Paul Langlois brings a lot of rock and a little Tragically Hip to Edmonton

Paul Langlois spent about 30 years with one of Canada’s most iconic bands: The Tragically Hip. Now, 10 years after the Hip’s last show, Langlois is still playing shows and festivals with his own band, Paul Langlois. One of his stops across Canada this summer was Rockin’ Thunder.

Langlois played guitar alongside the Tragically Hip’s lead singer, Gord Downie. After Downie died from brain cancer in 2017, Langlois said he didn’t pick up a guitar much. “There was a couple of years of fog and grief … and I just thought ‘okay, we had a good run, and it’s done,’” he said. “And then a couple years go by and it’s kind of like, well I need something to do.”

The transition from playing with the Hip to his own band was significant. He had released some solo work while the Tragically Hip were still together, but now he’s the only member of the band still making music.

“It’s totally different. Even a festival like this is different, because [the Hip] would headline these things so that’s quite a different experience than being an opening band,” Langlois said. “We really try to keep it from the top down, everyone treats everyone well.”

Regardless of where he is in the lineup, Langlois said he was happy to be playing the festival. Still, he gets nervous as he gets closer to taking the stage.

“I was nervous for Hip shows, we all were, but nerves are a good thing. It means you really care and you really want it to be good.” 

Now, as the frontman of his band, there’s a little more pressure. But “as soon as we hit the first chord, I’ll be happy,” he said.

“We worked hard for it and we didn’t stop,” Langlois says

Langlois’s set was mostly his own music, including songs off of his most recent album Smooth Rock Falls. And, of course, there were a few Hip songs in the mix too.

Langlois said he still plays some Hip songs on stage, partly because he knows the crowds like it and partly because “I finally convinced myself that I have a right to do it because we wrote all the songs together.”

Despite the Hip’s legacy, Langlois said he doesn’t really think of himself as a Canadian icon much unless someone comes up to him on the street. When that does happen, he feels pretty good about it. 

“We worked hard for it and we didn’t stop,” he said. “Somehow we got a bunch of fans that seemed to be very loyal.”

“I still feel it these days because a lot of parents turn their kids onto it, or older brothers or older sisters turn the younger ones onto Hip music. It’s a great feeling to have had that happen.”