I could only hope to write a book like The Never-Ending Present.
I have been a music journalist for a quarter century (ouch). When I’m on, I’m on; I’ve been doing it long enough that I should be decent at it by now, so that’s not me being cocky. My article on Simply Saucer, Revelation Rock, was nominated for a National Magazine Award (I was beat by Macleans Magazine’s Brian D. Johnson, so I didn’t feel too bad – if you’re gonna lose, lose to someone as talented and experienced as that). Writing a rock book has always been of interest to me, but I’ve never made it happen. I was approached by ECW once, to write a Robbie Williams bio. For real. It didn’t happen because someone else had already done it. Robbie Williams for cryin’ out loud.
Anyway, point is, despite my experience, I could only hope to write a book as well-written, well-researched and well-rounded as Michael Barclay‘s The Never Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip. You don’t even have to be a Hip fan to read the book, that’s how engaging it is. Michael dropped into the studio this week, and it was fun to sit with a colleague and talk about the book, the band, and more.
(Also, for the record: the night of the final Hip show, I was watching it at a party, with food, a swimming pool, a fire, camping, etc…in the country…in the backyard of a house formerly owned by Neil Peart. CanRock Bonus + 10000 points).
Enjoy!