Jim Cuddy Band to headline Heritage Music Festival

July 15, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Michelle Janzen

This year, The Jim Cuddy Band will be headlining at the new “Heritage Music Festival” on Frida, August 5 at the Center Dufferin Recreation Complex located at 200 Fiddle Park Lane.

Cuddy was born December 2, 1955 in Toronto but moved when he was very young.

He and his family have lived in Montreal, Brantford, and the USA.

He first asked for a guitar when he was 10 because he wanted to be like Roy Rogers. The first song he learned was Gordon Lightfoot’s “That’s What You Get For Loving Me.”

His first song writing experience came when he was 11 and he re-wrote some of the lyrics in the song. He first met Greg Keelor in a Grade 11 math class and, after high school, the two of them put together their first band, The HiFis.

After a few years, the band broke up and Jim and Greg went to university where Jim got a BA in English. After university they travelled to New York City and formed another band, Fly To France.

After about 3 years, they broke up the band and came back to Toronto. Within a few months they had put together Blue Rodeo and were working on the first album.

Blue Rodeo played their first show in 1985 at The Rivoli in Toronto and quickly developed a loyal following on the Toronto music circuit. Their debut album, Outskirts (1987), featuring the hit single “Try,” went double platinum and launched a three-decade-long career of headlining almost every club, theatre and arena in the country

Today, over thirty years after the formation of Blue Rodeo, Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor are widely respected as one of Canada’s best song writing teams.

In 1998, Cuddy released “All in Time” which went on to sell Gold in his native Canada.

His next album, 2006’s “The Light That Guides You Home,” was released to critical acclaim and won the Juno for Adult Alternative Album of the Year. On September 27, 2011 Cuddy released “Skyscraper Soul,” his third solo album. His voice, always a voluptuous instrument, has never sounded better and Cuddy proves once again that his song writing ranks with the best Canada has to offer.

It is almost unbelievable considering in 2013 Cuddy was diagnosed with a vocal polyp, a generally harmless lesion described by his doctor as a blood blister weighing down his vocal chords. That small mass was just heavy enough to slowly alter his voice, however.

Ultimately, Cuddy had to go under the knife to treat his most precious instrument.

His doctor referred him to Canadian doctor Jennifer Anderson, a world leader in this precise surgery. Cuddy was promised he was in good hands.

What happened to Cuddy isn’t unconventional. It happens most often to people who rely heavily on their voices — singers, actors, teachers, swim instructors, for example. A polyp could even develop after a bad cough or a bout of bronchitis, according to Anderson.

Post-surgery, the doctor’s orders were simple: Cuddy could not speak for four days as his voice and vocal chords healed. Six weeks later, Cuddy was singing. By three months, Cuddy would get the roar of his full volume back.

With sales of more than four million records and eleven Juno Awards, Blue Rodeo has established itself as one of Canada’s leading contemporary rock bands. Founded in 1984 by lead singers, guitarists and songwriters Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, the band’s success and longevity are widely attributed to their love of touring, their active connection with their fans, and their unwavering commitment to pushing their creative limits.

Blending country, blues, folk and rock influences, Blue Rodeo deliver a consistently recognizable, engaging sound while reinventing themselves with every new album and project.

To date, Blue Rodeo has released thirteen full-length studio albums, three live recordings, one greatest hits package, and five DVDs. In 1998, Cuddy released the first of three solo albums, All in Time, that went on to sell Gold and garner him the Best Male Vocalist Juno Award. His next album, 2006’s “The Light That Guides You Home,” won the Juno for Adult Alternative Album of the Year. In 2011 Cuddy released Skyscraper Soul, his 3rd solo album, to critical acclaim

The Jim Cuddy Band continues to tour extensively across Canada and the United States, and perform regularly at benefit concerts and charity events in support of causes ranging from school music programs to community health initiatives and disaster relief.

Tickets for this show are available online at HeritageMusicFestival.com or at Holmes Music & Appliances located at 135 Main Street West.