Hang in there, Gord
Yesterday Canada got hit with some pretty tragic news: Gord Downie of the band The Tragically Hip has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Gord Downie via promotional use / CD packaging/Gordon Hawkins
This news has bombarded my Facebook feeds for the last 30+ hours. It’s a big deal to us.
Glenn Milchem of Blue Rodeo posted on his Facebook: “Gord Downie is the people’s poet laureate, the man who built the bridge between high art and hoser culture. He is a tireless supporter of Canadian independent music and someone who never compromised his creative goals for commercial gain, yet achieved unprecedented success in Canada on his own terms and helped create our cultural identity. He’s a trailblazer, one of a kind, a true Canadian hero. The news of his illness is tragic but what he’s given us will last forever.“
My comment to Glenn: “Gord Downie is a lyrical genius. His talent is underappreciated. Tragic.”
My brother first introduced me to The Tragically Hip when I was still in high school. I actually didn’t appreciate them at the time – but I grew and my taste in music has (somewhat) grown.
My brother had asked for one of their CDs for his birthday. I bought it for him and, in turn since, have “borrowed” the CD and never returned it (apparently, borrowing items and not returning them is “my thing”). I’ve since seen them in concert a few times and I’m looking forward to seeing Gord, albeit a sad farewell, on his last train out.
Live Between Us – one of the best of the best
The Hip are more than a band. Yes, they are Canadian icons. But they’re also incredible artists. Gord’s creativity in his writing is magical. Gord tells stories. Not just tales but actual stories. Wheat Kings, one of my favorite songs, with its haunting melody, tells the story of David Milgaard, a young Winnipeg-born hippie wrongly accused of the grisly rape and murder of Sasketchewan nurse Gail Miller. (You can read the complete reference here.
As fans, I think we’re all still reeling from this information. We Canadians take our music, and our celebrities, very seriously (have you seen my million posts on Blue Rodeo?). We often feel a connection to our bands and our actors and our hockey players. And Gord is everyone’s buddy.
If you’ve been fortunate enough to see him in concert you’ll understand. He’s charismatic and he’s intelligent and he’s engaging. His songs are able to reach you in a way that not many others can. He is, indeed, a lyrical genius.
We will now, as a nation, rock on with Gord. We will support him and pray for him and we will cheer him.
When the inevitable happens, we, as a nation, will mourn him and we will mourn the loss of an incredibly talented musician and writer and artist. As we, as a nation, will ache together.
And Gord’s death will be tragically (un)hip.
Vancouver – October 10, 2006 – John Mackie story – Gord Downie, lead singer for Tragically Hip. (Glenn Baglo/Vancouver Sun)
~Cheers
RIP James Gray
It was a shocker yesterday when I heard of James Gray’s sudden death. Mr. Gray was the former keyboardist for Blue Rodeo. Gray suffered a fatal heart attack while walking home after a performance in Toronto on Monday. He was 52. Those who know me know that I am huge Blue Rodeo fan. I love them. They’re my favorite band (to the point where friends have been sending me condolence emails and messages on Gray’s passing. And that I read of his death on Blue Rodeo drummer Glenn Milchem’s Facebook wall).
RIP James. You were a great Canadian talent.
In honor of his passing I’m going to introduce (or, for some, reintroduce) you to some great Canadian music. You’ve probably heard of Bryan Adams (I mean, who hasn’t??), Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Corey Hart, The Band (at least a good portion is Canadian), Bieber (although, some of us are trying to forget this one)…but I’m sure there are tons of great Canadian artists out there that you haven’t heard of. And Canadian music, although not thought of as mainstream, is friggin’ rockin’!
So, that being said, for Mr. Gray, here is one of my favorite Blue Rodeo songs.
Stay tuned….
~Cheers
Feeling Blue
Last week I, once again, saw my favorite band, Blue Rodeo, in Halifax.
Blue Rodeo in Halifax
If you know me or have been following my blog for several years you will know that I am obsessed with love these guys. These guys have been playing together for more than 25 years (this is actually their 25th Anniversary Tour) – although Jim and Greg have been writing and performing music together since the 70’s – and it was an honor to be a part of this concert experience.
They played to a gracious crowd and, as always, gave an incredible performance. But this concert was different than their other, more high energy concerts (or maybe I was the high energy one). This concert was very intimate.
Jim Cuddy sits at the piano and plays us a tune
A lot of the music was from their upcoming album, tho they did play some of their traditional hits. They shared stories from their experiences from way back when they were releasing their first record and playing their first tours (of course I was already familiar with these stories – being a true fan and all). It was a great night.
My friend Melissa and I had floor seats – as always – and we had a thoroughly enjoyable night. Toward the end of the night the band invited guests to come to the front of the stage and dance and sing and have a blast and, with my shoving her urging, Melissa and I were up and participating with the other hundreds of people on their feet.
Honorable Blue Rodeo guitarist Colin Cripps and the incredible Jim Cuddy.
Blue Rodeo has a history of performing incredible encores. And they did not disappoint this time. They played a few songs, including their hit Lost Together where they stand back and encourage the audience to sing and kinda take over the concert. It’s always so much fun.
Part of their first encore – Lost Together
At the end of their encore set the guys all gave great thanks and exited the stage once again. But, as we’re all gathering up our coats and other belongings something happened….Greg and Jim came back to the stage and sang a beautiful rendition of their “duet” Is It you?. Something unexpected but wonderfully exciting and appreciated. The crowd went wild with applause and cheers.
Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor – second encore
It was such a great night. I love this band. I love their music. I love the energy at their concerts. I love how gracious they are to all their fans and for the continued support over 25 years.
This was one of my favorite of their concerts. The first of course being in 2008 when I finally got to meet Jim Cuddy. Boo Yah!!
If you’re sexy and you know it…(And yes, that’s him on my shirt)
I encourage you to go to YouTube and check them out (Try, Rose-Coloured Glasses, Rain Down On Me, House of Dreams, After the Rain and Jim Cuddy’s Pull Me Through are some of my favorite songs ever) and check out http://www.bluerodeo.com for info, history, sound bites, tour dates and just for kicks.
Cheers!
Sandy the Social Butterfly 