I could only hope to write a book like The Never-Ending Present.<\/p>\n
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<\/span><\/a>, was nominated for a National Magazine Award<\/span><\/a> (I was beat by Macleans Magazine’s Brian D. Johnson<\/span><\/a>, so I didn’t feel too bad – if you’re gonna lose, lose to someone as talented and experienced as\u00a0that<\/em>). Writing a rock book has always been of interest to me, but I’ve never made it happen. I was approached by ECW<\/span> <\/a>once, to write a Robbie Williams<\/span><\/a> bio. For real. It didn’t happen because someone else had already done it. Robbie\u00a0Williams\u00a0<\/em>for cryin’ out loud.<\/p>\n Anyway, point is, despite my experience, I could only\u00a0hope\u00a0<\/em>to write a book as well-written, well-researched and well-rounded as\u00a0Michael Barclay<\/span><\/a>‘s The Never Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip<\/span><\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n (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).<\/p>\n Enjoy!<\/p>\n