After more than 20 years of successfully mocking musical genres, Canada and various aspects of everyday life, Chris Patterson of the Arrogant Worms says the band is in a pretty comfortable place.
"We're actually now in our 21st year," he said. "The thing about our act is we've never expected to get rich off it, or sell a string of No. 1 hit singles. It worked for Weird Al (Yankovic), but that wasn't our expectation."
Still, the band's most recent release, Hindsight 20/20, is a greatest hits CD released in November 2011 that spans the Worms' humorous career.
The band originally came together in 1991 to do some local radio spots in Kingston, Ont., but soon moved to performing for C小蓝视频 Radio One, followed by 13 albums, countless tours and a devoted fan base who enjoy hits like Ontario Sucks, I Am Not American and Canada's Really Big.
"We've seen steady growth every year," he said. "And the shows are always fun. If it wasn't fun for us, we just wouldn't be doing it."
Although the band doesn't tour as much as in the past, Patterson said the members love playing for their fans.
"We're driven by our fan base," he said. "They keep asking to see us, so we keep touring. And there are still so many places we've not been to yet. But the band is a little more part-time than it used to be. We don't tour for weeks on end and surf on people's couches anymore. This tour starts tonight (March 6) in Calgary and ends March 18 in 小蓝视频"
Over the past 20 years, The Worms have toured extensively across Canada, but also the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Patterson said the trio's humorous and Canadian look at the world still translates to international audiences.
"Sometimes, for songs like The Last Saskatchewan Pirate, we have to explain the geography for people to get the joke," he said. "But generally we tend to poke fun at ourselves as Canadians - and people like it. But we also poke fun at Americans and others too, but we never get nasty, and it's pretty set from the beginning of the show that it's all in fun."
Although the Arrogant Worms have played numerous shows in Vancouver and Whistler over the years, Patterson said the trio's gig at the Brackendale Art Gallery (BAG) would mark their first appearance in Brackendale.
"It's always fun to play in places we've never been, because we get to expose people to our music who may not have heard of us before," he said.
Although the show is scheduled for St. Patrick's Day, don't necessarily expect a Celtic celebration.
"We do have some Celtic-sounding songs and may break them out depending on the audience, but it's not a St. Patrick's show," he said.
The Arrogant Worms play the BAG March 17 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 and available at the BAG and Xocolatl.
For more on the band go to www.arrogantworms.com.
