The Ongoing History of New Music, episode 922: The inside story of The Tragically Hip’s Saskadelphia album

On Saturday, August 20, 2016, tens of millions of Canadians watched and listened to the final Tragically Hip concert from Kingston. Given Gord Downie’s illness, we knew that this was the last time we’d see the band perform together live.

That was followed by one of the saddest days in the history of Canadian music: October 17, 2017, the day Gord died. One tweet summed up everything: “Canada closed. Death in the family.”

So that was it, then. After more than 30 years, the most Canadian rock band of all time was done. All we had was the music and the memories.

But what if we were wrong about that? What if there was a trove of unreleased material somewhere? What if a strange confluence of events led to that cache of music–songs that no one, even the band, knew existed–being found and released? And what if those long-lost songs were really, really good?

Let me answer those questions. Yes, there was a stash of unheard songs. Yes, their rediscovered was the result of an accident. And yes, the songs are really good.

The result is essentially a brand new Tragically Hip album that brings fans back to the band’s glory years of the early 90s. It’s like a time machine. The Hip are together and playing great. And Gord is back.

I had a chance to talk to the remaining members of The Tragically Hip about this project. This is the entire inside story of Saskadelphia.

Songs heard on this show (all by The Tragically Hip)

1. Little Bones
2. Ouch
3. Not Necessary
4. Montreal
5. Crack My Spine Like a Whip
6. Just as Well
7. Reformed Baptist Blues

Here’s Eric Wilhite’s playlist.

The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on the following stations:

• 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7
• Live 88-5/Ottawa
• 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener
• FM96/London – Sunday night at 7, Monday night at 11
• Power 97/Winnipeg (Sunday nights at 11)
• Rock 97.7/Grand Prairie – Sunday nights at 6.
• Sonic 102.9/Edmonton
• The Zone/Victoria
• The Fox/Vancouver
• WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown The show runs at 11 am Sunday. This, by the way, is a great option for American listeners who are prevented from listening to the show live because of geo-blocking,

We’re still looking for more affiliates in Calgary, Kamloops, Kelowna, Regina, Saskatoon, Brandon, Windsor,  Montreal, Halifax, Charlottetown, Moncton, Fredericton, and St John’s and anywhere else with a transmitter. If you’re in any of those markets and you want the show, lemme know and I’ll see what I can do.

If you ever miss a show, you can always get the podcast edition available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify. or wherever you get your on-demand audio.