Barenaked Ladies Drummer And Comedian Form Hockey-Themed Band To Play During Olympics

Barenaked Ladies drummer Tyler Stewart and comedian Marc Hickox have formed a hockey-themed band called the Black Aces who'll be performing during the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

The pair describe themselves as "the sound of Black Sabbath cross-checking The White Stripes from behind" and cite John Bonham, Tony Iommi and retired Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks right-winger Bob Probert as their influences.

"Tyler and I have been wanting to do something hockey related other than just going to games for a while now," says Hickox, who manages lead vocal and guitar duties. "We had this Olympic gig coming up and I'm bored off my ass in L.A., so I started writing songs while watching [Los Angeles] Kings games.

"We jammed some songs out a couple of times over the holidays in Tyler's garage, and he was so stoked he booked a studio and engineer so we could crap out a four-song demo.

"We actually missed the world junior gold medal game because we were still recording vocals — that was tough."

The songs — "Healthy Scratch," "Flash Of Leather," "U.U.B.I." (undisclosed upper body injury) and "Riverboat Gambler" — lay down a neutral zone trap between hockey tribute and sly metaphor. So if you hear a line like, "Baby, I'm gonna shoot this top shelf/Right where you keep the peanut butter" it probably has a double-meaning.

Says Hickox, "The songs are all about hockey and girls or girls that play hockey. There's some frustration and heartbreak in there, too, for good measure."

There'll be a lot of Stewart and Hickox at the Olympics. Stewart has been named the executive director and supreme commander of entertainment for something called the Molson Canadian Hockey House, and it appears he's brought all his friends with him.

Between Feb. 12 to 28, the Black Aces will be joined by the likes of Sam Roberts, The Odds, Sean Cullen, Tom Cochrane and heap of other musicians, comedians and ex-NHLers who'll appear at the Hockey House. BNL proper will play on Feb. 13.

The full Hockey House entertainment schedule can be found here.