[EDIT] hipbase.com was back online for a while this morning, but it seems to have disappeared again.[/EDIT]

I don’t know the details of what’s happening over at one of our favourite Hip sites (for those not in the know on this one, hipbase.com is coming up 404, and has been since the wee hours of the morning on February 6); but I chatted briefly with Lance (hipbase.com owner/admin) and he said that it looks like a maintenance script that his host ran is to blame for this downtime…

As more info becomes available, I will post it here.

The nominees for the 2007 Juno Awards were announced yesterday, and The Hip were nominated in the following four categories:

Group Of The Year
Rock Album Of The Year
Jack Richardson Producer Of The Year
CD/DVD Artwork Design Of The Year (sponsored by Ever-Reddy Packaging)

From ViewMag.com by Adam Grant

NO FRILLS ROCK AND ROLL

The Tragically Hip are known for many things. They are that one Canadian band that rarely ceases to sell out arenas and concert halls in their homeland, they consistently manage to release records that feature new Can–con radio staple songs, and they are the object of affection from their devoted fan base (“Hip Heads”), who’ve been known to give opening acts a hard time in hopes of seeing their heroes sooner. Perhaps though, the greatest thing they’re known for is their collective history. Having jump started themselves back in 1983, The Hip, Gord Downie (vocals, guitar), Paul Langlois (guitar), Rob Baker (guitar), Gord Sinclair (bass), and Johnny Fay (drums), have become one of Canada’s most celebrated bands with the trophies, national accolades and hall of fame memberships to prove it. On top of all of this, Universal Music put forth the quintet’s box set Hipeponymous in 2005, which usually means one of two things, the band is either on its way out, or just beginning a new phase in their existence.

With the 2006 album World Container, the latter looks to make more sense. Not only has The Hip made a mighty statement beyond the box set, but they have made a mighty statement in regard to where their career is heading. This didn’t happen by accident of course, and required work with world renowned Canadian album producer Bob Rock (Metallica, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue) to take The Hip to another level. “He always thought that our records just fell short of our live show and he wanted to help us with that,” explains Fay when discussing Bob Rock’s initial perspective of The Hip’s recording capabilities.

“Our live show is what we do, we play way more live than we do in the studio, so it totally makes sense. We’re not that incredible in the studio. (But) I don’t think that we have red light fever. Being in the studio we get better and better at it, but it’s not where we really shine,” he continues. “What (Rock) did was keep it far more live than we have been in the last couple of years. With the introduction of Pro Tools it’s very editing based) and you can really get bogged down by that, then all of a sudden you do have a studio record and how can you ever measure up live?”

With said issues on everyone’s mind during the making of World Container, the finished product accurately reflects what The Hip does best, perform solid rock songs. Yes the writing is still there, but the performance of album opener “Yer Not the Ocean,” as well as subsequent singles “In View,” and “The Lonely End of the Rink,” showcase a band that is taking its live strengths and finding a way to translate them in a recording room, without any apparent roadblocks.

So when specifically looking back at the Toronto, Vancouver and Hawaii based sessions that led The Hip to an album such as this one, Fay can’t help but constantly praise the role of Rock, who not only helped expand the band’s talents, but “didn’t really screw around too much with the band dynamic.” Furthermore, what really hit Fay hard in a complimentary way, was Rock’s declaration that World Container is the “great Canadian album,” he’d always been looking to participate in, as well as the overwhelming dedication the producer demonstrated when working with the band during a real life changing occurrence. “His father passed away while we were making the record and you think about everything that he’s achieved. He came in after the service and listened to four hours of me and another guy hitting the drums just to get the sound right. He had committed to us that he was going to help us make this record,” praises Fay. “He was really there for us, and going through that was a very tough time. His dad was sick for awhile and (Rock) completely blew our minds by how devoted he was to the album.

He works with Metallica, he sells 30 million records, but he says that this is one of his happiest experiences. That’s very cool.”

As originally posted on NorthernLife.ca
Date Published: Jan. 29, 2007

The Tragically Hip played a sold-out concert at Sudbury Arena Saturday night.Earlier in the day, three members of the Canadian band surprised local high school students when they walked into Confederation Secondary School to catch the Evolutionary Band in rehearsal.

“The band and crew were caught completely by surprise,” says band director Norm McIntosh.

Evolutionary was being filmed by a local production crew working on a full length documentary on The “REAL School of Rock.

“Members of the film crew were also treated to personal interviews by the Hip on the important topic of music education,” says McIntosh.

The Hip knew how to please Sudbury fans, playing an encore of Sudbury Saturday Night.

CANOE — JAM! Music – Artists – Tragically Hip, The: Tragically Hip have diverse fan base
By YURI WUENSCH — Edmonton Sun
When Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie was in Edmonton last October on a national press tour for the band’s 11th full-length album, World Container, we got talking about the band’s sometimes maligned and misunderstood fan base.
Local “Hip Heads” will be pouring into Rexall Place tomorrow night to catch the object of their affection – and the Sadies. Tickets for the show ($39.50-$75.50) are available through Ticketmaster online or by calling 451-8000.
Not all Hip Heads, however, are alike, he told me, a fact supported by the diverse ways the band has touched people. Such tales are being shared on the band’s website through the Hip Story Project, where fans are invited to submit their tales related to the band.
“I don’t read them every day,” Downie said, “but I always find them touching, funny or sad – or all of the above. The project shows that – as much as they’re button-holed for their interests in a particular band’s music – that isn’t who they are.
“That’s always been the thing that’s sort of been raced over by people who take a view of the group, what it means and what it means to people. I’ve watched them painted with one brush and it never seems to quite cover the whole canvas.”
Who knew that disciples of the Canadian Music Hall of Famers were so stigmatized? But is there some kind of rock ‘n’ roll litmus test akin to racial profiling that would allow one to pick a Hipster out of a crowd?
Guitarist Rob Baker, on the road in Prince George, B.C., gave me the lowdown on what the ugliest and most egregious stereotype of a Tragically Hip fan might boil down to.
“There’s a certain depiction of our fans as being a very homogeneous group: thick-necked, rugby-shirt wearing, ball cap-wearing. They’re an element of the audience out there,” he concedes, adding that they seem that much rowdier when the band plays abroad.
“I think it has to do with nationalism. In some audiences, the most vocal are kind of the yobs. They’ve been preparing for the gig all day. They’ve had too many drinks and they’re pumping their fists. They’ve got the (Canadian) flag on their faces. They go crazy.
“It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, the audience is made up of all these people, Canadians chanting nationalist slogans.’ But that’s just lazy journalism or something.”
Noted. But there’s no denying the Hip’s seeming status as the quintessential Canadian band. The passion and devotion the Hip Heads faithfully heap on the group almost gleams more brightly than the Hip’s astounding collection of 14 Junos.
So, people “love” the Hip, though they probably don’t always “get” the Hip. Even Baker, at 44, and playing with Downie for more than 20 years, says there are certain Downie lyrics he’s never truly understood and will probably go to his grave never understanding.
Not that he’s ever really been inclined to ask for clarification, either.
“Gord writes to please himself. He’s very literate, so he loves that kind of density,” Baker explains.
“We don’t sit around and talk about what he’s written. I think he writes them that way so people can put their own stamp on it.”
Some of those people even hit the road, following the Hip around for multiple tour stops, the kind of pilgrimages that Dead Heads used to make to honour the Grateful Dead.
“Hip Heads are, generally speaking, cleaner and less stoned,” Baker laughs.
“There was one couple from Arizona who followed us around. I think in one year they saw about 55 shows and they’ve seen more than a hundred over the years.”
Didn’t they have jobs?
“You wonder. She was teaching skiing in Vail, Colorado. And, as far as I know, he was dealing dope. But he’s dead now.
“I don’t know the ins and outs, but we got the word about two months ago that he got shot in Phoenix.” (Here’s a video from a show where they dedicated Long Time Running to this fan…)
Because of dealing drugs?
“No, I think he kind of blew his mind on drugs and joined a religious cult.”
Speaking of fanatical obsessions …