Following the guitar pics in City Hall, visitors come across Music From Miles Around, a free year-long exhibition in the Market Wing Cultural Space that examines Kingston’s extensive music history through a chronological timeline of sights and sounds.
The entrance welcomes everyone with an informative panel about Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendat people, whose ceremonious songs and musical storytelling cemented Katarokwi as a place of music long before settlers came.
Visitors can explore early instrument manufacturers and defunct venues. After jamming out on lent guitars and keyboards, visitors are taught the history of local bands, whether they disbanded half a century ago or they’re still playing.
Before the Hip
In the mid-nineteenth century, Kingston became Canada’s largest musical instrument manufacturer by producing pianos, organs, and melodeons. A Wormwith & Co piano, manufactured in 1895, is on display in the exhibit. Although Kingston is no longer known for instrument manufacturing, musicians continue to get their repairs done locally.
However, the exhibit’s brief excerpts on the Grand Theatre‘s history are more exciting than its old instruments. A staple venue for Kingston’s performing arts scene since the start of the twentieth century, performers who took its original opera house stage include Oscar Wilde, the renowned Irish writer. In 1882, Wilde lectured Kingstonians on Aestheticism.
Then, visitors step ahead by a century to discover bands that came before the Hip. Before Zal Yanovsky co-founded Kingston’s best-known restaurants — Chez Piggy and Pan Chancho — Yanovsky co-founded the folk-rock band, The Lovin’ Spoonful. The worn strings on his displayed “T-Bird” guitar would have played their Grammy Hall of Fame hit, “Do You Believe in Magic?”
Music at Work
Since music history is best mastered when it’s heard, participants step into Joe’s Jam Space to discover their musical abilities. The space is made possible by Joe’s Music Mill, a lending library created in memory of local musician Joe Chithalen.
Everyone is given an opportunity to play an instrument. Whether you’re plucking strings on an acoustic guitar, jamming out on an electric keyboard, or even trying an accordion, the space is an exhibition highlight worth exploring. However, the only drawback is that musicians making their own tunes must compete with the exhibit’s speakers.
The Tragically Hip
Inspired by the opening lyrics of “Blow at High Dough,” Music From Miles Around explores The Tragically Hip’s evolution from student band to hometown heroes through archival pieces, album covers, and instruments. For fans of “Wheat Kings,” Fully Completely’s original album cover is on display in the exhibit, inviting a closer look to see how contemporary artist Lieve Prins designed the artwork by collaging thirty photocopied images together.
Next to the artwork, the Hip’s main touring instruments sit in glass display cases, including Gord Downie‘s microphone from his last performance. Remembered for his entertaining stage presence, during shows, Downie’s mic stand was ridden like a motorcycle, used to paddle an invisible canoe, then smashed into metal pieces for fans to take home.
Although the exhibit shows how “Canada’s band” began in Kingston, it doesn’t dig into the band’s emotionally complex relationship with their hometown. As explored in early hits like “Small Town Bringdown,” the Hip held pride for their small-town roots while feeling as though their hometown held them back from breaking into the music industry.
Beyond the Hip
While most tour the exhibit for The Tragically Hip of it all, visitors leave knowing Kingston’s historical music scene cannot be reduced to a single band or genre, dismantling the belief that this city only knows how to rock and roll.
The exhibit features a wall that displays the names of local talent, such as blues singer-songwriter Miss Emily, alternative folk singer Sarah Harmer, and indie rock band Kasador. Next to the wall, a huge interactive iPod plays the hits of artists that emerged from Kingston and Greater Napanee, including pop-punk princess Avril Lavigne and, of course, the epitome of Canadian rock, The Tragically Hip.
As demonstrated by the exhibit, Canadian music has limestone roots that stretch miles around across a variety of genres, making Kingston the home for eclectic melomaniacs with unrestrained musical tastes.
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Music From Miles Around is a must-see downtown experience for those looking to enhance their understanding of Kingston’s extensive music history. After stepping back into the Square, attend local gigs to hear history happening right in front of you. Who knows, maybe you’ll see The Tragically Hip’s spiritual successors.
Tags
Avril Lavigne, Forever Hip, Grand Theatre, Joe's Music Mill, Kasador, Market Wing Cultural Space, Miss Emily, Music from Miles Around, Sarah Harmer, The Tragically Hip
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