TORONTO—June 22 marked the start of what’s expected to be a bittersweet chapter in the history of one of Canada’s most iconic bands.
Two months after the Tragically Hip revealed lead singer Gord Downie is facing terminal brain cancer, the band has embarked on a 15-date tour that will culminate with a concert in their hometown of Kingston, Ont., which will be broadcast live by the CBC.
Many prominent Canadian performers say they’re still trying to digest the news about the singer they idolized and were inspired by.
“If you’re a musician and you’re born in Canada it’s in your DNA to like the Tragically Hip,” says Dallas Green, the mastermind behind City and Colour.
Green is one of many Canadian artists who got to know Downie personally but ultimately consider themselves fans of the songwriter above all else.
“He’s the gold standard,” Green says. “The way he writes and cares about music, the way he cares about the song.”
Downie and his band—guitarists Rob Baker and Paul Langlois, bassist Gord Sinclair, and drummer Johnny Fay—have spent more than 30 years capturing slivers of Canadiana and turning them into songs.
Hits like “New Orleans Is Sinking,” “Ahead By a Century” and “Bobcaygeon” have served as unofficial anthems for the country, while lesser-known tunes still ring familiar when they echo through cottage country or blare from car stereos in the summertime.
Leah Fay, co-lead singer of July Talk, considers her first Hip concert experience transformational in her growth as a musician.
“I remember seeing [Downie] for the first time and just sobbing my eyes out,” Fay says, recalling a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto.
“He has a way with performance and connecting to an audience that’s like no other.”
As big and influential as the group is, the band members remained humble, says Blues Traveler guitarist Chan Kinchla.
The two bands plowed through Europe playing bars and clubs in the 1990s and the Hip later invited Blues Traveler to play Another Roadside Attraction in 1995. Upon arriving in Canada, Kinchla says it became abundantly clear how popular the humble Hip members were in their home country.
“We got to do another tour of Canada and realized the Tragically Hip are huge.”
From The Canadian Press
