Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jun 23/00) - Three years ago, The Gumboots recorded six songs for a new CD -- and trashed them all. "

We were not happy," says Chic Callas.

In November 1998, the five-member band tried again, with successful results.

The Gumboots' latest CD, Search for a Passage, is now shrink-wrapped and on sale at Top Fourty.

The official launch will be held from 2-4 p.m., June 25, at the Abe Miller Centre. Twenty-five per cent of the proceeds from CDs sold that day will be donated to the centre. The group will play two half-hour sets.

"Chic was quite the task master," laughs Rich Hintz, referring to the eventual completion of the recording.

Someone had to be. The band is made up of Bob MacQuarrie, Bill Gilday, Ray Bethke, as well as Hintz and Callas. Aside from their musical endeavours, they all lead full lives.

Callas says scheduling provided the only real challenge.

"People being out of town or busy ... Getting five people in the studio at the same time for group vocals."

Working in a real studio such as Yellowknife's Spiritwalker Productions -- as opposed to recording in a living-room -- like they did six years ago, allowed for some flexibility.

"A soloist could go in on his own time," says Callas.

Every spring they hoped to release a new CD but, as Hintz explains, the two mantras went like this:

"It'll be done when it's done," and "Less is more."

The Gumboots are all happy with the outcome of their creative efforts. And the CD looks good -- Hintz's wife, Heidi Hill, designed the cover -- and it sounds good.

"We decided to take the time to have something we could be proud of, and we are," says Callas.

While some things have stayed the same over the years -- like a cappella choruses -- others have changed.

"I see changes from the beginning of The Gumboots. (1984) Bob and Bill are still a very strong team. But Bill writes more solo work stuff. There's more solo singing. I think Bill realizes there are strong singers," says Callas.

"Bob generally writes all our lyrics, then shares his lyrics out among the musicians. We're all working on a song or two right now," say Hintz.

The latest song, performed at a Canadian Nurse Association conference in Vancouver -- yes, The Gumboots travelled to Vancouver this week -- is aptly titled Your Average Northern Nurse. They will probably perform the song at the launch on Sunday.