BANFF, ALBERTA – Jim Cuddy is, in a word, thankful.
The singer-songwriter best known as the lead singer of Blue Rodeo, as well as a solo artist, never imagined he would be a full-time musician, let alone still be performing more than four decades later across the country.
Ahead of his scheduled shows at the Wingham Town Hall Theatre on Thursday, Dec. 8 and Friday, Dec. 9, the Wingham Advance Times caught up with Cuddy on the road via telephone in Banff, Alberta on Monday to talk about his motivation to write songs, being back on the road following the COVID-19 pandemic, advice for aspiring young artists, what fans can expect in Wingham, and finally quitting his day job in 1990.
Wingham Advance Times: How’s the weather out west?
Jim Cuddy: It is totally sunny, pretty cold, about 10 or 15 below. And there’s about a foot of snow here. It’s perfect. I mean, it couldn’t be more perfect Banff winter weather.
WAT: So obviously, you’re back on the road now and playing live in front of crowds. Is it nice to be back on the road after being stuck at home the past couple of years?
JC: You know, initially, it was nice to get back to work, play a show here and play a show there. Sometimes they have restrictions, sometimes there weren’t. We played all summer, different things. And now we’re actually out on tour. Now we did you know, from last spring till now, we’ve done the east coast, and we have a set and we have production and we have our own sound system and trucks. Yes, this is a joy. And you know, we’ve been very fortunate the crowds have been really good. And there is a level of excitement in the audience that’s so much more than just us. It’s about everybody being back together, and how joyful that feels and how people have forgotten what that feels like. It’s been a little surprising, like Vancouver was over the top. And that’s not a town known for that.
WAT: During those two years at home, how did you stay busy? Did you write songs? Did you spend time with family? Or did you find some new motivation to make some new material?
JC: I wrote a lot of songs. We’re lucky enough that we have a little country place north of the city (Toronto). And I went up there for at least half of the week each week. And it was, you know, just remarkably, for me, is the first time I spent a whole change of season or a couple of seasons in one place for, I don’t know, 30 years.
It was weird because I didn’t realize, of course, like anybody that the pandemic would last so long. But I did get a lot of writing done. I was not under the impression Blue Rodeo was going to make a record, so I wrote a solo record and started recording that and got about three quarters of the way through when Greg (Keelor, of Blue Rodeo) phoned me and said he’d like to make a Blue Rodeo record. So I changed, wrote some songs for that, then we made that record.
It was a very productive time. We turned our audio studio into a visual studio, almost like a TV studio, so we could do a lot of online stuff. We did a lot of performances, we did some charity events, we did all kinds of stuff. I maintained a pretty good music schedule. But all in one place, which again, was very unusual for us.
WAT: Was it a nice change of pace?
JC: I think it was a really good change of pace, and I think one of the reasons that the band is functioning so well now is that everybody had a chance to let all those repetitive stress injuries heal up and, and also to retain or to at least find again, the gratitude for playing. I think once you play all the time, the little things bug you – little things about travel, little things about backstage, you know, and so you forget the bigger picture, you forget what a great good fortune it is to be able to play music for a living. And I think that’s very ever-present now for us. And we’re lucky that the audiences have maintained and come back and, and so it all is very positive right now.
WAT: How do you still find the motivation every Friday night to get up on stage or to go and write another song or another album?
JC: I think that somehow it’s in the blood, you know? I’ve always been interested in performing music, not necessarily in front of people, but from the time I was about 13 I started to try to write songs and play other people’s songs. And it was just an immense joy for me. And so if that’s at the heart of it, and being able to make it my living and getting all these unique offers. We’re lucky that we get offers to play all over the place.
But the actual act of playing music for all of us, is recuperative; at the end of two hours, you feel just so much better than you did when you started, regardless of what’s happening… whatever that is, whether it’s all the sympathetic vibrations, or just all the all the reaction from the crowd, it is kind of self-nurturing, just by doing it, you enjoy it even more. And I’ve never really lost my inspiration to write songs; it calms me down, it focuses my thoughts. It’s now such a well-worn path for me that I would never stop doing it.
WAT: You’ve played in front of big crowds, such as halftime of the Grey Cup, and in front of smaller crowds at theatres like the Wingham Town Hall Theatre. Financial part of it aside, what type of venue do you prefer to play in?
JC: I don’t think there’s one format that’s the best. There’s a thrill in playing a big audience and having all the big gestures, and just feeling like the crowd is one person or one entity. But then when you do this small thing, like the small theatres like Wingham, you’re in touch with everybody; you can see everybody, you can see how they react. It becomes more intimate, you talk more intimately, you can tell stories about the songs. And I think that all of those things contribute to a happy musician. To just do big shows, would be I think, to get a little abstracted from your audience. And I’m not sure that that would be good for you. And then to do all the little shows would be to starve. (laughs)
It’s one of the reasons that I get so much from my solo career is that I can do so many things that are not really suited for Blue Rodeo, and they’re very enjoyable. The people I play with are extraordinary musicians, and just being that close to them, hearing them acoustically, that’s a thrill. And I share the same thrill with the audience.
WAT: You spoke earlier about being fortunate to play music for a living. I read somewhere online that you didn’t give up your day job doing props and sets for TV commercials until 1990, and you didn’t give up your union card until ‘95 because you were afraid that this success was just going to fade away. Is that true?
JC: (Laughs) Oh, yeah, that’s true. You know, I also thought that whatever was going to happen, it had a time limit. You know, I think bands don’t last as long now. And I was very happy doing both. It was a nice relief. I loved the people I worked with, and I love to play music, and I didn’t really care about sleep in those days. We had two kids and then three kids. But of course, I’m happy that music took over, but those were heady days. You know, those were days when I felt like every minute was being used properly. And like I said, I liked working.
Greg and I have been playing music since 1978. And in ‘85, we got Blue Rodeo and in ‘87 we had a record. And that record turned into something. But that’s almost 10 years of just playing music for the love of playing music, not to make a living. And so when it starts to happen, you think ‘this is great, I can’t believe it, it’s wonderful.’ But it’s hard to get a perspective on it. I didn’t know that, you know, having a song like “Try” would change my life. I had no idea… but I realized that it was changing my life… and then you just react and then you just don’t think about and the years go by. By 1990, it was not tenable to keep a job. So I finally stopped. And yes, I kept my kit all in order. You know, I’ve got I got a deep, deep Protestant work ethic, and figured, ‘eventually kid, you’re gonna have to be going back to work.’
WAT: The music industry has changed so much in the past 30, 40 years. What is the biggest piece of advice you to give an aspiring artist or a group wanting to make it big in the business?
JC: Well, I think there’s sort of two sides – you either want to be a songwriter or a recording artist, or you want to be a full musician, and to be a full musician, you need to play live. And I don’t think that’s changed from when we started. I think that you have to lay down roots somewhere, and you have to find an audience, and you have to just play every single opportunity that you get. When we started, we played everywhere, and we played some very inappropriate places; we played places we didn’t think was doing us any good, but maybe 10 people see you and they tell 10 people who tell 10 others. It’s really drawing a crowd that distinguishes you, because then what you have is the power. We never would have been signed by a record company unless we were filling up clubs in Toronto. And they didn’t know anything about our music; they didn’t have any idea that it would do well, but they knew that there was people flocking to see us… we had a certain amount of autonomy because of that, because nobody really knew what to do with us.
(Today) there’s a way of presenting yourself online that can be very creative and very imaginative, and also really powerful. I think that that’s kind of like building an audience. You know, you’re trying to do things online, trying to stay fresh, do it frequently enough that people know it’s coming. So I think that, you can translate some of the lessons learned from my playing to live online playing, but I think you have to build an audience.
WAT: Speaking of playing live, what can people expect from you next week in Wingham?
JC: I’ll be bringing Colin Cripps (guitar player from Blue Rodeo) and Anne Lindsay, violinist extraordinaire. I’m trying to see if I can bring the piano player, too. So we do a smattering; we do some of my stuff, we do some Blue Rodeo stuff. We might do a couple covers. I’m not tooting my own horn, but it’s a highly-entertaining show. These people are so talented. It’s a joy for us. I mean, I think it’s also a joy shared with the audience.
WAT: Thank you for taking the time to chat today, Jim. Have a good show tonight out west and enjoy the time here next week in midwestern Ontario.
JC: I look forward to it. Thanks Mike.
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Jim Cuddy will be performing at the Wingham Town Hall Theatre on Thursday, Dec. 8 and Friday, Dec. 9. Both shows begin at 7:30 p.m., with Basil Bauer opening.
Tickets are still available for both shows, and can be purchased online at ticketmaster.ca or by phone at 519-912-1515. You can also purchase tickets in-store at Annette’s Treasures Galore at 206 Josephine St., Wingham.
