Paul Langlois of The Tragically Hip
With Opening act Nick Faye & the Deputies
Paul Langlois’s fourth solo album, Smooth Rock Falls, is the The Tragically Hip guitarist’s most personal work to date — a rock record shaped by grief, reflection, and the quiet details that linger after loss. Written following the deaths of his parents, Terry and Adrien, the album finds Langlois processing absence through songwriting while holding onto the “little quirks” that keep loved ones present: a father’s distinctive hello, a mother’s constant check-ins.
While only a few of the album’s ten tracks are directly about his parents, they form the emotional anchor of a record concerned with memory, nostalgia, and the great unknown. From the brooding opener and first single “Hardly Holding On” to the reflective closer “MorningGuyNightGuy,” Smooth Rock Falls moves between character-driven narratives and deeply personal moments. Songs like “How You Are,” “Into the Night,” and “Wrapped in a Bow” explore grief not as a single event, but as something lived with and carried forward.
The album takes its title from Smooth Rock Falls, a small northern Ontario town where Langlois’s father grew up — a place he often spoke about. An old family photograph from there became the album cover. Terry is also credited for the album’s swirling background artwork, and Langlois recreated the cover image with his sister Sue for the back sleeve. In the liner notes, he writes simply: “This one’s for and is inspired by our incredible parents.”
Recorded live off the floor at The Hip’s legendary Bathouse studio, Smooth Rock Falls was self-produced overthree focused sessions with Langlois’s longtime bandmates Greg Ball and Joe Carscallen (guitars), Bill Anglin (drums), Matt Mulvihill (bass), and engineer Nyles Spencer. The result is a warm, human record that captures both intimacy and momentum.
For Langlois, the album also marks a continued evolution as a solo artist. After decades as part of one of Canada’s most revered bands, and following the loss of frontman Gord Downie, Smooth Rock Falls reflects an artist increasingly comfortable stepping forward — vocally, emotionally, and creatively. “The older I get, the less I care about exposing myself a little,” he says. “This is where I’m at.”
At its core, Smooth Rock Falls is about family, aging, and learning to sit with uncertainty — and then, just as honestly, getting back into a room with a band and making rock ’n roll songs you believe in.
Paul Langlois’s fourth solo album, Smooth Rock Falls, is the The Tragically Hip guitarist’s most personal work to date — a rock record shaped by grief, reflection, and the quiet details that linger after loss. Written following the deaths of his parents, Terry and Adrien, the album finds Langlois processing absence through songwriting while holding onto the “little quirks” that keep loved ones present: a father’s distinctive hello, a mother’s constant check-ins.
While only a few of the album’s ten tracks are directly about his parents, they form the emotional anchor of a record concerned with memory, nostalgia, and the great unknown. From the brooding opener and first single “Hardly Holding On” to the reflective closer “MorningGuyNightGuy,” Smooth Rock Falls moves between character-driven narratives and deeply personal moments. Songs like “How You Are,” “Into the Night,” and “Wrapped in a Bow” explore grief not as a single event, but as something lived with and carried forward.
The album takes its title from Smooth Rock Falls, a small northern Ontario town where Langlois’s father grew up — a place he often spoke about. An old family photograph from there became the album cover. Terry is also credited for the album’s swirling background artwork, and Langlois recreated the cover image with his sister Sue for the back sleeve. In the liner notes, he writes simply: “This one’s for and is inspired by our incredible parents.”
Recorded live off the floor at The Hip’s legendary Bathouse studio, Smooth Rock Falls was self-produced overthree focused sessions with Langlois’s longtime bandmates Greg Ball and Joe Carscallen (guitars), Bill Anglin (drums), Matt Mulvihill (bass), and engineer Nyles Spencer. The result is a warm, human record that captures both intimacy and momentum.
For Langlois, the album also marks a continued evolution as a solo artist. After decades as part of one of Canada’s most revered bands, and following the loss of frontman Gord Downie, Smooth Rock Falls reflects an artist increasingly comfortable stepping forward — vocally, emotionally, and creatively. “The older I get, the less I care about exposing myself a little,” he says. “This is where I’m at.”
At its core, Smooth Rock Falls is about family, aging, and learning to sit with uncertainty — and then, just as honestly, getting back into a room with a band and making rock ’n roll songs you believe in.
