. In April 2014 the band released its 5th full-length studio album eponymously titled ''

The Trews The Trews are a Canadian rock band from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, consisting of vocalist Colin MacDonald, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, bassist Jack Syperek, and drummer Chris Gormley. The band is currently based in Hamilton, Ontario. From thei ...

''. It was the band's highest charting debut to date reaching #1 on the Rock, Alternative and Independent Album Charts and #3 on the overall chart in Canada. The album's first single "What's Fair is Fair" reached #2 on the Canadian Active Rock radio chart and its video received heavy play on MUCH, MUCHMORE and MUCH LOUD. The album's second and third singles "Rise in the Wake" & "New King" also reached the top ten at Canadian Rock Radio bringing the total to 16 top ten Active Rock hits. In the August 2014 edition of the UK's Classic Rock Magazine (issue #201), 90,000 copies of "The Trews" were distributed free with the magazine; the issue featured Slash on its cover. In September 2014 the band took part in the first ever CapeFest in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia along with

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and

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

. In September 2016 the band released "Time Capsule", a 20-song album that included 16 of their greatest hits as well as 4 brand new recordings. The album's first single "Beautiful & Tragic" peaked in the top 5 on Canadian Rock Radio and became the band's 17th top ten rock radio single of their career. In support of the album they launched a Canadian tour in the fall of 2016 and joined Weezer on tour in the spring of 2017. On March 16, 2018 the band released "the New US" to radio as the first single from their forthcoming album. The song stirred up some controversy with its political lyrics that took aim at the madness of

Trump Trump most commonly refers to: * Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) * Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank Trump may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Donald J. T ...

's America. A second radio single, "Vintage Love", was released on June 22 and became the band's 18th single to chart top ten at active rock radio in Canada. A bonus track from the album entitled "Bar Star" was also released on July 29. The album, entitled 'Civilianaires', was released on September 14, 2018 to great critical and commercial success. It debuted number 1 on the Alternative Album charts in Canada, number 3 on the Digital Current chart and number 6 over all on the Current Album Chart. The band announced that they would be supporting the album with tours in the states in the fall of 2018 and Canada in early 2019. 'Civilianaires' was nominated Rock Album of the Year at the 2019 Juno awards. This was the band's sixth Juno nomination to date. In September 2019, with no announcements or fanfare, the Trews released “Touch”, a song they had recorded earlier that spring with 'Civilianaires' producer Derek Hoffman. The video was shot in one day and was directed by John-Angus MacDonald; it's a single-shot from beginning to end, only their second video to be shot in this format. The second song from that session, “God Speed Rebel”, was released in April 2020 during the global

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The band recorded the video using Zoom video chatting technology, one of the first groups to do so, and all proceeds from the song, including views on YouTube and streams on Spotify and Apple Music, go to the Unison Benevolent fund, a Canadian arts charity that supports musicians and those in the music industry in times of emergency. The band also canvassed for videos from their fans of them lip-syncing along with the song, and created another version of the video that was released with the title “Stay Home Rebel”. In April 2021, the Trews released the single "I Wanna Play," a song inspired partly by the COVID-19 pandemic. The music video featured an appearance by photographer and musician

Bob Lanois Robert Jacques Lanois (April 4, 1948 – April 19, 2021) was a Canadian sound engineer, record producer, and harmonica player. He released his first album, ''Snake Road'', in 2006, in collaboration with his brother Daniel Lanois. He also record ...

and was filmed shortly before his sudden death.

Dalton's departure

On 14 July 2015, drummer Sean Dalton stepped down from the band sending this message to fans via email: "To all the hard core Trewbadours out there: Well what can I say folks its been an amazing run. The years playing with the Trews have been best years of my life. Countless hours in the jam space and playing thousands of live shows all over the world have shaped me as a musician, and playing with such great guys has made me a better human being. I will miss it very much. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I've decided to step down from the drum throne. Nothing weird goin' on here folks...just time to do what's best for me and the family. I wish the Trews nothing but the best, and was so fortunate to play with the best friggin' band in the country. I'll be hanging with you all in the crowd at the next show." Gavin Maguire took over as the band's drummer. In March 2018, Chris Gormley replaced Gavin Maguire as the band's drummer.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilations

EPs

Live albums

Video albums

Singles

Featured singles

Band members

Current

* Colin MacDonald - rhythm guitar, lead vocals (1996–present) *John-Angus MacDonald - lead guitar, backing vocals (1996–present) * Jack Syperek - bass guitar, backing vocals (1996–present) * Chris Gormley - drums (May 13, 2018 – present)

Touring

* Jeff Heisholt - keyboards, backing vocals (2008–present)

Past

* Rose Murphy - drums (1996) * Ramsey Clark - drums (1997-2001) * Sean Dalton - drums, backing vocals (2001-2015) * Gavin Maguire - drums (2015-2018)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:90 top:0 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1996 till:28/12/2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Lead_Vocals id:lguitar value:green legend:Lead_Guitar id:rguitar value:teal legend:Rhythm_Guitar id:Keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines1 value:black legend:Studio_Albums id:Lines2 value:gray(0.85) legend:Live/Compilation/Video Legend = orientation:vertical columns:4 position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1997 Scaleminor = increment:1 start:1996 LineData = at:19/08/2003 color:Lines1 layer:back at:30/11/2004 color:Lines2 layer:back at:16/08/2005 color:Lines1 layer:back at:19/02/2008 color:Lines1 layer:back at:06/10/2009 color:Lines2 layer:back at:12/04/2011 color:Lines1 layer:back at:22/04/2014 color:Lines1 layer:back at:27/11/2015 color:Lines2 layer:back at:08/10/2016 color:Lines2 layer:back at:14/09/2018 color:Lines1 layer:back BarData = bar:Colin text:"Colin MacDonald" bar:JA text:"J-A MacDonald" bar:Jack text:"Jack Syperek" bar:Rose text:"Rose Murphy" bar:Ramsey text:"Ramsey Clark" bar:Sean text:"Sean Dalton" bar:Gavin text:"Gavin Maguire" bar:Chris text:"Chris Gormley" bar:Jeff text:"Jeff Heisholt" PlotData= width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:Colin from:01/06/1996 till:end color:teal bar:Colin from:01/06/1996 till:end color:red width:3 bar:JA from:01/06/1996 till:end color:green bar:Jack from:01/06/1996 till:end color:blue bar:Rose from:01/06/1996 till:31/12/1996 color:orange bar:Ramsey from:01/01/1997 till:20/03/2001 color:orange bar:Sean from:21/03/2001 till:14/07/2015 color:orange bar:Gavin from:14/07/2015 till:13/05/2018 color:orange bar:Chris from:13/05/2018 till:end color:orange bar:Jeff from:30/05/2008 till:end color:purple

Nominations and awards

Juno Awards

* 2004: New Group of the Year – Nominated * 2005: Single of the Year (" Not Ready to Go") – Nominated * 2009: Group of the Year – Nominated * 2009: Rock Album of the Year (''

'') – Nominated * 2010: DVD of the Year "Acoustic: Friends and Total Strangers" – Nominated * 2019: Rock Album of the Year ('' Civilianaires'') - Nominated

East Coast Music Awards (ECMA)

* 2005: Group of the Year – Won * 2006: Video of the Year (So She's Leaving – Director: Stephen Scott) – Won * 2011: DVD of the Year (The Trews Acoustic – Friends & Total Strangers – Director: Tim Martin) – Won * 2011: Fan's Choice Video of the Year (Highway of Heroes – Director: Tim Martin) – Won * 2012: Fan's Choice Entertainer Of The Year - Nominated * 2012: Fan's Choice Video Of The Year ("Hope & Ruin") - Nominated * 2012: Group Recording Of The Year ("Hope & Ruin") - Nominated * 2012: Song Of The Year ("Hope & Ruin") - Nominated * 2012: Rock Recording Of The Year ("Hope & Ruin") - Won * 2013: Fan's Choice Entertainer Of The Year - Nominated * 2014: Fan's Choice Entertainer Of The Year - Nominated * 2014: Group Recording Of The Year ("...Thank You & I'm Sorry") - Nominated * 2014: Rock Recording Of The Year ("...Thank You & I'm Sorry") - Won * 2015: Group Recording Of The Year ("The Trews") - Nominated * 2015: Rock Recording Of The Year ("The Trews") - Won * 2015: Fan's Choice Entertainer Of The Year - Nominated * 2015: Fan's Choice Video Of The Year (What's Fair is Fair -Director: Drew Lightfoot) - Nominated

Independent Music Awards (US)

* 2008: Best Hard Rock Song (" Hold Me in Your Arms") – Won * 2009: Vox Pop best Concert Photo taken by Nancy Desrosiers * 2010: Best AAA/Alternative Song International Acoustic Music Awards (US) "Sing Your Heart Out" - Won * 2012: Rock Artists / Group Or Duo Of The Year - Nominated

References

External links

The Trews
official website
The Trews
YouTube *
"Highway of Heroes"
a featured article on Duty & Valour {{DEFAULTSORT:Trews, The Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups from Nova Scotia Antigonish, Nova Scotia Canadian alternative rock groups Independent Music Awards winners Nettwerk Music Group artists