Blue Rodeo

Part 1

0:01Alright, Los Angeles, California, the mint, one of the most beautiful rooms in LA. I love this place. I've always loved this place. Last one was here was for Tim Reynolds, the guitar player with Dave Matthews, and I've never smelled so much marijuana in my entire life. It might be a little different tonight with you guys. Yeah, yeah. It's a nice room though, isn't it? Yeah. It's a very classy. Yeah. It must be different touring the States for you guys. Well, it's different because we're back to playing clubs instead of the places you play in Canada. But you know what? It's a challenge and always the transition is a little difficult for us, but it's very good for us as a band because you have to come back and coordinate all the pieces of that in a much different way than you do on an arena stage or a bigger stage.

0:48So it's actually good for us. And we do different things. We play different songs. How so what do you mean? We don't feel the setlist a little bit. Yeah, we just don't feel compelled to play as many of the more popular songs. We can pick up songs that we don't play ever. So the Americans get a more thin kind of show? Well, the Americans get a broader palette, yes. Yeah, okay. I mean, we try in Canada to do that too. And certainly they're longer shows in Canada. Right. So Canadians get a lot more of us. But yeah, it's a little broader palette down here. I really never introduced you. It's Jim Cuddy from Lurovia and from the Jim Cuddy Band. You basically tour and write nonstop, I think. It feels like that today. But it's not really that way. I try to do, you know, when Blu-Rody will take some time off, then I'll do my own thing.

1:38You know, it's fun for me. I like to ban a plan. Well, we have one of the pieces here with us, right? Because Anne Lindsey, who's the violinist in my band, is playing these shows in the States. Oh, really? So I have lent her. Yes, of course. And I get opportunities that Blu-Rody wouldn't take opening for people and playing different events that Blu-Rody probably would turn down. How does a song become a Jim Cuddy song and not a Blu-Rody or something? Just time, just time. Yeah. It's just a question of when I'm ready to do a record, I'll write some songs. I couldn't get myself into that thing where I had songs that I chose for myself. Right. You know, because I've heard a lot of people. Yeah, it would be too weird. And there would be accusations. What, song wasn't good enough for Blu-Rody, what's good enough for you kind of thing?

2:25Well, you could do that all the way around, you know, why keep that song for yourself? It's been almost 30 years since High-Fy and the first record with you and Greg. Does it feel like 30 years? Today. Today? Sure, today, why not? It seems like you're a little more on your own one today. Which is so funny, right? Because we just got down here a couple of days. I had a very sick night last night. So I think I might have food poisoning. Oh, no. Still, I'm okay now. But last night was just absolutely brutal. It's funny because you know, it's one of those phenomenological things that if that had happened to me on the bus, I would have been, why wouldn't it have been on the bus? I would have had to just get thrown off. But it just happened to happen on the night where we're not traveling. So, that for that reason. But does it seem long? It seems like we've covered a lot of ground.

3:11And it certainly seems like we've done a lot of things. And we've aged. It doesn't. Inevitably, yeah. But, and then sometimes, you know, if we go out on a bar like this, well, we've been doing this since the very beginning. Right. So, you know, it's like you've run a number of miles on a hamster wheel. How does the songwriting change over the years? With Greg or without Greg and with your personal experiences? Yeah, we wrote together when we started because we were trying to create a style. But very quickly, we started writing on our own. So we've both established ourselves as independent songwriters. And it's changed because we have a lot more control over that. I think that when we started establishing a style was enough.

3:57If the song had a particular style, fill in the lyrics, put it out there. And then very quickly, that became not okay. And so then the songs now are very specific and they're very carefully crafted. And so it's quite different now. Are there still topics you're trying to bridge in songwriting? I mean, you've written, you've written the game, but pretty much everything. But there's still topics that you're still waiting for the right one. I guess, you know, I guess we've certainly covered a lot of ground in terms of fractured relationships and the mortality comes up in songs a lot more now. I like, I always liked artists that allowed their songs to be H-specific. You know, I love those last-time cash songs.

4:43Frightening, but they were great. Yeah. So I think that each age, you know, has its own challenges. And so since we're sort of in our mid-50s and that, then there are, there are gusts of mortality coming towards us. So I think that that's, that is a challenge to work in the song. Do they come up consciously when you're running or do you just, it comes out and you're like, oh, I can't believe I'm talking about that. Yeah, I think it comes out. I think it's, it's, you know, once you get an idea for a song and then you start to flesh it out, you're allowing yourself to, to just reflect whatever's in your mind. And that is the kind of stuff I guess I'm thinking about. I certainly never thought about that when I started. Right. Completely different topic. Hockey.

5:28I know it's very near and dear to your heart. What is your, is it the Leafs? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that was all through the, the, the 60s when the Leafs were actually so really good. So I just developed this incredible feeling about the Leafs that that was my home that I'd never been allowed to live in. And then finally moved to Toronto. So I'm a, I, my blood is, is mixed with, with blue. So it's been a very difficult fandom. Is that where the name for the band comes from? No, I think about it. Blue. No, no, no, no. No, you know, honestly, I have the same kind of, you know, I have the same body of these so many musicians.

6:13I paid no attention to sports when we started playing music. No, I had no interest at all. And it, it, it sort of came about, you know, after we started Blue Rodeo. So I'd been doing music for, I don't know, 10, 10 years. And my mother gave me a tour of skates. It's a Christmas song. I'm going to do these. I don't skate here, do I? I just started asking around and I realized that there was all kinds of musicians that played hockey. So I, you know, braved it and went out again and realized how much I liked it. See, realized how much more fun it was to play as an adult. And then it just went from there. There's an enormous interlocking psyche between hockey players and musicians. So, you know, we've had, we've had incredible opportunities because we've been in a band

7:01and been interested in hockey. Well, the Juno Cup is, you've got to play with some of the greats now. Juno Cup was great. We personally helped to turn the Stanley Cup series around. Oh, sure. Yeah. Oh, you having her? No, I have not. So we went to the morning skate for game three. Oh really? Not skating, but just watching this. Yeah. And who's we? I took a couple of members of the band and the crew. Okay. And we had amazing time and then we went, I, we met my creatures this summer. So we went down, hugged him. Mm-hmm. And you know, like you have to start coming. Yeah. And that turned it around. And look what happened after that. And when that game, when the next game. The feeling? You just went around, yeah, if we just went around for, how's it going to sound? Maybe you, you just went around for age seven. No? We brought them back and we thought they were okay to carry on on their own.

7:48Yeah. We should have made the trip. Maybe. Next time. Next time. Next time. It's not that easy, you know. Your brother is a conservative MP or something like that. And you didn't vote for him as this trip. You didn't vote for your own brother. I understand that. So first of all, I've never told anybody how I voted. Okay. So that, that was just somebody assuming. But my brother ran for conservative MP in my, my writing. Right. In Jack Layton's writing. And so it was a, it was a no-hole problem. That might, that might be where you vote. So Jack, when old? Okay. All right. It doesn't necessarily mean to wherever I would have been. But I, I said it was the conservative party was not traditionally when I put my vote. So, you know, especially because the conservative party at that time had no arts policy.

8:36None whatsoever. And they had policy statements and they didn't have an arts policy. So probably we would not have been where I would put my support. But I'm not saying I did it. I don't know. I just read something I thought was kind of interesting. Because my mother was so mad at me. Where, where would you like to see arts funding in Canada? How would you like to, I mean you're just talking about that. Well I think that they have to establish, I think what's happened now is I don't think the amount of money is wrong. I think the amount of money that comes through is right. I think what they have to do is establish permanent funds. So I think what they can't do is keep moving it around. If you have, you need to have, you need to have a way for, for artists of all, of all disciplines to get started. And then you need to have a way for them to let that art travel.

9:23And as long as you have those, if you're going to a recording grants, travel grants, writing grants, painting grants, I think a little bit of money goes a long way. For sure. You know, I know that there's lots of different provinces. I know the BAF Center does a lot of things and there's a lot of provincial money. But I think that the government has to recognize it. Well, okay, so this is, I think, ties into it. Greg and I were just part of the Truth and Reconciliation event that happened to Winnipeg. It's the beginning of five years of events which will catalog stories of First Nations, 18, and anywhere people that were, went to residential schools in Canada. So they had music evening at the end of the first day.

10:08They criticized, the Commission was criticized for making entertainment instead of sticking to the subject. And they said that in their, well, over the course of time, what they found is that people who suffered severe abuse in the residential schools lose the ability to describe their feelings, lose the ability actually to feel. And that the only thing that they found effective in helping people take a few steps towards being able to tell the story was art. Whether they were watching a play, whether they were seeing music, something that related to their situation that they could disembodied or could embody their feelings. So I think that that in general is what we're talking about the importance of culture in our country is that it is a way of establishing and creating a witness to our culture.

10:58So I think it's important enough for the government to not constantly use it as a bargaining chip to the financial world and say, well, we'll cut this off because we'll obviously have to cut it down. It sounded away. It's pathetic. Sorry. Yes. That's a better word. I think there's a problem. I'm not sure Terry McRide sits on the whole intellectual copyright. I think he's against it, which I saw him be against him.

11:45I think that you cannot continue with a system where people steal music. You can't. How do you stop that though? Well, I think you have to set up revenue gates. Everybody knows how to stop it. Everybody knows how to stop it. You take internet providers and you say you have to charge. You're dealing and stolen goods. Why don't we just call it what it is? People are coming to your site and using you to steal. But in Canada, we don't have that. We haven't actually established the copyright yet. So that's the first step. But once that's established, then you have to set up dates. And whether it's $10 a month or $20 a month or $100 a year or whatever it is, you have to do it and then you have to start spreading it out according to what is very easy to figure out when everything's digitized, who sold the most.

12:31I know lots of young bands now. Say, oh man, it's great. Put my stuff out there. I can do a gig in Denmark. I can do a gig. Yeah, it's fantastic. You come back broke. Right? I say to my kids, you don't buy this kid's music and I guarantee you, you'll not stick with it because there's no way you can't just keep doing music and be broke all the time. You can, but it'll end up being part time. Yes, it'll go to future. It's okay when you're 21, 22, it's not quite as okay when you're 32, 35. Yeah. Then you'll get another job. It seems like a total shame. You're going to wipe out a whole, or you're going to shorten the careers of a whole generation of artists, of musicians. It's just stupid. Another thing that's pathetic. It is. You are not and your music is not. Thanks.

13:17Well, we've got to end it, so thank you very much, Jim.

Part 2

0:20We have this brand new box set here of a whole bunch of stuff the remix about skirts and odds and ends Which is I guess be sides and rarities of different tunes from over the year stuff that never got released we're just going for the first five records and So you know just sort of sit down and listen to everything from cassettes to our Archives so it's quite enjoyable process Was it because it must be interesting to listen back to all the songs over you? You probably don't listen to them too often I would think or do you I think that that is the only time we will do Yeah listening to all the cassettes and our rehearsals and stuff, you know, it's all fun but you have to be in the right frame of mind and willing to truly waste a few days of your life just

1:07listening to rehearsal tapes Since we're in this room and you guys are working on a new record. What can we hear? What what is it sounding like where where's the record going? Well, we're making it out of a great farm. So that's one thing and that so that determines a certain certain sound it's very Woody's sounding, you know, we're all in different rooms in his farmhouse and Funny, you know, we came together to make an acoustic record But we never we almost immediately abandon our original plans so it's it's it's pretty rootsy, but it's got a lot of electric touches on it and

1:55And and yet it's very hard thing to to typify Two new players in the band and there's that well Colin Cripps Colin and I started in a band way back when called Crash Vegas and then about 10 years ago Jim and Colin hooked up in Jim's solo records and he's been a big contributor to Jim's music over the last few years and over the last Most recent years my years have been in through a deficit there that can't handle much volume or fatigue so Colin has taken over playing electric guitar and Blue Rodeo and That was daunting. It was a daunting year There were times in the last couple years where I thought it might be over for me because my ears were in such bad shape

2:42And I think that that played on everybody's consciousness a bit, you know that we were in sort of a bit of a pickle but everybody has sort of made this great effort and change to make it work and all the amps are off stage now and Colin's playing electric guitar and At first it seemed very weird, you know because it was a very different Blue Rodeo and I think that it is It's really worked out well Often with us the strangest thing and you know one of the reasons why we're still a band is that when these sort of Predicaments are presented to us. We just sort of keep going on and Eventually it falls into place, you know, we're sort of determined and and oblivious and

3:27So that's been a big thing. So Colin is adding great things to this record you know and and then we have Michael Boguski playing keyboards and He played half of the last record and he's been touring with us since that and And he's been making great contributions as well. So it The band sort of for some strange reason has a bit of a new life right now And I think that's being reflected in the recordings like they found that they sound very fresh Five quick questions one more day

4:15Rode or studio? Studio Studio now That's today today. I took one of your I took your next word Landon or McCutney Gainesboro Who's that search Gainesboro? I'm just not named him right now. Who's that French guy? Okay? Song you've written your most proud of pass Yeah, I don't I It's hard to you know, you always like the one that you're writing like that's the one that has you Immediately intimately involved, but that you know, there's one that you put how about this since we're talking about the box That what was the favorite to listen back to and be like oh wow that was a song

5:05Were there any well, there's so many like there's so many on there that I hadn't heard in such a long time Like I'd sort of forgotten about you go. How could you you know leave a song abandoned a song like that? So I'd say What's a Fight a heart fight a heart I go like that is like classic blue rodeo song like why did we abandon? I know was that a casino one? Yeah. Yeah, so that was so Pete Anderson would have gone I can't get into that That's got to me wacky keywords So are these songs maybe gonna come out live more than now that you've revisited them you're hearing them again and knowing them again Why not? That's the answer I was looking for Song you when you hear a song what usually hits you first lyrics melody or rhythm? Uh

5:51One word one word lyrics melody and in one word blue rodeo I think that was your answer last time just laughter. Yeah, that's impossible Old old for that. Awesome. Thanks guys