The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip - Hardcover

Barclay, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1770414363 ISBN 13: 9781770414365

Publisher: ECW Press, 2018

Synopsis

The #1 National Bestseller

Shortlisted for the 2019 Speaker’s Book Award

Nominated for the 2019 Heritage Toronto Book Award

“Barclay combines his admiration of the band with his knowledge of the music industry to make a clever, touching, and very informative book that may well be the definitive work on an important piece of Canadian pop culture.” ― Publishersweekly.com, starred review

The long-awaited, first-ever print biography of Canada’s band!

In the summer of 2016, more than a third of Canadians tuned in to watch what was likely the Tragically Hip’s final performance, broadcast from their hometown of Kingston, Ontario. Why? Because these five men were always more than just a band. They sold millions of records and defined a generation of Canadian rock music. But they were also a tabula rasa onto which fans could project their own ideas: of performance, of poetry, of history, of Canada itself.

In the first print biography of the Tragically Hip, Michael Barclay talks to dozens of the band’s peers and friends about not just the Hip’s music but about the opening bands, the American albatross, the band’s role in Canadian culture, and Gord Downie’s role in reconciliation with Indigenous people. When Downie announced he had terminal cancer and decided to take the Hip on the road one more time, the tour became another Terry Fox moment; this time, Canadians got to witness an embattled hero reach the finish line.

This is a book not just for fans of the band: it’s for anyone interested in how culture can spark national conversations.

About this title

Book Description

- Radio: rock stations and university/college radio stations across Canada as well as range of talk radio programs on networks including CBC (both music and more general interest), CKNW, and CFRB

- Magazines: music magazines like Exclaim! and Guitar World, alt weeklies like NOW, and more general interest publications such as Maclean's and The Walrus

- Daily newspapers: major dailies across the country.

- Television: Toronto-based morning shows like Your Morning and Breakfast Television

- Online: music websites like ChartAttack.com, and music and entertainment blogs.

- Book trade: Quill & Quire, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, and Kirkus Reviews

From the Back Cover

The biography of "Canada's band"

In the summer of 2016, more than a third of Canadians tuned in to watch what was likely the Tragically Hip's final performance, broadcast from their hometown of Kingston, Ontario. Why? Because these five men were always more than just a band. They sold millions of records and defined a generation of Canadian rock music. But they were also a tabula rasa onto which fans could project their own ideas: of performance, of poetry, of history, of Canada itself.

In the first print biography of the Tragically Hip, Michael Barclay talks to dozens of the band's peers and friends about not just the Hip's music but about the opening bands, the American albatross, the band's role in Canadian culture, and Gord Downie's role in reconciliation with Indigenous people. When Downie announced he had terminal cancer and decided to take the Hip on the road one more time, the tour became another Terry Fox moment; this time, Canadians got to witness an embattled hero reach the finish line.

This is a book not just for fans of the band: it's for anyone interested in how culture can spark national conversations.

Edition details

• Publisher: ECW Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1770414363
• ISBN 13: 9781770414365
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 504