Blue Rodeo

Colin

I grew up in the north end of Hamilton, in the grittier working class part of town. My first musical mentors were my music teachers in high school. My school had a great music program where poor kids were given the opportunity to learn to play an instrument. My first was actually the clarinet, which I took to with a vengeance.

When I was 14 I got a part time job at Reggies Music and used the hours to save up for my first electric guitar. That store changed my life. Soon my younger brother Curtis and I (my mom and I bought him his first bass), started an original band called Klyde.

After finishing university, having played in a bunch of bands at that point, in 1988 I met Greg and Michelle McAdorey in Toronto, who had just started Crash Vegas. With Jocelyne Lanois and Ambrose Pottie, we were signed to the same management and record label as Blue Rodeo, and started an 8-year run, putting out 3 records.

Always part of the Blue Rodeo family in some way, in 1996 I started workng with Jim on what would be his first solo record All In Time. Since then we have worked on and co-produced his 3 solo records together.

I also produced and recorded with a number of other Canadian artists, (between my time with the Jim Cuddy Band), including Kathleen Edwards, Bryan Adams, Junkhouse, Sarah McLachlan, Oh Susanna, Ladies of the Canyon, Paul Reddick, Big Wreck, The Cooper Brothers, and more.

I started playing with Blue Rodeo in 2010 to help support Greg’s increasing difficulty being around loud noise, (owing to his sensitive hearing, and tinnitus). He could no longer play electric guitar in the standard band setting. In order to survive we had to change our stage setup, where everything is much more isolated to bring down the stage volume. Though it started as an experiment, the success of it also led to my also being more involved in the creative side as Greg relegated himself to playing acoustic guitar, and me taking on all the electric guitar duties. I was made a full member of the band during our work on In Our Nature in 2013.

I couldn’t be more thrilled to play with such a great group of friends and musicians.