Blue Rodeo’s New Album Is Medolic Country Rock Gem

Since I featured the great lead single When You Were Wild in my last Best of What’s New installment, I’ve listened a few times to Blue Rodeo’s new album Many a Mile. I just love the warm sound of this Canadian country rock-oriented group! The band has been around since 1984 when it was co-founded by Jim Cuddy (vocals, guitar) and Greg Keelor (vocals, guitar), two high school friends who had played together in various bands before.

Released on December 3, Many a Mile is Blue Rodeo’s 16th studio album and their first new record since 1000 Arms from October 2016. In addition to Cuddy and Keelor who write the band’s original songs, the other members include Colin Cripps (guitar, backing vocals), Jimmy Bowskill (pedal steel, mandolin, guitar), Mike Boguski (piano, organ), Bazil Donovan (bass) and Glenn Milchem (drums).

According to this review in the Toronto Star, the prospects for another album following 1000 Arms were uncertain since Keelor had been dealing with various aural conditions, including tinnitus. Apparently, the forced break from touring due to the pandemic had a positive impact on Keelor’s health. “It was a surprise to me to get Greg’s songs pretty much completed,” Cuddy told the Star. “And I was overjoyed. They’re great songs and there’s a lot of them.”

In fact, when he received Keelor’s songs, Cuddy was working on a solo project, which he subsequently put aside. “I do try to not overlap, so I had to start songwriting again,” he noted. “But I was on a good songwriting roll as well … So I could do an about-face, start writing for the Blue Rodeo record and that was a lot of fun.”

The Toronto Star also explained Keelor and Cuddy were never in the same studio when making the new album: When they needed to sing on each other’s songs — Cuddy wrote five and Keelor penned seven for “Many a Mile” — they sent each other digital stems and recorded their harmonies in their respective studios. Of course, music artists each working in separate locations is a reality that has become all too common during the pandemic. Let’s take a look at some of the outcomes!

Since I just covered it, I’m skipping the excellent opener and lead single When You Were Wild and go right to I Owe It to Myself. Featuring beautiful harmony singing, a catchy melody and a great warm sound, the tune pretty much represents the rest of the album.

Symmetry of Starlight, a slower tune with a dreamy sound, is one of the tracks written by Keeler. I’m less fond of what sounds like synth claps (starting at around 2:23 minutes into the track), but it’s a minor aspect of an otherwise beautiful tune.

Here’s The Opening Act, which sounds a bit more like traditional country. As recently as five or six years ago, I would probably have dismissed it as hillbilly music. My music taste has definitely evolved since.

Never Like This Before is a nice pop rock tune. Admittedly, Blue Rodeo aren’t exactly reinventing chord progressions here. It doesn’t matter, I still dig this song. With great singing, nice guitar and keyboard work, and yet another tune with a catchy melody, what’s not to love about it!

The last track I’d like to highlight is the album’s closer Ride Your Bike. It’s another great illustration of the band’s warm sound. I also like the changes in dynamic.

According to their website, In the 35 years since forming, Blue Rodeo have sold over 4 million albums, received dozens of JUNO Award nominations and wins, played over 2,000 shows, been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, been named to the Order of Canada and have been honoured with the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award. This surely is an impressive record!

Last Thursday, Blue Rodeo announced a 25-plus-date tour across Canada to support their new album. The tour is supposed to kick off this Friday, December 10 in Kitchener, Ontario. The last currently scheduled gig is on March 26 in Halifax, Nova Scotia – keeping fingers crossed everything will go as planned! The current tour schedule is here.

Sources: Wikipedia; Toronto Star; Blue Rodeo website; YouTube

The Sunday Six

Another Sunday morning means it’s time for another selection of six tunes that don’t reflect any overarching theme. Pretty much anything is fair game as long as I like it. In general, I also aim to make these posts a bit eclectic. This installment includes beautiful new age style harp music (a first!), soulful blues, country rock, pop, pop rock and edgy garage rock.

Andreas Vollenweider/Behind the Gardens, Behind the Wall, Under the Tree…

Andreas Vollenweider is a harpist from Zurich, Switzerland. His instrument is no ordinary harp but an electro-acoustic harp he created. A New York Times article from October 1984 characterized his music as “swirling atmospheric”, evoking “nature, magic and fairy tales.” This story appeared ahead of Vollenweider’s U.S. tour debut at the Beacon Theatre in New York City in October of the same year. According to Wikipedia, he was introduced by Carly Simon who had come across his music the previous year. Vollenweider ended up collaborating with Simon 10 years later on his first album to include vocals. He also has worked with Luciano Pavarotti, Bryan Adams and Bobby McFerrin, among others. Behind the Gardens, Behind the Wall, Under the Tree… is the title track of Vollenweider’s second studio album from 1981. To date, he has released 13 additional albums. Until the other day when I randomly remembered his name, I had completely forgotten about Vollenweider and his beautiful and relaxing music. It’s perfect to kick off a Sunday morning.

Chicken Shack/I’d Rather Go Blind

My dear longtime friend and music connoisseur from Germany pointed me to this beautiful song recently. Coincidentally, around the same time, Music Enthusiast mentioned the band Chicken Shack in an installment of his previous four-part series about Fleetwood Mac’s middle period. So what’s the connection between Chicken Shack and the Mac you might ask? Christine Perfect (later Christine McVie) who sang lead and played keyboards in Chicken Shack before recording her eponymous solo album Christine Perfect and joining Fleetwood Mac in late 1970. Chicken Shack released I’d Rather Go Blind as a single in 1969, scoring a no. 14 on the British charts. Written by Ellington Jordan, the tune was first recorded by Etta James in 1967 and appeared on her seventh studio album Tell Mama from February 1968. Perfect’s vocals on Chicken Shack’s cover are – well – just perfect! BTW, Chicken Shack are still around, with the current lineup including founding member Stan Webb (guitar, vocals).

Blue Rodeo/Hasn’t Hit Me Yet

Canadian country rock band Blue Rodeo were founded in 1984 in Toronto. They were formed by high school friends Jim Cuddy (vocals, guitar) and Greg Keelor (vocals, guitar), who had played together in various bands before, and Bob Wiseman (keyboards). Cleave Anderson (drums) and Bazil Donovan (bass) completed the band’s initial lineup. After gaining a local following in Toronto and signing with Canadian independent record label Risque Disque, the group released their debut album Outskirts in March 1987. They have since released 14 additional studio albums, the most recent of which, 1000 Arms, came out in October 2016. Blue Rodeo have enjoyed significant success in Canada. Hasn’t Hit Me Yet was co-written by Keelor and Cuddy who together with Donovan are part of Blue Rodeo’s current lineup. The tune is included on the band’s fifth studio album Five Days in July from October 1993, their best-selling record in Canada to date.

Bruce Hornsby & The Range/The Way It Is

The debut album by American singer-songwriter and pianist Bruce Hornsby with his backing band The Range quickly became one of my favorites when it came out in September 1986. After I hadn’t touched it in many years, I listened to it again about a week ago – turns out I still like it. Hornsby went on to record two additional albums with The Range. His fourth studio album Harbor Lights from April 1993 was the first solely credited to him. Four additional solo albums and four albums with his touring band The Noisemakers have since come out. Hornsby also was a touring member of the Grateful Dead in the early ’90s and has collaborated with numerous other artists. After his first two albums with The Range, Hornsby had dropped off my radar screen. Here’s the title track of his debut. Both the album and the tune enjoyed major international chart success. Not hard to understand way – it’s pretty catchy pop.

Rainbirds/Blueprint

For some reason, the above Chicken Shack tune trigged my memory of German pop rock band Rainbirds. Other than the fact that both tunes feature female vocalists, they really don’t have anything in common – funny how the brain sometimes works! The group around singer-songwriter Katharina Franck, which was formed in Berlin in 1986 and named after a Tom Waits instrumental, enjoyed significant success in Germany with their first two albums. After the band dissolved in 1999 and Franck pursued a solo career, Franck reformed the group in 2013 with a new lineup. Another album appeared the following year. While Rainbirds haven’t released new music since, the group still appears to exist. Blueprint, co-written by Franck (guitar, vocals) and fellow band members Michael Beckmann (bass) and Wolfgang Glum (drums), is from Rainbirds’ eponymous debut album released in January 1987.

The Kinks/All Day and All of the Night

I felt this Sunday Six needed a dose of real rock. The Kinks and All Day and All of the Night looked like a great choice. I love the raw sound, which is very much reminiscent of You Really Got Me, the band’s third single from August 1964 and their first no. 1 in the UK. Written by Ray Davies, All Day and All of the Night came out in October of the same year. It almost matched the success of You Really Got Me, climbing to no. 2 on the British charts. In the U.S., both tunes peaked at no. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Oh, get ’em hard!

Sources: Wikipedia; The New York Times; YouTube