The Trews | |
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The Trews at Capital Music Hall in Ottawa, May 2008
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Background information | |
Also known as | One I'd Trouser Trouser |
Origin | Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada |
Genres | Hard rock, alternative rock |
Years active | 1997–present |
Labels | HOME Music Co. / Nettwerk Music Group (Canada) |
Associated acts | Jeff Heisholt, Gavin Maguire |
Website | thetrewsmusic |
Members |
Colin MacDonald John-Angus MacDonald Jack Syperek Gavin Maguire |
Past members | Ramsey Clark Rose Murphy Sean Dalton |
The Trews are a Canadian hard rock band from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, consisting of vocalist Colin MacDonald, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, bassist Jack Syperek, and drummer Gavin Maguire. The band is currently based in Toronto, Ontario.
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". 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, 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 Ltd.
The release of their first full-length CD House of Ill Fame, soon followed in 2003. Produced by Big Sugar's Gordie Johnson, 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 (Canadian Grammys) 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 nearby 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", 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 Theater in Toronto as part of the Stones' Bigger Bang Tour. In fall of the same year they were invited to open for Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant on his across Canada arena tour. Den of Thieves was certified Canadian Gold in April 2006. The album was released April 18, 2006 in the United States on Red Ink and Sony BMG.