SASKATOON -- Three years after the death of The Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie, the band announced it is releasing a new record.
Saskadelphia includes six previously unreleased songs and is available May 21.
“Hearing about such an iconic band like that coming out with unreleased material is just huge," said Darren McKay, co-owner of Vinyl Diner Record.
Saskadelphia’s tracks were left off The Hip’s Road Apples Album, which was recorded 30 years ago.
Road Apples was intended to be a double album but 44 tapes were lost from their record session.
According to a post on the band’s website, the name Saskadelphia derives from when drummer Johnny Fay suggested that it best defined the band’s place at the time.
“I remember seeing this Church of the Christadelphians and thought about how part of it could be crafted onto any other word.
“We were touring a lot, going from New York and Boston to Philadelphia and Saskatoon. It seemed like the clubs were the same size, and you could be anywhere. So, we crafted one part of a Canadian city onto an American one.”
However label executives rejected it for being “too Canadian.”
Rob McCarthy, the lead singer for Hip cover band The 100th Meridian, feels people will love the album.
“I think Canada is just starving for something like this. In the early 90s I had a chance to get a taste of a couple of those songs on the new album and I’m anxiously awaiting for at least those two. I’m sure the others are awesome too.”
This isn't the first reference to Saskatoon in the band's catalog.
Wheat Kings, released in 1992, mentions “the Paris of the prairies” and tells the story of David Milgaard, a man arrested in Saskatoon and wrongfully convicted for a crime he didn't commit.
