School of Hip

In this episode of School of Hip: Chaz and Heath are joined by Nick Lewis, a former journalist who covered Calgary’s arts and entertainment scene with Heath in the early 2000s, writing for the Calgary Herald. Reunited for the first time in well over a decade they share stories from the rock critic trenches. Nick’s tale of a near fisticuffs encounter with a drunken, belligerent Tragically Hip fan in the ‘90s serves as an intro to the episode’s review of the EP Saskadelphia. Released in 2021 but compiled from lost, leftover tracks from the Hip’s 1991 masterpiece, Road Apples – which were thought to have been destroyed in the devastating Universal Studios fire of 2008 – our reviewers discover that Saskadelphia is far from a collection of throwaways. Rather, it’s a treasure in its own right. While one poignant track turns talk to the Montreal Massacre of 1989, most of the EP is a wild ride wherein spines crack like whips, skeletons play dumb and the Hip gets their southern rock on. Quality was surely not a factor which led these songs to the cutting room floor three decades ago.  Whether you’re a lifelong Hip fan or just curious about what makes this band so iconic in Canada, School of Hip is your guide to the sounds and the story of the Tragically Hip, one album side per episode. Episodes drop every two weeks. 

In this episode of School of Hip: Chaz and Heath are joined by special guest Todd McGinity who co-hosts the SeanGeek and FastFret Podcast with his brother Sean. Yes, the same Sean who joined us a few weeks back. Can’t get enough of those rockin’ rollin’ McGinity Bros! Todd remembers his earliest memories of road apples. No, not the Hip album, but rather the album’s namesake, horse poop, which, when frozen, made for great hockey pucks shot across icy ponds in the McGinity’s youth. (A bit of the Canadian experience for ya,’ Chaz!) Talk also turns fondly to Maritime kitchen parties in the McGinity home and the family band the brothers played in with their dad. Then Heath apologizes to all of Canada for last week’s regrettable fk up regarding Tragically Hip team ups with TV’s Trailer Park Boys and their appearance on CTV’s Corner Gas. It takes a big man to admit to his mistakes, Heath, but don’t let it happen again! Then it’s on to Side 2 of the Tragically Hip’s first number one album in Canada, Road Apples. Tunes include: the Stonesy swagger and spiderweb alphabets of Bring It All Back; the Tom Thomson Canadiana and pistols-at-dawn perfection of Three Pistols; and the deliriously hard-driving On the Verge. During the simmering slow groove of Fight Heath delivers a hot take which he immediately regrets when Chaz zeroes in on those seething, burning pillows. Chaz sees shades of Led Zeppelin III in Fiddler’s Green, a beautifully devastating masterpiece and quite possibly the most heart-wrenching song in the Hip’s canon (which became all the more moving on the Hip’s final tour. Finally, it’s the trippy serenade which drifts this incredible album to a close, Last of the Unplucked Gems. A precursor to Downie’s first solo album, Coke Machine Glow (released 10 years after Road Apples). Whether you’re a lifelong Hip fan or just curious about what makes this band so iconic in Canada, School of Hip is your guide to the sounds and the story of the Tragically Hip, one album side per episode. Episodes drop every two weeks.

In this episode of School of Hip:Chaz and Heath are joined by special guest Paul Beaulieu of the Canadian MusicScene website and founder of the annual RushFest event, celebrating the musicand legacy of legendary Canadian rock trio, Rush (a band near and dear to Chaz,who is also the co-host of the RushRash podcast!)Paul shares stories of his interactions with the Tragically Hip over the yearsthrough his Canadian Music Scene website which celebrates and promotesCanadian music. Paul met the band on several occasions, behind the scenes atsuch history-making events as numerous Juno Awards and the Canadian editionof the Live 8 concert series, dedicated to aiding impoverished nations. Paul alsodiscusses the two concerts he attended on the Hip’s emotional final tour, aftersinger Gord Downie was diagnosed with terminal cancer.From there our co-hosts and their esteemed guests begin their track-by-trackreview of side one of the Tragically Hip’s first number one album in Canada, RoadApples. Highlights include two of the Hip’s most beloved singles, Little Bones andTwist My Arm as well as the soulful balladry of Long Time Running. But truthfully,the entire side is outstanding with the Stonesy Born in the Water, surrealShakespearean nods on Cordelia, and the jazzy cool of The Luxury, the growingpoetic powers of Downie a beacon throughout.Whether you’re a lifelong Hip fan or just curious about what makes this band soiconic in Canada, School of Hip is your guide to the sounds and the story of theTragically Hip, one album side per episode. Episodes drop every two weeks. For further exploration: https://www.thecanadianmusicscene.comhttps://rushfestcanada.cahttps://www.hipmuseum.com/https://hipbase.com/https://thehip.com/The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip by Michael Barclay. School of Hip is hosted on Acast and can be found on iTunes, Spotify and other podcasting platforms. We love to hear from our listeners! Reach out to us on our School of Hip Facebook Group and our School of Hip Discord Chaz Charles is also the co-host of podcasts: RushRash, Regarding… Series, Those Who Are About To Dive: Chronicling Colosseum Track By Bloody Track With Dr. Glund, and he’s a rocktorney on season two of Rock Court. Heath McCoy is the author of Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling, available on Amazon.ca and at ECW Press. He appears in the award winning documentary Singhs in the Ring on Crave TV. He is a rocktorney on season one of Rock Court.GO BONELESS!Boneless makes a better podcast. Find 20 more like-minded podcast nuggets at The Boneless Podcasting Network. https://goboneless.loveable.app

In this episode of School of Hip: Chaz and Heath are joined by special guest Stephen Dame, whose website A Museum After Dark at hipmuseum.com has been an amazing source of information for the illustrious co-hosts as they have set out to explore the Tragically Hip’s entire musical catalogue, one album side at a time. They discuss Dame’s personal connection to the Hip and the origins of the website, which he began compiling 20 years ago, experiencing a huge surge in traffic and media attention with the cancer diagnosis and death of Hip frontman Gord Downie circa 2016-17. After a free-flowing chat touching on the trenches of Canadian journalism and Calgary’s Stampede Wrestling promotion, the trio begin their track-by-track review of side two of the Tragically Hip’s Canadian breakthrough album, Up to Here. Conversation highlights include the politics of lyric writing in the band, with Up to Here featuring excellent contributions by both guitarist Paul Langois and bassist Gord Sinclair, which were to be their last as, after this point, Downie insisted that he be the Hip’s lone lyricist. While he was, unquestionably, the band’s great poet, was something lost in the suppression of the other voices? As well as the considerable artistic merits of Up To Here, the guys also talk about the album’s massive commercial impact in Canada, eventually achieving diamond sales, meaning that on the Homefront the Hip were on par with such music industry chart toppers of the day as Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston, Metallica and Guns N’ Roses. This set the underdog band from Kingston, Ontario, on a new trajectory which would define the rest of its career. Whether you’re a lifelong Hip fan or just curious about what makes this band so iconic in Canada, School of Hip is your guide to the sounds and the story of the Tragically Hip, one album side at per episode. Episodes drop every two weeks. For further exploration: https://www.hipmuseum.com/School of Hip Facebook Grouphttps://hipbase.com/https://thehip.com/The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip by Michael Barclay. GO BONELESS!Boneless makes a better podcast. Find 20 more like-minded podcast nuggets at The Boneless Podcasting Network. https://goboneless.loveable.appChaz Charles is also the co-host of podcasts: RushRash, Regarding… Series, Those Who Are About To Dive: Chronicling Colosseum Track By Bloody Track With Dr. Glund, and he’s a rocktorney on season two of Rock Court. Heath McCoy is the author of Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling, available on Amazon.ca and at ECW Press. He appears in the award winning documentary Singhs in the Ring on Crave TV. He is a rocktorney on season one of Rock Court.School of Hip is hosted on Acast and can be found on iTunes, Spotify and other podcasting platforms. 

This is where it really starts.In this episode of School of Hip, the show hits a turning point as Chaz and Heath—joined by Sean McGinity—step into Up To Here, The Tragically Hip’s 1989 major-label debut and the record that changed everything.This isn’t just a new album. It’s the moment the band locked in their sound, their voice, and their place in Canadian culture—on their own terms. The conversation moves beyond origin stories and into identity, momentum, and the choices that shaped what The Hip would become.It’s part music, part culture, part fan perspective—sharp, opinionated, and intentionally unfinished. If you’ve been waiting for the episode where the stakes rise and the story accelerates, this is it.School of Hip has entered the Up To Here era.

Heath and Chaz settle into a natural groove as they continue their deep dive into The Tragically Hip’s 1987 debut EP. The show opens with their now-familiar intro before jumping into a fast-moving music chat—Sloan, 54-40, The Northern Pikes, Halifax vs. Seattle, and how regional college-rock scenes shaped the late ’80s across North America. They dig into why The Hip ultimately pulled ahead of their peers: Gord Downie’s unpredictable spark, the band’s tight chemistry, and especially the interplay between Rob Baker’s fluid, textural guitar work and Paul Langlois’s grounded rhythmic punch.Discussion slides into a major moment in Hip News: superstar producer Boi-1da being granted full access to The Hip’s catalog for a FIFA World Cup–themed project. The guys explore why it matters—legacy building, cross-genre discovery, and the surprising ways new listeners stumble onto classic bands through global events and cultural remixing.They highlight hipmuseum.com, a massive fan-built archive they’ll be relying on heavily, and extend an open invitation to curator Stephen Dame. The sense of community around the show keeps growing.Then comes the heart of the episode: a track-by-track breakdown of the EP’s final songs, Cemetery Sideroad on through All Canadian Surf Club.Chaz and Heath close with their first scoring tally and talk through production notes, listener interaction, and the road ahead. It’s a freakin lively, witty, music-nerd-friendly episode that deepens their journey into the earliest days of The Tragically Hip. And the evolving format, it's best described as smoove...ON THE WEBYou can reach us on our School of Hip Facebook page. We feed on your feedback!https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579698875642Heath McCoy is author of the book Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestlinghttps://www.amazon.ca/Pain-Passion-History-Stampede-Wrestling/dp/1550227874https://ecwpress.com/products/pain-and-passionHeath is featured in the documentary Singhs in the Ring:https://www.crave.ca/en/special/singhs-in-the-ring-58926Thanks to historian Terry Hoknes for his fantastic research on behalf our Facebook page.You can follow his Facebook page at Saskatoon History Music Scenehttps://www.facebook.com/groups/saskatoonmusichistory