Posted: March 30, 2022

Bobcaygeon

I’m always delighted to be in the company (in person, or via the virtual online studio) of vocalist Tyley Ross and guitarist and sonic wizard Ben Butler, and I’m delighted to share our newest release in a series of great Canadian song covers. Here’s our rendition of Bobcaygeon, originally recorded by The Tragically Hip. This song was new to me when I learned it for a gig with Tyley the year before the pandemic. The song has a simple power and a mysterious and frighteningly compelling lyric, but I hadn’t heard Tyley’s story behind why he chose this song (see his comment in the original post). Knowing now how he connects to this song in such a personal and painful way adds to its power.

Kudos to Tyley for his beautiful singing and vocal arranging, and also to Ben for crafting this arrangement and playing so many contrasting parts on guitar, keys, samples, etc. I played piano, mixed and mastered the track. Enjoy!

Here’s Tyley’s touching story about why he chose this song:

How Bobcaygeon got under my skin is a mystery. It’s not a song that hooked me on the first listen, but over the years it grew on me, and now from New York City where I live it fills me with memories of the North and has the power to pull me back home. Listening to it puts me at a lakeside campfire in the woods somewhere north of the 401, and then somehow, that middle section snaps me back to the 1990’s on Queen West.

Another layer of meaning was added for me when The Hip’s lead singer Gord Downie got cancer around the time we found out my brother Carrick was on the same painful trip. When Gord left the stage for good my big brother followed him out soon afterwards. This is one of the songs that connects me to him still.

I find solace in music, especially in songs that can take you back to better times. Songs that remind you of where you’re from, of the people who love you and the ones you’ve lost.

I’m joined here again (via our virtual and asynchronous recording studio) by Bennett Paster on piano and mixing duties, Ben Butler on guitar and most everything else. The voices are mine. The artwork is by Bob Donatucci, who incidentally, I pay with chocolate babka from his favorite NYC bakery.