Jim Bryson & The Hip - Ottawa Citizen - Printable Version

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Jim Bryson & The Hip - Ottawa Citizen - giller - 09-26-2009

Learning to be Hip
BY LYNN SAXBERG, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN

Ottawa singer-songwriter Jim Bryson had more than 80 songs to learn to prepare for his gig as keyboard player for the Tragically Hip. He was determined not to come up short.

"My biggest thing going into rehearsal was not knowing stuff," says Bryson, who's spent much of this year touring as a member of the veteran Canadian rock band. They pull into the National Arts Centre today for three concerts, tonight through Monday. "So I worked really hard to make sure that I knew everything that was on a master list. I didn't want to be in scenarios where I was embarrassing myself."

Bryson discovered dozens of great Hip songs he hadn't heard before, and is finding that most of them are getting played. Instead of booking a single gig in each city's biggest arena, the Hip are performing multiple dates in theatres across the country, stretching out with a different setlist every night. Over four recent nights in Edmonton, for example, 58 different songs were played.

From his vantage point in the back corner of the stage, Bryson has a unique perspective of the Kingston-formed quintet. Together for 25 years, Gord Downie, Rob Baker, Gord Sinclair, Paul Langlois and Johnny Fay are like family, Bryson notes. "They all come from the same neighbourhood and they all went to school together. They weren't like a band that was formed by strangers in a city somewhere."

Bryson approaches the job with the same dedicated work ethic he learned while touring with Kathleen Edwards and the Weakerthans.

"There's never a night off with the Hip. Every night they take it like a 15-rounder. All of them, they give everything they have every night, which is inspiring. No shows are mailed in."

During his immersion in the Hip repertoire, Bryson also started writing his own material. Then he spent a week over the summer recording in the Hip's studio near Kingston, with producer Dave Draves and a band that included Ottawa drummer Peter Von Althen and the Hip's Gord Sinclair on bass. The album, so far untitled, is due next year.

Bryson, whose first child was born while he was writing, says his songwriting has changed a lot since his last disc, Northside Benches. "I feel like a 180-degree person than I was there," he says. "I live healthier, I feel like I have a much more positive outlook on the world."

And although it's tough to be away from his wife and daughter, Bryson considers himself lucky to be able to make a living from music. "It's a really fortunate life I get to live and I'm very, very aware of that."

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