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Dave Bidini is concerned about Canada. Not concerned like, he's worried we're all about to keel over and die; more like, he wants to understand what makes us tick. In fact, Dave's devoted three decades of creative energy trying to define what it is that make us, us.
Back in high school, Dave and his friends formed a band called The Rheostatics. Their first demo?
'Canadian Dream'. Their first hit? 'The Ballad of Wendel Clark', an ode to the iconic left winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And their first major, full-length album? 'Melville', which included a cover of the Gordon Lightfoot hit, 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald' - clearly, a band with an interest in Canadian lore.
In 1996, The Rheostatics went on tour with the Tragically Hip. Dave took the experience and turned it into his first book, 'On a Cold Road', a blow-by-blow account of life as a travelling musician. Published in 1998, the book became a Canadian classic. In fact, it's finalist for this year's Canada Reads.
From there, Dave expanded his career as a writer. To date, he's published 10 books, Mostly focused on his two biggest passions: Sports, and music. Soon, he may be able to rightfully claim the title, 'Lord of all Media'; one of his books, Baseballissimo, Is set to become a movie, backed by Canadian star Jay Baruchel.
These days, not only is Dave still making new music - He just released 'In the Rock Hall', his second album with his current group, Bidiniband. He's also got a new book: 'Writing Gordon Lightfoot', a kind of unauthorized biography, written without Gordon's consent. It's a portrait of Canada in the early 70s, as well as an attempt to unlock one of Canada's most private, enigmatic heroes. It makes you wonder, is it possible for Dave - or anyone - to get inside the mind of an icon, when you haven't been invited?
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