The Trews are used to playing so loudly their ears are left ringing as they leave the stage.

This time, they’re lowering the decibel level.

An acoustic version of The Trews will perform on Friday, Aug. 13, the first night of the Central Music Festival, just outside of Red Deer.

And lead vocalist Colin MacDonald, for one, is looking forward to giving his ears a break.

“We’re going to let the songs speak for themselves,” added Colin, who believes that playing unplugged gives new life to some of the band’s old tunes, such as Hollis and Morris and The Travelling Kind.

The latter was redone without electric guitar for the band’s well-received last album, Friends and Total Strangers, which was recorded live last year at Toronto’s Glenn Gould Theatre.

“It’s kind of nice to see some of this old material done acoustically and see that it’s still working,” said Colin, who plays with his brother, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, their cousin and drummer Sean Dalton, and longtime friend bassist Jack Syperek.

A most recent acoustic Trews song is Highway of Heroes, which band members wrote to commemorate the Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

The tune was inspired by the 2006 death of Canadian Forces Capt. Nicola Goddard, whom the MacDonalds knew from their hometown of Antagonish, N.S.

“She went to high school with my brother,” said Colin.

While Goddard was the first female Canadian soldier killed in combat during a firefight in the Panjwaye District, the band decided to “zoom out” from specific details of her story to make the song more general, dedicating it to all soldiers past, present and future whose bodies are carried home on the Highway of Heroes east of Toronto.

That doesn’t make the tune any easier to sing — Colin admits he gets choked up every time.

“It’s a song for the soldiers, not the war,” added the vocalist, who would “like to see all our brothers and sisters home safe and sound, and I’d like to see peace on Earth — but it’s just not the reality right now.”

The song’s video can be downloaded from the band’s website and proceeds from it are being donated to the Canadian Hero Fund, which provides scholarships to the families of fallen soldiers.

The Trews have massed several Juno Award nominations, seven albums and numerous hits — including Not Ready to Go, Tired of Waiting, Hold Me in Your Arms and Sing Your Heart Out — since relocating to Ontario and winning a radio station contest in 2002. The band was later signed by Sony BMG Canada.

Fans who like The Trews’ old sound won’t have to wait long to hear it again. Colin said the next album is going to be a mixture of hard rock and acoustic music.

For more information about the festival location and lineup, go to www.centralmusicfest.com. Festival news can also be followed on Twitter @centralmusicfes.

Tickets for both days are $75 for adults, or $65 for students and seniors from the Black Knight Ticket Centre or Valhalla Pure Outfitters. Children under 13 are free with an adult. Day passes are $50 for adults, seniors and students at the gate.

lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com