The Tragically Hip's Gord Sinclair Announces Debut Solo Album

Hear two songs from 'Taxi Dancers' now

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Jan 10, 2020

Gord Sinclair — known best as a co-founding member and bassist of the Tragically Hip — has announced plans to release his debut solo album this year.

Sinclair will release Taxi Dancers on February 28 through Pheromone Recordings. A press release notes the album was created by Sinclair while processing the loss of friend and bandmate Gord Downie, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 53 from glioblastoma.

"I never aspired to be a solo artist," Sinclair explained in a statement. "After Gord died, it was like, 'Wow, I don't know if I am ever going to do this again.' But I really missed making music." 

Sinclair continued:

I'd made music with the Hip since we were kids, and this was the longest period of time where I wasn't making music. But we certainly were not going to carry on as the Hip without Gord. So it became essential to grab hold of the idea that Gord wouldn't want any of us to stop making music. He was making music right up until the very end. This other group of people stepped in to help me. Gord would have wanted me to have something important to say. That's what I tried to do.

A press release describes the 10-track Taxi Dancers as "a farewell of sorts, fearlessly exploring Sinclair's despair about losing a lifelong friend and bandmate. But it is also a clear-eyed survey of what's good in the world, and a profound statement about why sorrow must be viewed in tandem with joy."

Sinclair has shared singles "It's Already Too Late" and "In the Next Life" ahead of the album's release, both of which you can hear below.

Taxi Dancers was co-produced by Sinclair and John-Angus MacDonald of the Trews, and was recorded at Sinclair's Kingston, ON, home in the summer of 2019. Sinclair will open for the trews on seven Ontario tour dates, which you can find below.

Read our Essential Guide to the Tragically Hip.

Tour dates:

02/27 Meaford, ON - Meaford Hall*
02/28 Guelph, ON - River Run Centre*
02/29 Prince Edward, ON - Regent Theatre Picton*
03/04 Richmond Hill, ON - Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts (RHCPA)*
03/06 Milton, ON - FirstOntario Arts Centre Milton*
03/07 Brampton, ON - The Rose Theatre*
03/11 Oakville, ON - Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts*

* with the Trews


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