With the announcement that Colin James is returning to headline the Burnaby Blues + Roots Festival this summer, we dug back into the vaults to find an interview with the Canadian blues-rocker from 2004 - when he first came to headline the festival.
Here, from August 2004, is that article.
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Somehow, it's one of those "only in Canada" moments.
The phone rings 10 minutes before the expected time, and the voice on the other end of the line jumps in with apologies for calling too early.
It's the kind of unassuming, amiable voice that could belong to your old neighbour or the buddy you haven't heard from in awhile.
The fact that the voice in question belongs to a Canadian music icon - not to mention a favourite rocker of your teen years - can't help but make you smile.
Colin James is getting ready for his appearance as headliner at the Burnaby Blues and Roots Festival Aug. 21 - "if you can call sitting by a swimming pool in the Interior getting ready," he reports with a laugh.
He drove his motorcycle out from Vancouver to start his five-week summer break spending time with his family, having just come off performing in Eastern Canada with Bryan Adams.
James is looking forward to his second appearance at the Blues Festival, after headlining in 2001.
"Deer Lake's a beautiful venue," he says.
He admits he hasn't yet heard the rest of the festival lineup, and when told who'll be joining him on stage - Jim Byrnes, Jaojoby, Tarbox Ramblers, Buckwheat Zydeco and Rosanne Cash - he's genuinely enthusiastic.
"Oh, cool!" he says in response to Cash's appearance.
James himself will be bringing a number of different styles to the stage for the occasion, a cross-section of the work he's offered up over the years.
Don't expect to hear anything from his Little Big Band outings, however - he keeps those two musical lives separate and, he points out, he's not travelling with a horn section.
Rather, expect a "broken-down, acoustic" show offering a taste of his career.
Featured, of course, will be work from James' latest album, Traveler.
That album reflects an artist who seems to be softening with the years - if not quite mellowing. 'Mellow' he still is not, admittedly - that familiar voice hasn't lost its edge or its raw appeal - but Traveler takes listeners on a more intensely personal, introspective journey.
That this album features the first James single getting airplay on adult contemporary radio, Make a Mistake, is a telling statement about where this blues-rocker has found himself.
It's been a long journey since James' self-titled debut in 1988, which brought him to prominence in Canada and abroad.
Let's face it, anyone who was in high school at the time and can't sing at least a line or two of Five Long Years or Chicks 'n' Cars (And the Third World War) clearly wasn't paying attention.
Mention those songs to James, however, and there's a trace of what might, in a less polite person, be considered a groan.
"I don't listen to my early stuff," he says flatly.
Mind you, he admits that his nine-year-old daughter and six-year-old son have recently discovered his older music.
"I never played my kids the earlier records," he says.
But that hasn't stopped them from finding it and, now, wanting to listen to it in the car.
James, by the way, makes them wear headphones when they do - he doesn't want to hear it.
So he just gets to watch them, and he admits to getting great amusement out of it.
"It cracks me up, man," he says with a laugh.
This summer, mind you, James has been exploring his rocker past a bit more.
Since he's been touring with Adams, he's been pulling out many of the songs from his debut album and his second, Sudden Stop. And, though he's often said no to performing the ubiquitous Five Long Years, he's been bringing it out this summer.
"I'm trying to enjoy the moment," he says.
He's figuring that, after this summer, he won't be going back to those tunes for a couple years anyway.
Already, he has his sights set on creating a Little Big Band 3.
He's still enthusiastic about the original, in 1993, and the followup from 2000.
"The Little Big Band stuff was really good for my career," he says.
He notes that the swing craze of the late '90s helped bring him an injection of new listeners.
But, at the same time, he says, much of his fan base has stayed with him since the beginning.
"I think they're pretty loyal. They've kind of let me go through these changes," he says, admitting that there may have been some challenges involved for listeners.
"Moment to moment, it may have been slightly confusing for people."
Looking back over his many-faceted career, James can still pick out some highlight moments.
Why'd You Lie, from 1995's Then Again, is still among his favourites for being what he describes as a "well-written, beautiful song."
"That's one that was a real cornerstone," he says.
And, if he had to pin down a favourite album, he admits to a particular fondness for National Steel, the mainly acoustic offering from 1997 that marked his debut at folk festivals.
In the near future, he foresees what he describes as a "singer-songwriter record," an organic, acoustic album - "kind of a Sunday afternoon record with great songs."
Queried about any other undiscovered sides to his many-faceted musical personality, James is quick to point out that he used to play Irish music - he's played mandolin with the Chieftains and he's been known to take a turn with the penny whistle.
But no, he laughs, he's not about to put out a Celtic album.
Expect, however, that you'll be hearing more from James - and soon.
"I don't plan to slow down," he says.
"There's so many things I haven't done yet."
(originally published in the Burnaby NOW, Aug. 7, 2004)
