By Steve Newton
On July 2, 1995, I did my fourth Georgia Straight interview with the Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie. It had only been six months since our previous chat, and it was unusual–even back then, when newspapers were thriving–to publish two feature stories on the same band within such a short span of time.
But the Tragically Hip were not your usual band, especially in 1995.
In January the conversation had focused on the group’s then-new album, Day for Night, so for the July chat I honed in more on the Hip as a live entity, asking about life on the road, and getting updates on the band’s opening slots for the Rolling Stones and Page & Plant–as well as its infamous performance on Saturday Night Live.
When Downie called from the road in Colorado, enroute to a 4th of July Red Rocks gig with Blues Traveler, I asked him about the day-to-day ordeal of the traveling rocker’s life.
Have a listen:
Donate to the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research at sunnybrook.ca/gord.