The Trews are sitting down on the job for the rest of the year.

"It should be a little less hard on the joints," laughs lead guitarist John-Angus MacDonald of the Maritime rockers. "Basically, we're taking a paid vacation."

No, the Juno-nominated foursome -- rounded out by singer-guitarist Colin MacDonald (J-A's brother), bassist Jack Syperek and drummer Sean Dalton -- aren't working to rule. They're heading out on an acoustic tour to promote their new unplugged DVD Friends and Total Strangers. Filmed earlier this year in Toronto, it captures the group perched on stools in a relaxed frame, trading their Telecasters and tom-toms for acoustic guitars and hand drums while they deconstruct cuts from their three studio releases.

"The inspiration came to us on a trip we took to Japan about a year ago," explains the 28-year-old MacDonald.

"We went on a musical trade mission to Asia, and it was only two shows in Tokyo, so we decided to just go acoustic. And it went over amazingly. The Canadian industry people that were watching said, 'You should do this back home.' So we booked the Glenn Gould Theatre in Toronto and recorded and said, 'If it turns out all right, let's do something.' And it turned out all right.

"It all just came together pretty effortlessly. And when something comes together easily, it usually means you're doing something right ... or completely wrong," he laughs.

"But we're gonna go with the former."

He stresses the tour -- which takes them from North Bay (starting tonight) to Nanaimo before heading back to their adopted home base of Toronto, where they play the Opera House on Dec. 11 -- doesn't just feature the same old songs played quieter.

"It's all reinventing. We're not married to the arrangements. With some of the older songs, we don't even remember all of them," he admits.

"It's like if we were sitting around playing Bob Dylan, we wouldn't be worried about what Al Kooper played on the original recording; we'd just be playing the song, you know? That's what we're trying to bring to our acoustic set.

"It's pretty liberating; the song is there, and you can do what you will."

The band is also debuting a few new tunes, along with numbers they've never been able to fit into their energized electric sets. All that musical freedom comes at a price, however -- the band has to pay far more attention to detail.

"Vocals are the biggest thing. In an acoustic environment, they're so naked. That's definitely been the focus of the rehearsals we've done, tightening up the vocals. A lot of that gets lost in an electric show; you sacrifice precision for energy. We bring a lot of energy to the acoustic show as well, but this definitely takes you up a notch in terms of focus. And it makes you better if you can do it night after night."

And while he says the band "just can't wait to leave all that gear at home and tour just with a guitar in each hand," he also knows the Trews aren't ready to turn into a folk act just yet.

"We're definitely not throwing in the towel as far as the rock thing goes. I just know that by the end of this month-long tour I'll be dying for an electric guitar and an amp," he laughs.

"We'll get this out of our system. And then we'll be ready to rock again in 2010."