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• CBC GORD DOWNIE SERIES

He makes me laugh still to this day.TORONTO - The CBC will broadcast live the final stop of The Tragically Hip's upcoming tour, which ends in Kingston, Ont.ĬBC television, radio and online platforms will carry the concert on Aug. “It’s what I miss and what I think about, mostly.

He had a great way of humanizing people and himself though humour. “Without question it was his sense of humour,” he responded. What does Finlayson miss most about his friend? “Throughout his career, Gord captured the imagination and touched the hearts of a lot of people.” So it was very hard not to be impacted by that.

“He leveraged his illness and the attention that was directed toward him in a way that I think he felt really positive about. “Every day wasn’t a great day by any stretch, of course, but Gord found some sort of greater purpose, some higher power,” Finlayson said.

CBC GORD DOWNIE SERIES

The “Secret Path” album and series of concerts told the story of Chanie Wenjack, an Anishinaabe boy who died in 1966 after escaping a residential school and trying to return to his home in the Marten Falls First Nation.ĭownie’s call for reconciliation resonated throughout the country and, as Finlayson notes, Canadians were inspired and engaged by the singer’s numerous endeavours as he fought his illness. Our musical relationship was pretty uncomplicated.” I just needed to be myself and that’s what he needed from me. I had a good understanding of what my purpose was in that dynamic. I felt this record was very much a gift from him. “I’m very grateful to have had all of those experiences.

He views his involvement with Downie on the album as “a gift.” He explained that the acoustic version of “Away Is Mine” offers “a pulling back of the curtain a little and seeing the creative process, a valuable thing to see.” “That creative muscle of Gord’s was quite remarkable through all of this: the Hip tour and the ‘Secret Path.’ The recordings I heard and saw him do, it’s quite incredible actually.”įinlayson said Downie was able to hear the final album before he died. “The one unknown was Gord’s memory and his health but, really, it didn’t really prove to be an obstacle at all, any more than me forgetting a guitar part or him forgetting a lyric. “We worked together enough where there was kind of a shorthand between us,” Finlayson said. Travis Good of the Sadies was brought on board to help with some of the instruments, and Downie’s son Louis and Tragically Hip stage manager Dave “Billy Ray” Koster both chimed in on drums.įinlayson said there weren’t too many hiccups during the sessions. In July 2017, they spent four days doing multiple takes of each song, with Spencer adding drums loops and other effects as the music was captured. “He also had some finished lyrics he really liked and wanted to use, so that was part of the premise.”Īfter the duo completed 10 songs within 10 days, Downie suggested that they go to the Tragically Hip’s Bathouse Studio near Kingston and record an album, with studio manager and engineer Nyles Spencer producing. “Anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours later, he’d send something back with a finished lyric,” said Finlayson.