Nothing to cry about

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This article was published 27/07/2023 (1125 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With a baby, pets and partners at home, touring looks a lot different for Tegan and Sara Quin these days. But the sisters are enjoying the ride.

More than two decades after the founding of the twins’ eponymous pop-rock band, they’ve fallen into a more sustainable groove on the road.

“In our 20s, we’d do 10 shows in a row — and I don’t think that was a good thing,” Tegan Quin says over the phone from her home in Vancouver, where she was doing laundry and “as little as possible” during a several-day break on the band’s Crybaby Tour. “I think our voices are stronger than ever and it’s because we’re not as tired.”

While their first major tour in five years is in support of their 10th studio album, Crybaby, Winnipeg fans can expect a little bit of something from every Tegan and Sara era when the band rolls through town Monday.

“We definitely have pulled in some pretty old stuff and it’s going over really well, which is satisfying,” Tegan says, adding that the band is preparing for an acoustic, nostalgia-filled tour next year. “The music changes over time, so a lot of our old music that kind of irked me, now I have a soft spot for.”

Part of the purpose of Crybaby, a pop-heavy record, was to explore new ways of collaborating — with Sara diving deeper into producing — and focus on the enjoyment of performing.

Taking the stage, now, at 42-years-old, comes with a lot of gratitude.

“To be 25 years into our career and still playing to thousands of people… is a thrill,” Tegan says. “I love what we do and I feel an enormous amount of gratitude — I know everybody says that, but I really mean it.”

Debby Friday, an electronic musician from Toronto and recent Polaris Music Prize shortlister, joins the sisters in Winnipeg as a supporting act. Being able to offer a platform to up-and-comers, many of whom have gone on to make it big, is another kind of performance thrill.

“You feel like a proud little mom,” Tegan says.

In between playing shows, the sisters are also making stops to promote their latest publication, Junior High, a graphic novel about growing up and coming out in Calgary and the prequel to their bestselling memoir and TV series, High School. Expanding into other media has attracted a new demographic of fans.

“We laughed last fall when we went out and were like, ‘God, there’s so many men in our audience. What is this?’” Tegan says, chuckling. “But it’s super interesting to see a lot of young people, this new generation… (of) teenagers in the front row singing and rocking out to F—-ing Up What Matters, off the new album.

“Like, OK, this is dope, this is cool, it still is worth it.”

For Tegan, a decades-long career in music is still evolving, making the journey more than worth it.

“I think we’re in a new era with Tegan and Sara, where climbing and building and becoming the biggest band ever is not really our intention any more — I don’t know if it ever was our intention, to be honest,” she adds. “I certainly think our objective now is to feel happy onstage, to feel healthy when we’re on the road and to feel creative in our creative spaces, whether it’s in the studio or writing books.

“We want to call the shots; we want to do it on our terms.”

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

Twitter: @evawasney