Celebrate Bob Lanois’ life with “Snake Road” documentary video

It’s been one year since Bob Lanois, legendary Canadian musician, photographer, sound engineer and artist, left this mortal coil for the great beyond.

To commemorate the anniversary, and in celebration of his incredible life, Freaktography.com’s Dave Conlon has just released his first feature documentary on Lanois, “Snake Road.” 

Through interviews with friends and collaborators, including Bob’s brother Daniel, Alan Cross, Paul Langlois of the Tragically Hip and others, Conlon shares “the story of a life well lived, by a man who was loved by so many.

“From his upbringing as a young boy in Quebec to his family’s move to Hamilton and then Ancaster, Ontario, Bob Lanois had music in his life from the very beginning,” the movie’s press release states. “Starting with the creation of Master Sound Recordings with his brother Daniel in the basement of their mother’s home, to the legendary Grant Avenue Studio in Hamilton and then The Bunker  and Mule Spinner at Hamilton’s Cotton Factory and his very own Shack Studio, Snake Road tells the extraordinary tale of Bob Lanois.”

During his career, Lanois worked with Emmylou Harris, U2, the Hip and dozens of other musicians, including working on albums with Johnny Cash, Raffi, the Rodeo Kings and Gordon Lightfoot at his Grant Avenue Studio and recording and touring an album with Tom Wilson. 

Bob Lanois died on April 19, 2021, a decade after a serious motorcycle accident that left him with long-term health struggles. 

Dave Conlon began working on the film last fall, holing up in a vacant cabin in the woods near Burlington, Ont., that once belonged to Lanois. This is Conlon’s first feature documentary. 

“Bob Lanois: Snake Road” also includes interviews from Edgar Breau of Simply Saucer, Bob Doidge of Grant Avenue Studio, Rachel Heart, Tom Wilson, John-Angus MacDonald and Jack Syperek of the Trews, Glen Marshall and a song from Stephen Sahlin of Big Is Less. 

You can watch the film here; an accompanying playlist, including interviews with Lanois, is available here.