Gord Downie announces two “Secret Path” shows

Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie has announced two solo shows for October, set to take place roughly two months after the iconic band wrapped its “Man Machine Poem” tour with a live broadcast concert that drew millions of viewers.

Downie is set to play in Ottawa on Oct. 18 and Toronto on Oct. 21 to promote his solo project “Secret Path,” an album with an accompanying graphic novel and animated film.

The project is inspired by the story of 12-year-old Chanie Wenjack, who died in 1966 after running away from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School near Kenora, Ont.

The record was announced just weeks after a massive concert in Kingston, Ont., that marked the end of a tour many feared could be a final goodbye to Downie, who revealed in late May that he is terminally ill.