Beloved canuck band Blue Rodeo turned back the clock on their latest release, and in so doing, are proving there is still plenty left in the musical tank for the Toronto-based quintet, who hit Massey Hall this month for three shows (Feb. 2 to 4, www. bluerodeo.com).
In an age defined by the digital, iTunes singles and quick fix mash-up music, Blue Rodeo embraced their inner Luddites and recorded a rare double album, The Things We Left Behind, complete with an old school gate-fold sleeve. But the magic lies in the music. The 16-song exploration touches on a wide range of styles, which is characteristic of a band that has managed a successful career that has lasted more than a quarter century.
“When Jim [Cuddy] and I first started getting together to play our songs, after a couple of days we realized we had a lot of good songs,” says Greg Keelor. “We joked about a double CD. It just sort of seemed funny in the age of downloading, but we liked the idea.” Offering two different experiences, one disc features some more experimental offerings, including the nine-minute jam session epic “Million Miles” and the lovingly orchestrated track “All the Things That Are Left Behind,” which began as a simple piano tune.
“Well, my piano playing is not very good. I wouldn’t know a C chord if I played it, but I do have a really nice piano at my house,” says Keelor. “So I sit there goofing around, and this little pattern presented itself to me, and pretty quickly a song came out of it.” Once in the studio, layers of sound were added from flute and cello to timpanis, with brilliant results.
The second disc also contains a number of standout tracks of a more down-and-dirty, countrified variety, including the touching “Candice” and the soaring “Arizona Dust.” And it is that same formula of new ground combined with a love of tradition that has worked for the band for years. “There is enough variation and enough sameness,” Keelor explains, “so that people have continued buying our records and coming to shows, making it a good go for us.”
Band founders Keelor and Cuddy have been friends since their high school days at North Toronto Collegiate Institute. But the music would come later. Keelor says he didn’t even learn to play guitar until he was 21.
In 1980, then known as the Hi Fi’s, they moved to New York City where they met enterprising young keyboard player Bob Wiseman. After moving back to Toronto, Blue Rodeo was formed in 1984, and they released their first album on Warner Records in 1987. The album, Outskirts, featured a charming little ditty named “Try,” one of the most well-known songs in Canadian high school dance history.
“Even when we started with the first record, I can remember the radio guy, the air guy, saying don’t expect to get any radio play on this. You guys just aren’t that sort of band,” Keelor says and laughs. “And for the first six months, we didn’t make any impact anywhere. We were very fortunate that “Try” became a radio hit.… That was a pretty strange phenomenon.”
More than two decades have passed since the early days when Rolling Stone magazine said of Blue Rodeo: “The best new band in America is from Canada.” While worldwide acclaim has somehow eluded the band, with a stunning new double album to promote and a national tour underway, Greg Keelor is sounding pretty happy with the big picture.
“From my perspective, it couldn’t have been much better,” says Keelor. “It has been a successful career but, in a way, also a humble career. We’ve had to keep working. None of us could retire on our record royalties. It is nice but not enough to buy that chateau in southern France or even a house in Rosedale.”
