{"id":127370,"date":"2017-10-30T02:00:48","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T06:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=127370"},"modified":"2017-10-30T02:00:48","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T06:00:48","slug":"its-brought-us-closer-the-tenors-on-moving-past-national-anthem-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/10\/30\/its-brought-us-closer-the-tenors-on-moving-past-national-anthem-incident\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It’s brought us closer’: The Tenors on moving past national anthem incident"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The Tenors performing for the 2017 Invictus Games opening ceremony at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto (Photo By DoD News – 170923-D-DB155-044, CC BY 2.0<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TORONTO — Nearly a year and half has passed since the Canadian vocal trio The Tenors was blindsided by their ousted fourth member in front of millions of baseball fans, and in some ways they’re still healing.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t until a recent trip to Cape Spear, N.L. for their new album \u201cChristmas Together\u201d that some of the pain turned into progress. They were filming a music video for the traditional \u201cAuld Lang Syne,\u201d the album’s final track, a song that frequently ushers in the new year.<\/p>\n

Standing in Cape Spear, the most easterly point in Canada, the group began to sense the symbolism behind their trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dawn of the new year touches the shores of Newfoundland before anywhere else in Canada,\u201d said Clifton Murray.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn’t really hit me until we were there in that moment just recognizing the significance of the song: getting back to your roots and the basics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exploring the picturesque region offered the Tenors a moment to pause after a whirlwind period of instability.<\/p>\n

Former member Remigio Pereira shocked the group when he unexpectedly changed the lyrics to O Canada during the 2016 Major League Baseball all-star game. He also held up a sign bearing the message \u201call lives matter\u201d on one side and \u201cunited we stand\u201d on the other, angering some who believed it dismissed the Black Lives Matter movement. Pereira has said that wasn’t his intention.<\/p>\n

It put the rest of the Tenors — who Pereira has previously said didn’t know his plans — in a difficult place. They ultimately chose to dismiss him as they faced a barrage of questions about the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were other things,\u201d said Victor Micallef. \u201cUnfortunately, that was the most public moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou sometimes say to yourself that it’s time in life to move on. Some people just have different paths,\u201d he added, before wishing the former member well.<\/p>\n

The Tenors reemerged as a trio playing events across the world. They appeared at the 30th anniversary of the David Foster Foundation earlier this month in Vancouver and will begin a North American tour running through November and December with numerous stops in Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all went through our own process of hurt, challenge and grieving,\u201d said Fraser Walters. \u201cThe three of us had some soul searching and it’s brought us closer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChristmas Together\u201d is their first album since the fallout and in some ways feels like a statement of perseverance. The festive project also plants the Tenors in a genre where they’ve had plenty of success before.<\/p>\n

Their first holiday album \u201cThe Perfect Gift,\u201d released in 2009, went triple platinum in Canada by selling more than 240,000 copies. It helped solidify their reputation as a vocal force on live stages around the world.<\/p>\n

Coming back with another holiday release seemed like a logical step, and as Micallef puts it, an opportunity to \u201cpress reset.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opening track \u201cO Come All Ye Faithful\u201d is bursting at the seams with strength built on a crescendo of the trio’s vocals, a powerhouse choir and a stunning brass arrangement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen We Are Together,\u201d originally released two years ago, was re-recorded to scrub Pereira’s contributions, and on the new track \u201cSanta’s Wish (Teach the World)\u201d they sing about unity while sampling a 1971 pop song that began as an infamous jingle to sell Coke.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis album, more than anything we’ve done in the past is more playful,\u201d said Murray.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt still has those reverent epic moments, but we’ve having a little bit more fun now. I think it’s reflective of the group itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tenors hope to carry that spirit through the holiday season with a number of appearances and seven music videos that will trickle out in the lead up to the new year.<\/p>\n

They’re also keeping focused on what 2018 holds with the help of a \u201cmood board\u201d where they jot down their hopes and dream gigs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try and manifest what we want as a group,\u201d said Walters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe give ourselves goals and try to create this cohesive drive so we’re rowing in the same direction. If you focus on it … you have control over your reality, your future. Mind over matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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