In case you missed it, you can listen to my Getting Hip to the Hip podcast episode here: https://www.dewvre.com/ghtthepisodes
Tune in to hear a little background on myself, my story, what drew me to The Hip and the piece I’ll be donating to the Downie Wenjack Fund auction at the Finale event on Sept. 1.
Original Sold - Limited Edition Prints Available
Miles Davis said, “It’s not the notes you play; it’s the notes you don’t play.” This is something you hear from musicians time to time about the space between the notes. Artists also have a similar relationship with the power of negative space. Sometimes it’s the negative space in a piece that gives it its "vibe". I've been conceptualizing using this practice for some time, and in this piece I was able to have much of the canvas close to empty.
Another Gord piece isn’t much of a stretch for a Canadian artist that focuses on living in a rock and roll space. This is pretty much a follow up single to my first Gord piece. In that initial piece, I wanted a fierce and intense version of the man who had vigilantly fought glioblastoma while he embarked on a cross Canada curtain call. However, for this concept I wanted to portray the other side of him. I wanted to capture that incomparable stage presence, the poetic ad libbing linguist, and the ever-complicated relationship with his microphone stand - who couldn’t understand that it wasn’t a man.
It’s arrogant to think you can speak for a large percentage of a population, but I’m probably not far off saying that a lot of us, at one time or another since his passing, have “looked up to the lord above and said, hey man, thanks”.
“That night in Toronto, with its checkerboard floors”…anyone that knows the history of the Tragically Hip or has knowledge of the Toronto live music scene knew immediately what Gord was referencing when he belted this lyric in their hit song, “Bob Caygeon”.
The legendary Horseshoe lounge in downtown Toronto may very well be the most storied dive bar in Canadian history. Discreetly nestled on Queen Street, this unassuming lounge is probably passed by thousands of locals and tourists daily, blindly oblivious to the importance and history of this national treasure. At first glance of this small, gritty, watering hole, one would have a tough time trying to wrap your head around the legendary acts that have adorned the stage in front of that checkerboard floor. The bar is where the Tragically Hip was first discovered, and is ultimately the place where Gord and Laurie Downie would be married. If this bar could talk, it wouldn’t be the type to name drop, so I’ll do it for it – The Hip, The Stones, Foo Fighters, Waylon Jennings, Ramones, Linkin Park, Willie Nelson are but a few of hundreds of legendary acts that have played to a max capacity of under five hundred.
During a recent trip to Toronto for an art show, when I was informed that I was scheduled for a radio interview in the heart of downtown, I immediately mapped out the distance between the iHeart Radio studios and the Horseshoe for a pre-interview beer. It’s tough to put into words what I felt when I entered this place. Perhaps I’ll borrow a quote from Dave McPherson who wrote The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern: A Complete History…”It’s a blue-collar bar. But you can feel the ghosts and spirits who live there, the weight of history, of all the people who once played on that stage”.
I found myself back in New Orleans for the third time in as many years. With a town so rich in musical history, I find this place incredibly inspirational. I have mentioned some of the other musical highlights of this city in my other posts. This trip I had a different mission in mind, one that I would have explored sooner had I known the history.
This trip my modus operandi was to visit a mansion on the edge of the French Quarter. Built in 1848, The Kingsway, as the property is known, has been owned by all manner of local characters, but in the 90’s it was perhaps the most prolific recording studios in the world. Owned and operated by esteemed producer Daniel Lanois (a fellow Canadian) some of my favorite acts of all time recorded at this studio. The likes of U2, Bob Dylan and Pearl Jam all flocked here to record at some point.
As much as I love the aforementioned artists, they’re not the reason I walked across the French Quarter this morning. No, the reason I woke up and walked from Canal Street to Esplanade is because this mansion is the birth place of two of my all-time favorite albums, Road Apples and Day for Night by the Tragically “Mother Fucking” Hip. The band has stated that the energy of city could be heard in the up-tempo songs of Road Apples and I can’t help but feel some of the grittiness of the city in Day for Night.
To paraphrase an anecdote from the band, upon arriving to record in New Orleans the first time, the bands’ driver was doing his best to give dining recommendations and happened to mention one of the best chicken places in town. Before they parted, he provided them one piece of valuable advice…“eat that chicken slow, it’s full of all them little bones.”
At some point, Mr. Lanois decided to put a pool table on the main floor to occupy bands during their downtime. It was here that The Hip learned that if you’re going to shoot pool in a city with the humidity of New Orleans, “you better butter your cue finger up.”
