The Arrogant Worms

The Arrogant Worms are a Canadian musical comedy trio founded in 1991 that parodies many musical genres. They are well known for their humorous on-stage banter in addition to their music.^[1][2] The members since 1995 are Trevor Strong (vocals), Mike McCormick (guitar, vocals), and Chris Patterson (bass, vocals).

The Arrogant Worms
Origin	Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Comedy, folk
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Festival Distribution, Oglio Records, Needlejuice Records
Members	Trevor Strong Mike McCormick Chris Patterson
Past members	John Whytock Steve Wood
Website	https://www.arrogantworms.com/

History

The Arrogant Worms formed in 1991, with its founding members being Trevor Strong, Mike McCormick, John Whytock, and Steve Wood. They began by performing musical comedy on campus radio station CFRC at Queen's University at Kingston,^[3] and quickly moved to doing the same on CBC Radio, particularly on Jack Farr's The Radio Show. Wood left the band in 1991. Whytock left in 1995, and was replaced by Chris Patterson.

The Worms have toured Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom,^[4] and Australia, playing to crowds as large as 100,000. They have played at celebrations on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and at a concert in New York, United States's Central Park.^[5][6]

Since 1992 the Worms have released twenty-one albums, mostly independently, with sales exceeding 175,000.^[7][8] Their songs pay homage, always humorously, to different genres and topics. In 2003, they released a CD and DVD that was recorded live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.^[9] Some of their albums include contributions from prominent musicians, including Andy Thompson, Andrew Affleck, Gord Thompson, Adrian Dolan, Mike Ford, John Loughrey, Terry Tufts and Tim Readman, who is also their dialect coach.

Rock, folk, ballads, country, and children's music all have been genres parodied by the Worms. When not spoofing a particular style of music, the Worms' material pokes fun at various aspects of daily life in Canada with songs like "Canada's Really Big", "Me Like Hockey", "We Are the Beaver", "I Am Not American", and "Proud to Be Canadian".

They have also recorded music videos for three songs: "Big Fat Road Manager", "Carrot Juice Is Murder",^[10] and "The River (River of Snot)". The first two of these are included on the Three Worms and an Orchestra DVD, which includes appearances by Tom Cavanagh, Nathan Fillion and Kurt Browning.

The band has long supported the cause of literacy in Canada, and have twice won the Peter Gzowski Award for their efforts.

Discography

Studio albums

• The Arrogant Worms (1992), Independent
• Russell's Shorts (1994), Festival Distribution
• C'est Cheese (1995), Festival Distribution
• Christmas Turkey (1998), Festival Distribution
• Dirt! (1999), Independent
• Idiot Road (2001), Independent
• Beige (2006), Independent
• SPACE (2014), Independent
• The First Farewell Album (2016), Independent
• Fan Funded Songs 2017 (2017), Independent
• Fan Funded Songs 2018 (2018), Independent
• Fan Funded Songs 2019 (2019), Independent
• Fan Funded Songs 2020 (2020), Independent
• Fan Funded Songs 2021 (2021), Independent

Live albums

• Live Bait (1997), Independent
• Semi-Conducted (live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra) (2003), Independent
• Toast! (2004), Independent
• Torpid (2008), Independent

Compilations

• Gift Wrapped (2002), Oglio Records
• Hindsight 20/20 (2013), Independent
• Completely Canadian Compilation (2015)^[11]

Videos

• Three Worms and an Orchestra (DVD of Semi-Conducted performances and other original music videos) (2004)

References

1. Plunkett, Emily (22 February 2018). "Arrogant Worms bring laughter and warmth to a diverse crowd". Canadian Beats Media. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
2. Warner-Lalonde, Peggi (22 April 2002). "The Arrogant Worms". Strange Horizons. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
3. "The Arrogant Worms: Biography". The Arrogant Worms. Archived from the original on 21 March 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
4. "Arrogant Worms To Tour UK, Apr 2006". pressreleases.responsesource.com. ResponseSource. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
5. "New York Magazine, Aug 1997, page 177". 25 August 1997. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
6. "The Worms According To Jeff". The Online Zoo. October 1999. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
7. "The Arrogant Worms". Discogs. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
8. "The Arrogant Worms: Coming Home for Homecoming". Queens University. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
9. "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate". youtube.com. YouTube. 14 April 2011. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
10. "Arrogant Worms - Carrot Juice is Murder". youtube.com. YouTube. 21 December 2006. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
11. "Completely Canadian Compilation". amazon.com. Amazon. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.

External links

• Official website
• Biography
• Discography