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PAGE 8, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 1977, WHITBY. FREE PRESS Was top mou.ey-maker, for Edmô'n"'1on a'àgency Whitby rock group- retUrns home'aftr success out Wst By BRIAN WINTER Staff Writer In September *1975, four young Whitby musicians headed west to the land of opportunity and made a nanie for themiselves in the rock music business in Alberta and British Columbia. At Christmas last year they returned home, and have plans to break into the music scene in Toronto. The miusic ians, who formi a group called Truax, are: Barry Milner, 18, who plays guitar and keyboard and does the lead vocals; Tony Calderero, 19. t~i iitnr in< vocals; Brian Groff, 1 8, base guitar and backing vocals; and Joey Grixti, 20, percus. sion and backing vocals. Brian and Joey have lived in Whitby ail their lives, Barry is from Brooklin, and Tony came to Whitby from Oshawa when he was 13. Al attended Anderson Collegiate where their music career began. In 1974 when the boys were in grades 10 and -Il they formed a band called Cheyanne Winter, which played at high school dances in Whitby and Oshawa and at the Carousel Inn in Oshawa. In the summers the group played at regattas in northern Ontario. .Before Cheyanne Winter was formed, Tony and Barry were in a group called Open Water, which played at the County Town Carnival Street dance la Whitby in 1973. . In September 1975, Tony, Brian and Joey had al gradtiated from Grade 12 at Anderson and wanted to get into the music business. B3arry wanted to quit the band and go out west, but after discussing the future, al four boys decided to go west together. "The west is the best place to go, 1 can tell you that mpuch",. says Barry. "There's money and the people are just unreal--small town, very friendly people. It's easier. to be accepted out there". Ted Crouch, another Whitby musician and singer went out to Edmonton with Tony and Barry in September 1975, and the others followed three weeks later. The group tound an agency and started playing one- nigliters in hotels and high schools. "We arrived with no money, little equipment and no transportation", saý's Barry .- "We had to rent everything"." The group found out they couldn't keep their name of Cheyanne Winter because a western group had a patent on the name, so they changed their name to Truiax, named aftei a smnall town in Saskatche wan. The four-piece rock group started playing in'bottomn of the line bars, but by January 1976, after a trip home to Whitby for Christmas, they were into better Edmonton hotels. Ted Crouch lived with Truax and wrote material for the, group until' Christmas 1975, when he started out on his own and became one of the top five single musicians in Edmoonton. When he made a demonstra- tion tape of his work in June 1976, Truax supplied him with their equipment. "We play boogie and rock and roll, very'danceable music --no disco", says Barry. The group has written more than 20 of its own songs, including Truax Blues and Anderson Boogie, with lyrics and music by Tony and Barry. The big break for Truax came in August 1976 when the band came second out of 1 5 bands in a showcase staged by its agency in the Riviera Hotel in Edmonton. As a result of this, Bruce Allen Promotions, managers of Bachmlan Turner Overdrive, one of the top groups in Canada, drafted Truax to play the southern and central British Columbia circuit àt top notch. night clubs., and and caberets in November 1976. Week-long stands took the group as far west as Vancouver Island. The boys went bac k to Edmonton in D)ecemnber and did their last jobin Alberta on Dec. 17,ý before returning home to Whitby for a change of pace. At the present time Truax is putting together a new show, and plans to get started on the Toronto circuit in late February. The. members intend. to live in Whitby indefinitely -says Barry.' When they started in Aberta, Truax lived on a farm 50 miles north of Edmonton, and in April 1976 they purchiased 'a 1966 GMC 1 6-passenger school bus. They modifled the bus for sleeping and lived in it while on the road. Members of the Truax road team, who will continue to work for the group, are Chuck' Halliday, light man and road manager, and his brother Jim (Pokey) Halliday, sound m1an, bus driver and equipment manager. Both the Hallidays were friends of the Truax merrîbers at Anderson Collegiate. Truax was considered one of the more successful bands in the Edmon ton area during 1976. According to Barry the group pulled in the most money of ail the bands in its booking agency, and was rated in the top band category. Lt is expected that Truax wil be playing at dances at Whitby area high schools as well as in the Toronto area in coming months. Truax, a group of Whitby musicians Who met with success in western Canada, bas returned to Whitby after more than a *year on the road. In the top row are Barry Milner and Arian Groff, andin the Iower row are Tony Calderero and Joey Grixti. Free Press Photo