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Blue Rodeo: Back In Harmony With New Record/National Tour

 

(Press Release)

Amidst a media scrum gathered at the band’s Woodshed Studios in mid-town Toronto Thursday, Blue Rodeo’s kingpin duo Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor debuted the band’s 14th studio album, the 12-track `1000 Arms’ release, premiered a tongue-in-cheek the video clip for their first single titled “Superstar and reveiled the details  of a 30-concert, 23-city national tour to be executed in January-February 2017.

“This record has a lot more energy, a bit more up-tempo,” noted Keelor. “Jim (Cuddy) and I are singing a lot together and it turned out really great.”

Keelor credits co-producer Tim Vesely who had been listening to all Blue Rodeo’s old records and realized he and Cuddy weren’t singing together like they used to. “Tim said `You guys have got to sing more together’. We realized that because we did that so naturally, as we moved on to records ten, eleven and twelve, we started to do different things. So we made a very concerted effort to sing together on this album, either with direct harmonies or call and response and we really enjoyed it. It felt like we were getting back to something that was very strong to us.”

With sales in excess of four million records and honours that have included induction into Canada’s Music Hall of Fame (2012) and reception of a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award (2014), the consistency of Blue Rodeo’s recorded efforts has been remarkable.

“Greg and I have this strange symbiosis which sometimes is contrasting and sometimes it’s marrying,” noted Cuddy. “We write in isolation, we don’t know what the other one is writing, but it seems like we came with a much more energetic record this time than we have for sometime.”

The title track for the new album was inspirec by a podcast Cuddy was listening to. “1000 Arms is about a bipolar woman who had episodes where she got totally confused and didn’t know where she was,” Cuddy explained. “She had a coffee shop in a small San Francisco neighbourhood. She was very outgoing, dressing in colourful clothes and riding a hand-painted bike. Everybody knew her and whenever she’d have an incident, somebody who knew her would take her back to the coffee shop.”

 

 

 

 

“The podcast was about allowing your community to help you,” Cuddy continued. “When we were going over titles, we were thinking about our musical community, what it means to us and how much we would do for each other.”

Cuddy takes the stuffing out of performers chasing the gigantic dream in the band’s first single, “Superstar”. “We did a bunch of gigs in  Los Angeles about two years ago. Colin (Cripps) and I were riding our bikes around Beverly Hills and even though I’ve been to L.A a million times, I was so shocked and overwhelmed by the display of wealth. I just couldn’t believe it! The houses are so immense that I thought, `that’s the size of a school’.  I love L.A, I think it’s great but it is the shallow centre of the world. I just tried to put as many of the cliches of wanting to be part of a band in the song.”

The maturity of the songs on 1000 Arms is reflective of a long, successful career that has taught the band and it’s fans a great deal. “From the beginning, we never ever felt that there was an age category for whom we were writing,” reflected Cuddy. “We felt that this type of music could encompass any age, any level of maturity, as long as it was authentic. As long as it felt free of the conventions of other songs, we could write about anything we wanted.”

Looking at the tour schedule laid out on the screen inside the band’s studios, “Cuddy joked about the band’s penchant for touring through the winter months, but come January 11th, Keelor, Cuddy, Cripps, bassist Bazil Donovan, keyboardist Michael Boguski and drummer Glenn Milchem will be heading out to Thunder Bay to launch their 1000 Arms Tour.

“We were probably one of the first bands to tour during the Winter months now everybody is doing it,” joked Cuddy. “Weather aside, it’s just a great time to tour. There’s not much else going on and we find we can command people’s attention.”

 

          BLUE RODEO
BLUE RODEO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1000 Arms Tour Dates:

Jan, 11 Thunder Bay On (Thunder Bay Community Aud.)

Jan 13 Regina SK ( Conexsus Arts Centre)

Jan 14 Winnipeg MB (MTS Centre)

Jan 15 Estevan SK (Affinity Place)

Jan 17 Saskatoon SK (TCU Place)

Jan 19/20 Edmonton AB(Northern Alberta Jubilee Aud)

Jan 21/22 Calgary AB)  (Southern Alberta Jubilee Aud)

Jan 24 Penticton BC (South Okanagan Events Centre)

Jan 26 Victoria BC (Save On Foods Memorial Centre)

Jan 27/28 Vancouver BC (Queen Elizabeth Theatre)

Jan 31 Kitchener ON (Centre In The Square)

Feb 2/3 Toronto ON (Massey Hall)

Feb 8 Montreal QC (Place des Arts)

Feb 9 Kingston ON (Rogers K-Rock Centre)

Feb 10 Barrie ON (Barrie Molson Centre)

Feb 11 Oshawa ON (General Motors Centre)

Feb 14 London ON (Budweiser Gardens)

Feb 15/16 Hamilton ON (Hamilton Place)

Feb 18/19 Ottawa ON (National Arts Centre)

Feb 21 Woodstock NB (Ayr Motor Centre)

Feb 23 St John’s NL (Mile One Centre)

Feb 25 Halifax NS (Scotiabank Centre)

Feb 26 Moncton NB (Casino New Brunswick)