Blue Rodeo
is a Canadian pop and country rock band, which was formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have been signed with Warner Music Group since their debut album Outskirts
in March 1987. Including Outskirts
, they have 11 full-length releases along with multiple solo albums, side projects, and collaborations.
|
BLUE RODEO TICKETS
| EVENT | DATE | AVAILABILITY |
|---|
| Blue Rodeo Tickets 12/28 | Dec 28, 2024
Sat, 7:30 PM |  | | Blue Rodeo Tickets 12/29 | Dec 29, 2024
Sun, 7:00 PM | | | Blue Rodeo & Elliott Brood Tickets 1/9 | Jan 09, 2025
Thu, 8:00 PM | | | Blue Rodeo Tickets 1/10 | Jan 10, 2025
Fri, 8:00 PM | | | Blue Rodeo Tickets 1/11 | Jan 11, 2025
Sat, 8:00 PM | |
|
History
Band
The band consists of original members
Jim Cuddy (guitar/vocals),
Greg Keelor (guitar/vocals) and
Bazil Donovan (bass), plus newer additions of Glenn Milchem (drums), multi-instrumentalist Bob Egan (formerly of
Wilco), and Bob Packwood (keyboardist). As of late 2008, Bob Packwood has since departed as a member of Blue Rodeo
[1] Packwood was the replacement for James Gray, who left the band in 2005 after their release of
Are You Ready
.
[2] Drummers Cleave Anderson and Mark French, keyboardist
Bob Wiseman, and multi-instrumentalist Kim Deschamps are also former band members.
Cuddy and Keelor met in high school and became great friends. After university, when all their other friends were starting to get jobs, they decided to form a band and started to play music more often. They put together a few different bands without much luck. They released a single as Hi-Fi's in 1980. Cuddy and Keelor moved to
New York City for some adventure and to help their music. There they met Bob Wiseman. When they came back to
Toronto in the summer of '84 they thought about putting another band together. They had already thought of the name for the band before they met Cleave and asked him to join the band. Cleave brought along his friend, Donovan, and with this the band Blue Rodeo was born.
[3]
Blue Rodeo is one of the most successful and well known contemporary
Canadian bands, having released 11 full-length studio albums, three live recordings, one greatest hits package and five video/DVDs.
[4] Their studio albums have sold over three million copies. Cuddy, Keelor, Donovan and Egan have all released solo albums, and Glenn Milchem performs his own solo music under the pseudonym "the swallows".
Blue Rodeo members have collaborated extensively with other notable Canadian artists, including
Sarah McLachlan,
The Tragically Hip,
Burton Cummings,
Great Big Sea,
Jann Arden,
The Sadies,
Skydiggers,
Crash Vegas,
Cowboy Junkies,
Sarah Harmer and
Kathleen Edwards. They have won many Canadian music awards, including seven
Juno Awards and seven
SOCAN awards.
On June 16, 2009, it was announced that the band would receive a star on
Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony will be held on September 12, 2009. They are the fifth band to receive the honour.
[5]
Band members
ImageSize = width:600 height:auto barincrement:25
PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:50
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1985 till:31/12/2008
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Colors =
id:guitar1 value:orange legend:Vocals, Guitar
id:guitar2 value:orange legend:Vocals, Guitar
id:bass value:gray(0.8) legend:Bass
id:drums value:yellowgreen legend:Drums
id:keys value:powderblue2 legend:Keyboards
id:guitar3 value:yellow legend:Guitars, Pedal Steel, Banjo, etc.
Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom
ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1985
PlotData=
width:20 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Jim Cuddy from:01/01/1985 till:end color:guitar1
bar:Greg Keelor from:01/01/1985 till:end color:guitar2
bar:Bazil Donovan from:01/01/1985 till:end color:bass
bar:Bobby Wiseman from:10/10/1985 till:31/12/1992 color:keys
bar:James Gray from:01/01/1993 till:31/12/2005 color:keys
bar:Bob Packwood from:01/01/2006 till:end color:keys
bar:Cleave Anderson from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1990 color:drums
bar:Mark French from:01/01/1990 till:31/08/1991 color:drums
bar:Glenn Milchem from:01/09/1991 till:end color:drums
bar:Kim Deschamps from:01/01/1992 till:31/12/1999 color:guitar3
bar:Bob Egan from:01/01/2000 till:end color:guitar3
Television and film
Blue Rodeo is the band appearing at the end of the 1990 film
Postcards from the Edge
.
[6]
The song "Bad Timing" is played towards the end of a season finale of the hit Canadian show
Corner Gas
.
The song "Try" is played in the background of the bar in the film
Navy Seals
.
Performances
On
Canada Day 2008, Blue Rodeo played on
Parliament Hill. The band closed the show before the commencement of the fireworks and was joined on stage by several other artists to perform "Lost Together."
Discography
Studio albums
| Year
| Album
| Chart Positions
| CRIA
| Label
|
| CAN Country
| CAN
|
| 1987
| Outskirts
|
| 20
| 4× Platinum
| Risque Disque/Atlantic
|
| 1989
| Diamond Mine
| 2
| 4
| 3× Platinum
|
| 1990
| Casino
|
| 6
| 2× Platinum
|
| 1992
| Lost Together
|
| 3
| 2× Platinum
|
| 1993
| Five Days in July
| 3
| 8
| 6× Platinum
| Warner Music Canada
|
| 1995
| Nowhere to Here
| 18
| 2
| 2× Platinum
|
| 1997
| Tremolo
| 1
| 8
| Platinum
|
| 2000
| The Days in Between
| 5
| 4
| Gold
|
| 2002
| Palace of Gold
|
| 6
| Platinum
|
| 2005
| Are You Ready
|
| 3
| Gold
|
| 2007
| Small Miracles
|
| 5
|
|
Compilation and live albums
| Year
| Album
| CAN
| CRIA
| Label
|
| 1993
| Daze In America Live EP
(unreleased to public)
|
|
| Warner Music Canada
|
| 1995
| From There to Here
(unreleased to public)
|
|
|
| 1999
| Just Like a Vacation
| 20
| Platinum
|
| 2001
| Greatest Hits
(US release 2004)
|
| 2× Platinum
|
| 2006
| Blue Rodeo Live in Stratford
|
|
| Instant Live
|
| 2008
| Blue Road
|
|
| Warner Music Canada
|
Singles
| Year
| Title
| Chart positions
| Album
|
| CAN
| CAN Country
| CAN AC
|
| 1987
| "Outskirts"
|
| 35
|
| Outskirts
|
| "Try"A
| 6
| 1
| 3
|
| 1988
| "Rose Coloured Glasses"
| 40
|
| 24
|
| "Rebel"
| 71
| 33
|
|
| 1989
| "Diamond Mine"
| 7
|
|
| Diamond Mine
|
| "How Long"
| 25
| 20
|
|
| "House of Dreams"
| 49
|
|
|
| 1990
| "Love and Understanding"
|
| 32
|
|
| "Til I Am Myself Again"B
| 3
| 1
| 2
| Casino
|
| 1991
| "Trust Yourself"
| 13
|
|
|
| "What Am I Doing Here"
| 33
| 41
| 17
|
| "After the Rain"
| 30
|
|
|
| 1992
| "Lost Together"
| 3
|
| 6
| Lost Together
|
| "Rain Down on Me"
| 11
| 23
| 26
|
| 1993
| "Angels"
| 75
|
|
|
| "Flying"
| 42
|
|
|
| "Already Gone"
| 33
| 14
| 21
|
| "5 Days In May"
| 4
| 16
| 5
| Five Days In July
|
| 1994
| "Hasn't Hit Me Yet"
| 8
|
| 8
|
| "Bad Timing"
| 17
|
| 15
|
| "Dark Angel"
|
|
| 19
|
| "Til I Gain Control"
|
| 24
|
|
| 1995
| "Head Over Heels"
| 36
| 4
| 16
|
| "Save Myself"
|
|
|
| Nowhere to Here
|
| "Side of the Road"
| 4
|
| 9
|
| "Better Off As We Are"
| 5
|
| 15
|
| 1996
| "Blew It Again"
| 70
|
|
|
| "Girl In Green"
|
|
|
|
| 1997
| "It Could Happen To You"
| 4
| 23
| 8
| Tremolo
|
| 1998
| "Falling Down Blue"
| 50
| 75
|
|
| "Shed My Skin"
|
|
|
|
| 1999
| "Somebody Waits"
| 29
| 45
| 8
| The Days in Between
|
| 2000
| "Always Getting Better"
|
|
| 41
|
| "The Days in Between"
|
|
|
|
| 2001
| "Sad Nights"
|
|
|
|
| "To Love Somebody"
|
|
|
| Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
|
| 2002
| "Bulletproof"
|
|
|
| Palace of Gold
|
| "Walk Like You Don't Mind"
|
|
|
|
| 2003
| "Stage Door"
|
|
|
|
| "Palace of Gold"
|
|
|
|
| 2005
| "Rena"
|
|
|
| Are You Ready
|
| "Are You Ready"
|
|
|
|
| "Can't Help Wondering Why"
|
|
|
|
| 2007
| "Four Strong Winds"
|
|
|
| The Gift - A Tribute to Ian Tyson
|
| "C'mon"
| 68
|
|
| Small Miracles
|
| "3 Hours Away"
|
| 43
| 29
|
| 2008
| "This Town"
| 73
|
|
|
| "Losin' You"C
|
|
|
| Blue Road
|
- A"Try" was certified Gold by the CRIA.
- B"Til I Am Myself Again" peaked at #19 on the US Modern Rock chart and #37 on the US Mainstream Rock chart.
- CCurrent single.
Videography
- Postcards from the Edge
(1990)
- Blue Movies
(1991)
- In Stereovision
(2004) - Certified 3× Platinum by the CRIA.
- Watch This!
(2004) - Features the video of Blue Rodeo's hit single, "Bulletproof."
- Toronto Rocks (SARSfest)
(2004) - Canadian edition featuring Blue Rodeo.
See also
- Canadian rock
- Music of Canada
References
- People – About the Band
- Inevitable Institution
- Jim Cuddy Biography
- Discography
- The Stars Align at the 12th Annual Canada's Walk of Fame
- Full Cast and Crew for Postcards from the Edge (1990)