A wall in Shannon McEwen’s east-end Toronto office is covered with framed thank-you notes from rock stars.“Thanks for saving me!” wrote George Daniel, drummer for British rock band The 1975. In loopy letters, Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne scrawled “thank you for coming on tour with me” on the cover of her 2007 hit album.From Robert Plant to Lorde to Atoms for Peace, McEwen is chiropractor to the stars. “I think I forget that what I do is cool because it’s just part of my life,” McEwen said. “I’m lucky that I’ve been able to develop relationships with people who a lot of people around the world would idolize.”Along with running her own business, Upper Beach Health & Wellness, McEwen spends between three and six months a year on the road, touring with music legends.McEwen’s decade-long stint with Radiohead continued when the band kicked off their world tour on April 11 with a show in Santiago, Chile. The band is playing two sold-out shows at the Air Canada Centre on July 19 and 20. “(Radiohead is) amazing,” she said. “They’re really intelligent men. They’ve always been welcoming and inclusive with me, they’re interesting to speak to.”McEwen is part of the band’s core crew, working, travelling and living with them on the road. “Being with them for 10 years, I look forward to seeing them and catching up — ‘How’s the family,’ ‘How are the kids?’ ” she said. “It’s nice to be part of something like that.”As an in-house chiropractor on tour, McEwen works to strengthen and rehabilitate her patients’ bodies when they’re not performing.“Imagine having to get off a plane after travelling and being tired and sleeping in hotel rooms, and then having to stand in front of 20,000 people and perform,” McEwen said. “So my job is to help them always ...
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