About

“The Tra La Las are fun. They mash uncanny, hilarious lyrics with their instrumentation, harmonies and subject matter. There is something brutally honest about The Tra La La Las.” -Care Humphries, Echo Weekly

“If there is one defining feature of The Tra La Las it’s their harmonies. The trio create a sound that is both nostalgic and yet somehow fresh and unheard of at the same time.” – Anthony Damaio, The Cord (Waterloo)

The Tra La Las are a radical folk rock band that mix warm 3-part vocal harmonies with upbeat melodies and modern, often cheeky lyrics. Their songs prance across genres and styles going from driving drum beat anthems to piano ballads, from folk punk to doo-wop, and from clap-along sing-alongs to rich acapella folk songs. Like The Good Lovelies meets K’Naan, The Tra La Las ride the positive train while staying engaged with the struggles and beauty in their communities.

The Tra La Las are Laura Ashfield, Janice Lee, Emily Slofstra and latest addition, Adam F.Lewis. They started making music together in 2008 after meeting in the Radical Choir. Drawn together by their mutual hairstyles and equally toothy smiles, their first songs were a mix of Andrews Sisters covers, unique versions of popular songs such as M.I.A’s Paper Planes, and an array of original songs that could largely be described as “cute”. While the standard instruments of guitar and piano are prominent in the music of the Tra La Las, violin and ukulele are also oft present, and the stage is usually stocked with other fun gadgets such as the omnichord, melodica, glockenspiel, shaker, kazoo, harmonica, and trumpet, amongst others.

After Lewis joined the band as drummer in Spring of 2011, The Tra La Las stepped outside the “cute box” to tackle deeper issues and musical ideas in their songwriting. All four have a passion for social justice, whether it is in Canada, Gaza, or in any area around the world affected by climate change. This passion is reflected in their songs, such as Police Man, which encapsulates shared experiences of police brutality in Copenhagen, Egypt and Toronto.

Onstage The Tra La Las share a fun and relaxed attitude, making their audiences laugh  as they switch from ironic songs about tea parties gone wrong to sincere piano ballads about missing friends. The band has a habit of mixing it up – one week they were playing Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg covers, and the next week they were asked to open for legendary children’s entertainer Fred Penner, a great honour they had never imagined.

In 2010 members of The Tra La Las were selected as one of the Young Artist Showcase bands at Waterloo’s first Spark in the Park music festival under the name The Pedal Pushers. In 2011 The Tra La Las played shows at Guelph’s Albion Hotel, The Tranzac in Toronto, the Artword Artbar in Hamilton, Car Free Sunday in Waterloo’s Public Square, as well as shows in Peterborough and Kitchener. In October The Tra La Las were featured in KW’s Echo Weekly Indie Seen. Their EP “Fight The Tide” released in November 2011 to a packed house at Kitchener’s Queen Street Commons.

In 2012 The Tra La Las tour on their new album, sharing new stories from their latest political adventures while continuing to spread the joy and upping the punx.