Here’s a 10 minute interview with Gordan (sic) Downie:
WNYC – Soundcheck: The Tragically Hip (April 23, 2007)
Category Archives: News
CANOE.CA: The Sadies team with Gord Downie
The Sadies team with Gord Downie
By FISH GRIWKOWSKY – Sun Media
Given the Sadies secret status as one of the worlds wickedest bands – country, rock or otherwise – it was vaguely surprising to find them unscheduled on the mainstage at Folk Fest double-oh-eight.
But shucks – its just as easy not to complain right?, given their time among us has been subsequently partitioned throughout the weekend – including a gratifying whopper Canadiana session tonight at 7:30 p.m. on Stage 1, the eastern border of New Folkland.
The brothers Travis and Dallas Good call from between Canmore and Calgary, intending fully to have pulled up into town last night to sample our party culture once again. Their persistent friendliness has them in some spectacular collaborations coming up, but just read on …
SUN MEDIA: “New Seasons was one of my favourites last year. Can you tell me a little about what Gary Jayhawks Louris brought into the studio? Dudes a pro playa, obviously.”
TRAVIS GOOD: “He helped from the ground up. He helped with the writing, the arranging. Vocally, he really pushed us. He thinks of things Ive never really thought of when I sing. And he was there, looking over our shoulder, reading what we were writing.”
SUN MEDIA: “What would he suggest with your singing?”
TRAVIS: “Oh, to do another take. Laughs hard. In the earlier records, we would do a couple takes and Id say, Well, thats what I sound like. If its squawky, thats my voice. But hed get us to do it 10 times, a bit of a slave-driver, that man. For me the vocals are the hardest thing, so its the first thing I want to abandon … get right to the guitar as quick as I can.”
SUN MEDIA: “Eat your vegetables so you can have dessert.”
TRAVIS: “Yeah, exactly.”
SUN MEDIA: “You guys are obsessive collaborators – is there anything you can let out of the bag coming up youre working on?”
TRAVIS: “Oh, for sure We just did a thing with Garth Hudson and Mary Margaret OHara, a Band tribute record Garths throwing together. All Canadians, hes producing and playing on it. We just finished a country record with John Doe. And weve been chipping away recording with Gord Downie. Like with Gary Louris, weve been talking about how, Wouldnt it be nice if we did something one day? We’ve been in the studio and done some work since. We did a couple songs thatll be on a compilation for the Waterkeeper Foundation.”
SUN MEDIA: “Part of making music together is friendship – you looking forward to hanging out with some musicians at the Folk Fest, onstage, backstage?”
TRAVIS: “Sexsmith should be pretty easy. Weve talked about doing stuff with him, too. So you never know. Laughs. We met Robyn Hitchcock at one of those and it went really good, we ended up recording with him. Same with Jim White. It can go either way, really good or really bad.”
SUN MEDIA: “As long as everyones joining in, its great.”
TRAVIS: “Yeah, I dont like the circle, going around, staring at the sun while a persons doing a solo thing. Not my bag. Hey, you want to talk to Dallas a bit?
SUN MEDIA: “If I have to. Just kidding – yeah. Extended phone rumbling. Dallas, whats the new album looking like?”
DALLAS: “Weve got a bunch of songs weve been working on with Gary, but I dont think well get a chance to revisit them until December. But considering the album that were working on with Gord is going to be original and with an equal amount of input, we dont want to sell anything short there.
“Even though we have three records on the go right now, not including our own or the stuff we did with Neko Case on her upcoming album, I still like to think of everything one project at a time. Last month in particular I was working on four separate projects simultaneously. Ive felt a little overwhelmed lately, because I do all the mixing, too. But Im a bully with that. But whatever. Dont cry for me, Im already dead. I dug my own grave and someday Ill gladly get to lie in it.”
The Sadies play tonight; tomorrow 1 p.m. on Stage 1 and 5 p.m. on Stage 2; finally, 11 a.m. Sunday on Stage 6.
ottawasun.com – Music – Hip works on another Rock album
ottawasun.com – Music – Hip works on another Rock album
The Tragically Hip thought it went so nice they’d try it twice.
According to a video clip released yesterday on the bands website, the group is working on a new studio album with producer Bob Rock. Rock also produced 2006s World Container, the bands previous studio effort.
The band will continue working on the as-yet untitled album at Rocks home studio in Maui, following its appearance at the inaugural Pemberton Festival in B.C. on Saturday.
“I think after doing World Container we were pretty happy with the results, and it seemed like we just got to know each other as the album was ending,” Rock says in the clip. “We kind of figured out what everybody did and stuff. Really it was done three or four songs at a time. We just knew that we had to kind of try to at least raise the bar a bit. We knew we had to come up with something different.”
“Its going really well. Bobs been here three times since about April, weve worked out the songs and whittled them down,” lead singer Gord Downie says. “Were at about 14 right now and I think thats what well continue with.”
The band worked on the album at its Bathouse Studio near Kingston following touring in support of World Container last year. According to bassist Gord Sinclair, they hope to have the record completed by the end of August.
Pics From The Governor General’s Gala
Here are some pics I found on canada.com:
Hip To Perform At Governor General’s Gala
From The Ottawa Citizen
OTTAWA – Tragically Hip fans may think their next opportunity to see the band play live in Ottawa is at Bluesfest in July. Wrong.
Though fans can see the Hip play their annual Bluesfest date in July, the Citizen has learned that the Kingston band’s next public performance in the city will be next Saturday night, May 3, in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre. The Hip are among the recipients at the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards – the annual gala to honour some of the nation’s great artists – and sources say the legendary Canadian band will perform during the show.
This is uncommon. Most musical recipients at the awards do not perform. Typically, another musician will perform one of the recipient’s songs. For example, k. d. lang was a recipient in 2005 and did not perform, but one of her songs was performed by a rising young Canadian singer named Leslie Feist. One act that did perform was the Guess Who, honoured in 2002.
Recipients at this year’s gala include Eugene Levy, Anton Kuerti, Michel Pagliaro and others. Tickets for the gala are available through ticketmaster.ca, or at the NAC box office.
Hipbase : New Forum Launches
The fan forum at Hipbase.com has just completed an upgrade to phpbb3! Check it out now, and enjoy the new forum smell while it lasts.
The Hip 64
Sixty-Four of your favourite Tragically Hip songs engaged in a head-to-head, bracketed tournament. You decide which songs advance by casting a daily ballot at The Hipbase. The tournament commences on Monday, March 17th at 7PM EST.
Follow the Hipbase March Madness at:
http://hipbase.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=26
The Tragically Hip winner of the 2008 National Arts Centre Award
MONTREAL, March 12 /CNW Telbec/ – Canada’s National Arts Centre announced today it is awarding the prestigious 2008 National Arts Centre Award to legendary rockers The Tragically Hip.
The National Arts Centre Award recognizes work of an extraordinary nature and significance in the performing arts by an individual artist and/or company in the past performance year. The award will be presented to The Hip at Rideau Hall on May 2 as part of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards. Members of the group will be on hand again on May 3 to be honoured during the awards Gala at the National Arts Centre. For the first time in its history, the Gala will be produced by the National Arts Centre.
Known for their powerful, energetic live performances and their ironic wordplay and references to quintessentially Canadian subjects from hockey to history, The Tragically Hip have sold millions of records worldwide, enjoying both mass popularity and critical acclaim.
“The Tragically Hip are one of the most influential Canadian bands of our generation,” said Peter Herrndorf, the NAC’s president and CEO. “The group represents a potent convergence of raw musical energy and rich Canadian storytelling. The National Arts Centre is delighted to bestow this honour on The Hip.”
The Tragically Hip were formed in 1983 by five friends from Kingston-Rob Baker, Gordon Downie, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois and Gord Sinclair-taking their name from a skit from the cult classic movie Elephant Pants by Michael Nesmith.
The group released their first album, The Tragically Hip, in 1987 and have since released twelve albums, earning two diamond certifications. In 2002, The Tragically Hip met and performed for Her Majesty the Queen at a gala performance in celebration of her Golden Jubilee. The band was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2003 and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the Juno Awards in 2005.
The Hip have established a demanding concert itinerary. They have toured extensively in Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australia. Most recently the band has finished a 2006-07 tour to promote their platinum selling album World Container where they continue to sell out arenas across Canada.
The Tragically Hip continue to support numerous charitable organizations, lending their name to help raise and donate millions of dollars for various social and environmental causes, including the Special Olympics, The Waterkeeper Alliance, the David Suzuki Foundation, the Stephen Lewis Foundation, and Camp Trillium.
The Tragically Hip are currently recording a new studio album.
Previous winners of the National Arts Centre Award include Richard Bradshaw, k.d. lang, Rick Mercer, Marie Chouinard, Angela Hewitt, La La La Human Steps and its artistic director Edouard Lock, Cirque du Soleil, Mario Bernardi, Denis Marleau, Karen Kain, Jon Kimura Parker, Ben Heppner, Robert Lepage, Michel-Marc Bouchard and Les Deux Mondes, and Gilles Maheu and CARBONE 14.
The National Art Centre’s Board of Trustees chooses the recipient of the award from recommendations submitted by a selection committee. The recipient of the National Arts Centre Award receives a cash prize of $25,000, an original work of art, and a commemorative medallion.
AUCTION: Signed “Live In The Flesh” Tour Program
The Hip contributed two items to our auction – the first is a signed tour program:
New Album Due In Late 2008
As originally published in The Kingston Whig Standard:
Almost like clockwork, the band has released a CD at least every two years since its first full-length album, Up To Here, in 1989.
With World Container being released in 2006, that would mean a new album is due this year.
And that is the plan.
“Our hope is to get one out by the end of the year,” Baker says.
“Some time in the spring, we should start that process. We’re working a little differently these days. Before, we’d take five weeks and record an album. Now, we’ll record five songs and and then sit on it for a month and record five more. We’re ever adjusting the process.”
Ace veteran producer Bob Rock will once again be at the helm. Last time, the band spent two sessions in Vancouver with him and another at his studio in Hawaii.
“This time, we’re hoping we can persuade him to come to our studio [in Bath],” Baker says.