'Blue Rodeo trumps everything. If Blue Rodeo needs to do something, that’s what we’ll do. Everything else is secondary, and I don’t mind that. Blue Rodeo is the mothership,' Jim Cuddy says.Christopher Gentile
Jim Cuddy recently released his sixth album, the reflective and tuneful All the World Fades Away, and it was just announced that he and his Blue Rodeo co-front man Greg Keelor will be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame this fall.
Suddenly, it seems, the alt-country crooner with the boyish good looks is 68 years old. How has he kept his life and career together for so long? The Try singer-songwriter spoke to The Globe and Mail about collaborations, marital deals and keeping his throat supple and golden.
Write your age: “The seeds of the new record were planted during the pandemic, when I had an enormous amount of time. I wanted to craft short stories, like John Prine, with nicely crafted stories that maybe had an enigmatic ending or least had some kind of twist. It became a slightly sculptured memoir about the things that have happened in my life. I think I’ve always contemporized my writing, but when you’re 40 it’s a lot different when you’re 68. The things around me are more adult. I don’t know how many solo records I’m going to get a chance to do. I felt like I owed it to myself to document some mature themes. I write where I sit right now, and where I sit right now is a mature and older person.”
Use it or lose it: “I want to work. Not because I’m a workaholic – I take lots of time off. But working is the only way to keep my voice supple and my skills honed. To take long periods of time off from touring is horrible for the voice.”
Blue Rodeo takes priority over solo projects: “I think Greg [Keelor] put out his first solo record in 1996. I put out All in Time in 1998 in self-defence, because I didn’t necessarily know if Greg was coming back. But we’re long past being uncomfortable about solo albums. Blue Rodeo trumps everything. If Blue Rodeo needs to do something, that’s what we’ll do. Everything else is secondary, and I don’t mind that. Blue Rodeo is the mothership.”
Producers need not apply: “We used outside producers for a number of records. But when we started using recording engineers instead of producers, we were much more comfortable. Everybody in Blue Rodeo has made a lot of records. It’s like we’re in the room with five or six producers already. The most comfortable thing for us is to have somebody who is really good at engineering and also collaborative with the arrangements and sonically. We don’t need someone trying to guide us, though. We’re not that band, we just aren’t. Also, between Greg and me, we have enough clawing for control. We don’t need someone else telling us what to do.”
Learn to live alone: “My being on the road is something my wife and I have had to navigate over the years. We make deals. For example, we made a deal where I couldn’t be away for more than two weeks. It was marriage saving. We take a lot of trips together, but she does not come on the road with me. She’s not interested in following the band; she has an independent life. The point of my new song, Learning to Live Alone, is about creating independent lives. We’ve had to deal with being apart a lot. It promotes independence, which has been good. But it can be difficult. Fortunately, I’ve reached a point in my career where I can pretty much make my own schedule. If I say I don’t want to work this weekend, then that’s what happens.”
Co-songwriters also need not apply: “Both Greg and I consider songwriting to be a solitary pleasure. I find it to be the most personal endeavour of my work. It’s the part of my process I enjoy the most. It doesn’t occur to me to share that experience. Greg and I gave up writing with each other long ago. Now we write for each other, which seems to be enough for me.”