Burnaby NOW reporter, Marelle Reid, recently chatted with Jim Cuddy, lead singer of Blue Rodeo, about his career and upcoming performance at this weekend's Burnaby Blues and Roots Festival.
Question: How did Blue Rodeo get its start? Answer: It was in '85, so Greg (Keelor) and I had been in New York for four years, just with bands and trying to get a record deal and all that kind of stuff. We got very tired of that, disillusioned, came back and started a band with friends in Toronto, and we already knew what kind of band we wanted to be - we wanted to be a rootsy band. We wanted to have a psychedelic cowboy name, hence, Blue Rodeo, and we came back to a scene that was already happening, the Queen Street scene, and met all kinds of people who were playing this kind of rootsy music unbeknownst to us. So very fortunately we all ended up playing the same type of music, and we just ended up playing the bars for a couple of years and really, really enjoyed it. (It was) the first time we'd ever been part of a scene, and we found that people were really supportive of each other. And then it goes from there.
Q: How did you get into roots music in the early '80s, when metal and pop music were the popular genres?
A: I think what happened was, when we were in New York, we loved the artistry of the bands that were coming through there, but we really didn't like the industry. We didn't like the record company people, we didn't like what was on the radio; so, when we came back to Toronto we were just sort of giving up on the dream of having a record contract. We just wanted to play music for ourselves and, ultimately, we found we were playing music for each other, the bands, and there was a huge audience that was coming down. So, I guess it was a huge number of people that felt completely disenchanted and alienated from what was on the radio, because we were part of that and were basically playing in live venues without thinking about recording. I mean, even if we'd made a record back then we thought, what would we be played on? We hated everything on the radio. There were a couple of college stations that would play rootsy music and that was enough for us.
Q: So if you don't have a record as the end goal in mind does success just happen organically?
A: Well, if you're lucky. And also, then you don't adjust what you're doing to other people's taste, and I think that was a very important part of the scene back then. People played what they really wanted to play, and it was very pure, it was very exciting, and it wasn't geared to what was around on the radio or what was touring through the arenas. It just had nothing to do with that, so it was pretty fresh for people.
Q: Who have been your band's major influences over the years?
A: Well, I think when we started, Greg and I were sort of allied together with our love of The Beatles, and although it doesn't necessarily reflect itself in the roots music, it was what drew us together, and then we went from there. I think for me a lot of singer-songwriters have had a big influence. Bob Dylan, Kris Kristopherson, Jackson Brown, those kind of guys I've always followed, and that sort of leads you into roots. And then with that you start to learn about the country guys, the George Jones, the Merle Haggards, and that was where my education took place, within the singer-songwriter genre.
Q: Does writing get easier the more you do it?
A: It doesn't get easier, but you understand the clarity better. When I look at the difference between the songs I wrote when I was starting and the songs that I write now, there's a much greater clarity to the lyrics and to the story and to the content of the song. You know, when I started, you're just kind of hoping for lighting in a bottle, you're just trying stuff. You think, oh, that sounds good, I'll just keep pursuing this. And then the 'what am I talking about?' problem - I'll just pursue this and hopefully the story will come clear - I think ultimately you're always doing that, you're always looking for lighting in a bottle, and you don't actually know what you're going to write when you start. But I now have a lot more tools to clarify what I'm trying to say. So, you learn a lot about songwriting when you do it for as long as I have.
Q: What's been your most memorable live performance with Blue Rodeo?
A: Well, there's a couple. I think the one we did with Kris Kristofferson in Toronto at the Amphitheatre was pretty amazing. I mean, just hanging around with him for a couple of days and having him come up and play with us. And our first encore was for Knocking on Heaven's Door with him starting it and he tells the story of recording it with (Bob) Dylan and how it came about because he's in the movie that it's from - Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. That kind of stuff, just the music history, but he's also just such a righteous dude that it was amazing. So that was one. We played a day in Montreux Jazz Fest in front of the first reunion of Little Feat. That was big. SARS Stock was an incredible experience in front of, I don't know, 700,000 people. Do you remember when Toronto had that big concert to tell everybody that it was safe to be in Toronto again? The Stones played, AC/DC and everybody. It was a remarkable experience. Again, countless experiences. I mean, so much of what we do is play live.
Q: What did it feel like to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame last year?
A: That was a great honour. It was very exciting. It was nerve-racking because it's TV and you only have a certain amount of time. From the time we knew we were doing it, to that weekend being done, we really dedicated ourselves to enjoying it. We really, really had a good time. We made sure that we had friends and family close and we were very supportive of each other and it was an enormous pleasure and satisfaction.
I remember that old line that John Lennon said, "Sometimes I think I'm a god, and then I look at Ringo," and then I think, we'll that's what we have about each other. No matter how much we're praised, we look at each other and think come on, the praise is for our work, not for ourselves. So we have a great time with each other about it.
Q: Has Blue Rodeo ever played in Burnaby before?
A: We played Burnaby for the opening of the Olympics. They had sites all over for the opening of the Olympics, and we were the Burnaby site. It was great.
Q: What can your fans expect from your set this summer at the Blues Fest? A: Well, I think people coming to see us know what to expect, to a certain degree, but then we also have a new record, so we have new songs and that re-energizes the old dogs. So, they'll have a good show and they'll have a little preview of some new songs.
Q: Can you tell me about the new album?
A: It'll be released in October, tentatively called In Our Nature. We made it at Greg's farm. It's kind of a big epic, vibey record. It's great. We're really loving it right now.
