Ask anyone: the history of Canadian music starts every chapter on a stage in Kingston, Ontario. In a vast country, spread out with distant cities and a range of sounds and people, Kingston’s the glue. It’s a town where Celtic-punk bands share a home address with understated folk singers, and music legends hit a pub to catch up-and-coming artists. It punches above its weight and shapes our national music scene, whether its being the birthplace of Bryan Adams or where the Tragically Hip’s members first met. In The Hip’s early years Gord Downie said as much to Queen’s University’s campus paper, The Queen’s Journal. “This place shaped who and what we’ve become,” he said. “We learned how to perform in front of students and locals alike in campus pubs and local dives. We saw early on how music has the power to move people and bring them together.” What Downie called The Hip’s “high-energy dance music” was only one highlight for city making live music history. For every stadium headlining rock band, there’s another artist ready to leave their mark. Posted: May 3, 2023 Originally Published: Aug 12, 2018