  (Supplied photo) |
Canadian rockers Three Days Grace hit the Western Fair grandstand tonight riding U.S. hits on a road with plenty of fairground dates south of the border.
"We have the opportunity with U.S. labels and U.S. management to really travel a lot in the U.S. and go to every market," bassist Brad Waist says. "We love being at home. It's amazing to tour here but the U.S. is much bigger and we're fortunate to be in that kind of market."
The band's Never Too Late has been No. 1 on Billboard's hot mainstream rock tracks this year. It was No. 4 on the hot modern rock charts, following the 2007 success of Pain, which went No. 1 in the U.S. in that category.
One-X was released in June, 2006, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard charts. The CD is still on the charts more than a year later.
This year's tour has includes many stops in the U.S. with its Canadian leg taking the band to Western Canada, before it heads to the States again. Next month, they will be all over the Midwest.
Three Days Grace emerged from Norwood, population 1,500, south of Peterborough.
"We were a three-piece back when we had the name," Waist says. "I heard the name when I was going through school and I just thought it represented the music at the time and had an urgent feel to it, and it's still current with music right now."
Singer and guitarist Adam Gontier, drummer Neil Sanderson and guitarist Barry Stock, who arrived later, all became part of the TDG -- or 3DG -- experience.
"It kind of stands for a sense of urgency . . . like a three-day grace period," Gontier says of the band's name. "And the way we looked at it, we kind of write lyrics with a sense of urgency."
After signing a deal with Jive Records, the band's major label career began in 2003. By the time they released their self-titled debut record (I Hate), Everything About You was already a hit on alternative airwaves.
As the band relocated to Toronto and found success, Gontier battled substance abuse.
Gontier's drug dependence had become so alarming to friends, family and bandmates that he agreed last year to check himself into a Toronto rehab facility.
"We got a record deal," Gontier told a Toronto newspaper.
"We got thrown on tour. We were in a situation we'd never been in before, being away from our family and friends for two years . . . on the road. It took its toll. I ended up getting addicted to painkillers."
After entering a Toronto rehab centre in 2005, Gontier began his recovery. After his release, he wanted to "give back." Sometimes with his bandmates, sometimes as a solo performer, Gontier played a series of acoustic sessions for clients of similar facilities across Canada. One of those shows was in London last year.
