Gordon Downie



Gordon Edgar Downie (born February 6, 1964) is a Canadian rock musician, writer and occasional actor.

Youth
Downie was born in Amherstview, Ontario. He is the godson of former Boston Bruins general manager and coach Harry Sinden. He attended Ernestown Secondary School (Odessa, Ontario) in grade nine and part of grade ten. He graduated from Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute in 1982, a school also attended by his band-mates. Downie then studied film at Queen's University in Kingston. Downie was a minor league hockey goalie and played for an Ontario championship winning Bantam level team in 1979.

Career
He is the lead singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. He has released three solo albums, Coke Machine Glow in 2001, Battle of the Nudes in 2003; and The Grand Bounce in 2010. Coke Machine Glow was sold along with a book of poetry of the same name, included with the CD. Canadian indie band The Dinner Is Ruined plus Julie Doiron and Josh Finlayson, called The Country of Miracles, served as his backing band for all three solo albums.

Comparisons have been drawn between Gordon Downie and Michael Stipe of R.E.M. because both are known for writing intelligent, eclectic, and introspective lyrics, the meaning of which are often difficult to decipher, and also because they share similar performing styles.

Downie has cameo appearances in Men with Brooms, in which The Tragically Hip play a curling team. Downie also made a cameo appearance in the 2008 indie drama Nothing Really Matters, directed by Jean-Marc Piché. Downie also appears in the Trailer Park Boys movie The Big Dirty, in which he and Alex Lifeson play a pair of police officers. More recently, he and other members of the band can be seen in the final episode of Trailer Park Boys, entitled "Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys", in which he is harassed while eating a bologna sandwich at a singles dance. Downie is also featured in the sitcom Corner Gas in the episode "Rock On!" in which The Tragically Hip are shown as a local band practising in the main character's garage. Colin James is also featured in the same episode. Most recently, Downie appeared in Michael McGowan's film, One Week as a pot smoking philosopher alongside fellow Canadian Joshua Jackson.

Downie is mentioned in the second volume of the Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels, Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World. In it, the title character and his friend listen to one of Downie's solo albums, and repeatedly describe him as "a genius".

Downie worked with fellow Canadian band City and Colour to contribute vocals on the track "Sleeping Sickness" for the album, Bring Me Your Love.

Downie is a trustee of Lake Ontario through his support of the Waterkeeper Alliance.

Publications

 * Coke Machine Glow. Toronto: Random House, 2001.

Compilations

 * Our Power (2006): "Figment (acoustic version)"