Life Is a Highway: Canadian Pop Music in the ’90s

The ’90s were boom years in Canadian music, with record-breaking sales and more international success stories than ever before. Life Is a Highway, a two-Hour CBC Special (Airs Sept. 15 and Sept. 22 at 8 PM ET) looks at this explosive period, when Canada’s superstar divas and rock gods shared the charts with DIY indie bands, Celtic virtuosos, worldbeat ensembles and hip-hop heroes.

For the sheer variety of different types of pop music exploding onto the music scene from coast to coast to coast, the 1990s was an unparalleled decade. To know more, here’s the official press release.

Enjoy.

NEWS RELEASE                IMMEDIATE

 
(Toronto/Vancouver/Montreal – Sept. 6, 2011)  It was the decade marked by hit songs from Canadian performers as diverse as Tom Cochrane, Sloan, Loreena McKennitt, The Tragically Hip, Shania Twain, Blue Rodeo, Céline Dion, Moxy Früvous,  Barenaked Ladies, Great Big Sea, Jann Arden…the list of great performers and their classic songs goes on and on! It was the 1990s, and it’s celebrated in the new, two-part documentary LIFE IS A HIGHWAY: Canadian Pop Music in the ’90s, premiering on CBC Television on Thursday, Sept. 15, and concluding Thursday, September 22, both evenings at 8 pm ET/PT (8:30 pm NT)
 
The ’90s were boom years in Canadian music, with record-breaking sales and more international success stories than ever before. LIFE IS A HIGHWAY looks at this explosive period, when Canada’s superstar divas and rock gods shared the charts with DIY indie bands, Celtic virtuosos, worldbeat ensembles and hip-hop heroes. For the sheer variety of different types of pop music exploding onto the music scene from coast to coast to coast, the 1990s was an unparalleled decade.
 
Featuring thrilling performance footage and candid interviews with such major stars as Sarah McLachlan, Tom Cochrane, kd lang, Barenaked Ladies, Jann Arden and The Tragically Hip, as well as alternative music groups like Rheostatics, Sloan and Dream Warriors,  LIFE IS A HIGHWAY explores this hit-laden era in Canadian music. The two-hour documentary presents over 40 of the decade’s most unforgettable songs, from Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” and Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine” to Snow’s “Informer” and Bran Van 3000’s “Drinking in L.A.”
 
Other performers taking a star turn in the specials include Bryan Adams, Crash Test Dummies, Lhasa, Ron Sexsmith, Les Colocs, Jean Leloup, Ashley MacIsaac, Rascalz, Spirit of the West, The Rankin Family, Natalie MacMaster & Jesse Cook, The Doughboys, The Odds, Bass is Base, Choclair, La Bottine Souriante, Big Sugar, The Tea Party, and Our Lady Peace.
 
LIFE IS A HIGHWAY is the latest installment in the critically-acclaimed series from the same team that brought you the specials Shakin’ All Over, This Beat Goes On and Rise Up, chronicling Canadian pop music in, respectively, the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.
 
As with the previous episodes of this decade-by-decade music documentary series, the film showcases not only the Canadian music of the decade, but includes interviews with artists of the ’90s and those who followed them – all sharing personal observations about influential musicians and their songs.
 
         LIFE IS A HIGHWAY covers the time when Canadian music, in all its ragged glory, truly came of age.
 
         Hosted and narrated once again by Jian Ghomeshi (who also appears in this installment performing with his own band, Moxy Früvous), LIFE IS A HIGHWAY is directed Gary McGroarty and written by Nicholas Jennings. Producers are Gary McGroarty, Nicholas Jennings, Luc Châtelain and Nick Orchard. Executive producers are Nick Orchard and Luc Châtelain.
 
         For CBC’s Independent Documentary Unit: Linda Laughlin, Senior Producer; Michael Claydon, Area Executive Producer, Independent Documentaries; Mark Starowicz is Executive Director, Documentary Programming.
 
        LIFE IS A HIGHWAY is produced by Soapbox Productions Inc. and Echo Media Inc. in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, developed with the assistance of British Columbia Film and with the financial participation of the Canadian Media Fund created by the Government of Canada and the Canadian cable industry, the Québec Film and Television Tax Credit administered by SODEC, the Province of British Columbia Production Services Tax Credit, and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit.
 
 
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Editors: LIFE IS A HIGHWAY: Canadian Pop Music in the ’90s will receive an encore showing on CBC News Network: Part 1 on Sat. Sept. 17 at 10 pm ET/PT & Part 2 on Sat. Sept. 24 at 10 pm ET/PT.
 
For media access to images:
https://mediacentre.cbc.ca/
(Click on Photos, then CBC Television, then Documentaries, then Doc Zone)
 
For further information, screeners, interview requests, etc. please contact:
 
Jeremy Katz
Publicist
Soapbox Productions/Echo Media
Toronto
O: (416) 656-6970
M: (416) 997-6970
[email protected]