Gord Downie is extraordinary. It's safe to say there's nobody like that guy that I've ever come across.

I was struck by the effortless way they moved between musical styles, all the while managing to make each their own. It was instantaneous that I knew I wanted to work with them.

I can't think of very many people who work as hard at the craft of songcraft as Gord Downie does. It was life or death. Every syllable was important.

I think I was making a Stephen Fearing record, and I mentioned to someone that the Tragically Hip were talking to me about working with them. The Canadians in the room couldn't believe it, as if the Beatles were getting back together again and asking me to produce them. I have to say, as an American, it's different; they're not exactly a national treasure here.

The lesson there is that there's no hiding the sound of a band that is bored with its own music. Whatever it takes to create the sound of excitement, that's what you want to do.

It seems silly, but it mattered to Gord Downie. I don't know if I necessarily felt like it had to be one or the other, but he really wanted that engagement: "If you think it should be 'the' then tell me why it should be 'the.' " 'Uh, okay, well...' He was really serious.

Because I'm sort of an honorary Canadian, I don't think the others grasped the cultural significance of who the Tragically Hip were before the tour. Talking to Sheryl Crow and her people and the guys in Wilco, everyone was ecstatic to be on the tour, it was a lot of fun. But it even took me a while to grasp the idea that this is not just a band, this is a cultural artifact, what the Hip means in Canada. There is nobody else like them.