music album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records col ...
and
tour
Tour or Tours may refer to:
Travel
* Tourism, travel for pleasure
* Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service
* Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus
* Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...
, a
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
, an
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
television film
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
CTV News
CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name ''CTV News'' is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os), which are closely tied to the national n ...
, September 9, 2016. the centrepiece of the project is a
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. So ...
about
Chanie Wenjack
Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack (January 19, 1954October 23, 1966) was an Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) First Nations boy who ran away from Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School, where he boarded for three years in Kenora, Ontario, Canada. He died of hun ...
, a young
Anishinaabe
The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawato ...
boy from the
Marten Falls First Nation
Marten Falls First Nation is an Anishinaabe First Nation reserve located in northern Ontario. The First Nation occupies communities on both sides of the Albany River in Northern Ontario, including Ogoki Post (Ojibwe: ''Ogookiing'') in the Cochr ...
who died in 1966 while trying to return home after escaping from an
Indian residential school
In Canada, the Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches. The school sy ...
Gord Downie
Gordon Edgar Downie (February 6, 1964 – October 17, 2017) was a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, musician, writer and activist. He was the singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, which he fronted from its for ...
and the final album released during his lifetime. The album was accompanied by a graphic novel of the same name, written by Downie, illustrated by
Jeff Lemire
Jeff Lemire (; born March 21, 1976) is a Canadian comic book writer, artist, and television producer. He is the author of critically acclaimed titles including the '' Essex County Trilogy'', '' Sweet Tooth'', and ''The Nobody''. His written work i ...
, and published by
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...
; as well as an animated television film aired on
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...
on October 23, 2016. All proceeds from the album and book are being donated to the
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR; french: Centre national pour la vérité et la réconciliation, ) is the Archive, archival repository for all of the material collected by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, p ...
.
Downie performed the album in a concert at
Roy Thomson Hall
Roy Thomson Hall is a concert hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located downtown in the city's entertainment district, it is home to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and the Toronto Defiant. Opened in 1982, its ...
on October 21, 2016, which was his last full concert performance in his lifetime and was attended by members of the Wenjack family. The concert was aired by CBC Television in October 2017 following Downie's death. The project was further followed in 2018 by ''Finding the Secret Path'', a documentary film by Downie's brother Mike Downie about the creation of the original project."Gord Downie’s final year captured in CBC doc Finding the Secret Path" ''
Hamilton Spectator
''The Hamilton Spectator'', founded in 1846, is a newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation,''The Hamilton Spectator'' is owned by Torstar.
History
''The Ha ...
'', October 11, 2018.
Album
The centrepiece of the project is ''Secret Path'', Downie's fifth studio album and the final album released during his lifetime. All proceeds from the album are being donated to the
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR; french: Centre national pour la vérité et la réconciliation, ) is the Archive, archival repository for all of the material collected by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, p ...
.
Track listing
All tracks written by Gord Downie unless otherwise noted.
Personnel
*Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Guitars by Gord Downie
*
Charles Spearin
Charles Spearin is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist from Toronto, Ontario. He is primarily known as a founding member of indie rock bands Do Make Say Think and Broken Social Scene.
Career
As a teen, Spearin studied at Etobicoke School of the Ar ...
– Bass
*
Ohad Benchetrit
Ohad Benchetrit is a Canadian musician. He plays guitar, bass, saxophone and flute for the post-rock band Do Make Say Think, and has also contributed to albums by Broken Social Scene, Feist, The Hidden Cameras and Charles Spearin.
He colla ...
– Lap Steel & Additional Guitar
*
Kevin Hearn
Kevin Neil Hearn (born July 3, 1969) is a Canadian musician who is a member of Barenaked Ladies, and his own group, Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle. He primarily plays keyboards and guitars. He is also a member of Rheostatics.
Early life
Hearn w ...
– Additional Keys
*Dave "Billy Ray" Koster – Drums
*All other instrumentation by Kevin Drew and
Dave Hamelin
Dave Hamelin (born October 3, 1980) is a Canadian musician, songwriter and producer known for his work with indie rock band the Stills. Originally the band's drummer, he moved to guitar and co-lead vocalist in 2005 when guitarist Greg Paquet l ...
*Produced and Mixed by Kevin Drew and Dave Hamelin
Additional personnel:
*Engineered by Nyles Spencer
*Mastered by Eric Boulanger, The Bakery, Culver City, California, USAhttp://secretpath.ca
Live performances
Downie performed the album in a concert at
Roy Thomson Hall
Roy Thomson Hall is a concert hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located downtown in the city's entertainment district, it is home to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and the Toronto Defiant. Opened in 1982, its ...
on October 21, 2016, attended by members of the Wenjack family. The concert, Downie's last live performance, was filmed for an hour-long special, ''Gord Downie's Secret Path in Concert'', which also featured backstage footage and scenes from the animated film. The special aired on October 22, 2017, on
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...
, following Downie's death earlier that week.
Book
The graphic novel, also titled ''Secret Path'', was written by Gord Downie, illustrated by Jeff Lemire, and published by
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...
. It was released on October 18, 2016, concurrently with the album.
As with the album itself, all proceeds from the book are being donated to the University of Manitoba's National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
Film
The
animated film
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
, also titled ''The Secret Path'', adapts Downie's album and Lemire's graphic novel. It is divided into ten chapters, according to the ten songs from Downie's album.
It was executive produced by Gord Downie, along with Mike Downie, Patrick Downie, and
Sarah Polley
Sarah Ellen Polley (born January 8, 1979) is a Canadian actress,Howell, Peter (September 24, 1999)"Nobody's Starlet: Toronto's Sarah Polley is Only 20 but already a veteran actor so secure in her craft she can thumb her nose at Hollywood" ''Tor ...
. The film was produced with the participation of the
Canada Media Fund
The Canada Media Fund (CMF, french: Fonds des médias du Canada - FMC) is a public-private partnership founded on April 1, 2010 by the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canadian cable industry. It is used to fund the creation of original ...
and the Canadian Film or Video Production
tax credit
A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit they have accrued from the total they owe the state. It may also be a credit granted in recognition of taxes already paid or a form of state "disc ...
.
''The Secret Path'' was broadcast by CBC in an hour-long television special on October 23, 2016.
Reception and impact
The project was widely adopted by many Canadian schools as a teaching tool in indigenous history lessons on the residential school system, and led to the creation of the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund to support efforts in indigenous reconciliation.
In an opinion piece in the
National Post
The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...
,
Peter Shawn Taylor
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
has criticized the story for containing fictionalized elements.
Charts
Awards
The album won two
Juno Awards
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...
at the
Juno Awards of 2017
The Juno Awards of 2017, honouring Canadian music achievements, were presented in Ottawa, Ontario the weekend of 1–2 April 2017. The ceremonies were held at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata and televised on CTV with Bryan Adams and Russell ...
6th Canadian Screen Awards
The 6th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 11, 2018, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2017.
, the television film received nominations for the
Donald Brittain Award
The Donald Brittain Award is a Canadian television award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to honour the year's best television documentary on a social or political topic. Formerly presented as part of the Gemini Awards, s ...
and Best Music in a Non-Fiction Program. It won the Best Music award at the non-fiction programming event on March 6, 2017, and the Donald Brittain Award at the broadcast gala on March 11.
At the
7th Canadian Screen Awards
The 7th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 31, 2019, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2018.
, the concert special won two awards, for best variety or entertainment special and best sound in a non-fiction program.
At the
ET Canada
''ET Canada'' (previously referred to as ''Entertainment Tonight Canada'') is a Canadian entertainment news television series, using the same format as the American entertainment newsmagazine ''Entertainment Tonight''. ''ET Canada'' is a broadc ...