The long-time frontman of Canada’s foremost country-rock band is looking forward to their upcoming performance at Affinity Place.
Blue Rodeo, with special guests Ron Hawkins and the Do Good Assassins, will be performing on Jan. 15. Estevan is one of 23 cities on the tour, which begins Jan. 11 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and continues until Feb. 26 in Moncton, N.B.
Jim Cuddy, who has leading his guitar and vocal skills to the group since its inception 30 years ago, said they have been in Estevan just once, and that was many years ago. He’s looking forward to returning to the Energy City, and playing at Affinity Place.
He’s also looking forward to getting back on the road, and travelling across the country to promote their latest album, 1000 Arms.
Fans can look forward to hearing songs from the album, as well as some of their more well-known hits, such as Try and Till I am Myself Again.
“I think with the last record, it just seemed to be better if we played it all at once, so that’s what we did with the last tour,” said Cuddy. “With this one, the songs blend more with our catalogue of songs, so they’re just going to be worked into a set. Some we do acoustically, and some we do electrically, so it will be a flow of catalogue songs and new songs.”
The new album has some great sounds and songs, he said. He has also found that there is a smooth transition from the record to a live performance.
The title track of 1000 Arms stands out the most, he said, not just for its sound, but for its story.
“The song comes from a podcast that I listen to, and the podcast is generally about community,” said Cuddy. “This one segment of it was about a bipolar woman, and she had spent much of her life trying to figure out how to deal with her episodes, which were pretty extreme and left her pretty bewildered.”
The woman, who was a colourful character and a well-known person in the community, eventually opened a coffee shop in San Francisco.
“When she had one of these incidents, somebody would know her, and lead her back to the coffee shop, or where she lived. So I was inspired by that to write the song.”
He noted that when Blue Rodeo went through the process of naming the album, the music community in Canada had been through a rough year, but they got through it with the support of each other as well as friends outside of the industry.
Cuddy is also looking forward to working with Hawkins and the Do Good Assassins. Cuddy described himself as a fan of their work.
“I like his records, and he’s a good guy,” said Cuddy. “I’ve seen him at a couple of festivals, and we worked together this summer a couple of times, so this will be the first time we’ve done an extended tour together.”
Blue Rodeo has released 15 full-length albums, as well as four compilation albums and a greatest hits album. Cuddy chalks up their success to the loyalty of Canadian music fans.
“I think music really means a lot to people in Canada,” said Cuddy. “It’s not just a form of entertainment for people, I think it’s a way of cataloguing events in their lives.”
The band has also been willing to visit communities of all sizes, he said, and they have worked hard and continued to release albums.
Continuity has also been a big factor in their success, he said. Vocalist/guitarist Greg Keelor and bass guitarist Cleave Anderson have been with the group since the beginning, while drummer Glenn Michem has been with the band for nearly 25 years.
Tickets are still available for the concert in Estevan.
