No one has been itching to get back onto stages more than The Trews. They’ve recently managed a stripped-down tour across Ontario and a performance of the national anthem at the Ottawa Senators gave vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs, but even that isn’t enough to satiate their craving for big crowds. Their new single, “Permission” from their upcoming album Wanderer, is the latest in a series of untimely releases that boldly declare that the band live to perform.
Fortunately for them, they’ve just announced a bunch of cross-Canada tour dates.
“Permission” is one of three songs to have been cut live off the floor at The Tracking Room Studio in Nashville, while working with Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes. Aside from producing, Robinson also takes credit for ripping some guitar on this track.
However, their experience of recording at The Tracking Room was cut shorter than the band had anticipated. Having begun in December of 2019, poor timing and a closing of borders meant that The Trews’ plans for finishing the album in Nashville took a sudden pivot, and a return to Canada to complete the recording with Civilianaires producer Derek Hoffman, and rounded out with the album’s lead single, “I Wanna Play,” being recorded with producer Eric Ratz.
The part that remained most consistent about the album’s released singles, so far, is their big, arena-filling sound and the band’s unabashed drive to perform them as intended. “Permission” is practically The Trews’ uncompromising promise to take things to an 11 whenever possible.
“’Permission’ started out as a high octane guitar riff in need of a home. It was fleshed out lyrically, and subsequently recorded, down in Nashville with Rich Robinson at the production helm,” explains The Trews’ guitarist John-Angus MacDonald. “It also features Rich, one of my all-time fav guitar players, playing the lead breaks on slide guitar. Cut live off the floor, it really captures the energy of the band. I borrowed the opening line of the chorus, ‘shoot me in to the sun’, from Instagrammer extraordinaire The Fat Jewish and the balance of the lyrics, ‘I will not bite my tongue, we’ll leave no song unsung, I don’t care who’s listening,’ are about fearless artistic freedom – kind of a mission statement for the band!”
Wanderer, the seventh studio album from The Trews, is due November 19 via Known Accomplice.
Tour Dates:
11.20.21 – Halifax, NS – Scotiabank Centre (SuperNova Celebration)
12.28.21 – Niagara Falls, ON – Scotiabank Convention Centre
01.28.21 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre
01.29.21 – Saskatoon, SK – The Roxy
01.31.21 – Lloydminster, AB – Vic Juba Theatre
02.02.21 – Edmonton, AB – Midway
02.03.21 – Calgary, AB – The Palace Theatre,
02.05.21 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
02.08.21 – Red Deer, AB – Bo’s Bar and Grill
02.09.21 – Medicine Hat, AB – The Esplanade
02.11.21 – Prince Albert, SK – E.A. Rawlinson Centre for the Arts
06.10.21 – Sarnia, ON – Block Party Suncor Agora