When Blue Rodeo hits the stage at the Empire Square Live in Belleville on Thursday, it will be a homecoming of sorts for Jim Cuddy.
Cuddy, who handles sings and plays guitar for Blue Rodeo, spent a lot of time in the Quinte area as a youngster and is thrilled to be coming back – especially to perform at the Empire’s Anniversary Weekend.
“I’m very familiar with the area because that’s where my mother was born,” Cuddy said during a recent telephone interview. “I spent a lot of summers in Picton. I’m really glad to be able to come back to my old stomping grounds – it’s always fun. I’ve got lots of family and friends down there.”
Blue Rodeo performs at Empire Square Live in Belleville on Sept. 9. Photo by Dustin Rabin.
Cuddy fronts the band that has enjoyed radio success with singles like Try, How Long, Til I Am Myself Again, Lost Together, Bad Timing and 5 Days in May during their career which has spanned a quarter century.
He said that fans can expect to hear many of those classics along with cuts from their latest offering The Things We Left Behind – a double record that was also released on vinyl.
“We are kind of at the tail end of the tour for our new record,” Cuddy said. “So there will be a bunch of stuff from the new record and pretty much a smattering of songs from our whole careers. Hopefully there will be many songs they know and maybe a couple they’re not as familiar with.
Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo
“You kind of try to have a flow of acoustic and electric. This summer tour started when we were doing bars in the States so it has a little bit more of an acoustic flow. Some songs that we haven’t been doing for the last couple of years have come back. It really has to do with the dynamic of how the songs all go together.”
Blue Rodeo has performed at the Empire Theatre in the past but this will be their first time at the outdoor Empire Square Live venue.
Jesse Labelle opens the show, which kicks off a three-day music fest in downtown Belleville. Local 60′s and 70′s tribute All You Need is Love is hosting a parking lot party on Friday with Emily Fennell in support of Three Oaks Foundation and then on Saturday Canadian icon Kim Mitchell opens for former Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash, who is touring with Alter Bridge front man Myles Kennedy to support Slash’s new solo album.
Cuddy said that he is looking forward to playing at the outdoor venue at Empire Square on Thursday.
“Belleville’s a great place but it’s a place that for years you didn’t have a lot of places to play. I guess people in Belleville had to go to Kingston or come to Toronto to see some shows. Now there are a couple of venues. They are very good people to play to.”
The Things We Left Behind is the 12th full length studio release from Blue Rodeo, who have won seven Juno Awards and were honoured with a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame last summer.
“I don’t think we ever thought that we would make a living from this,” Cuddy said. “By the time we started Blue Rodeo we’d been many years kind of pursuing this dream of being in a band that became our livelihood. It just didn’t seem possible.
“When we started Blue Rodeo and got to be a good bar band that seemed to be about the height of accomplishment – to play a few nights a week and make a bit of money and have fun. It’s just been absolutely unimaginable to have the kind of career we’ve had. It’s just unbelievable.”
Listen to the complete QuinteLive interview with Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo
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