Colin James comes alive with Twenty Five Live
Blues- rocker releases concert album, will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and is nominated for a Juno
Colin James has had very few regrets over the past 25 years, but he wishes he had played fewer soft- seaters on the tour he wrapped with three nights at the Commodore last November.
“We played no clubs,” James said. “So it was a bit of a shock the first night. We’d been playing the Jubilee ( auditoriums) in Calgary and Edmonton — you can do a ballad four songs in and it’s not weird. I still pulled a few ballads early in the night ( on Thursday and Friday), but by Saturday I went, ‘ Oh yeah, the Commodore likes to rock — all the time.’ So I finally got it together and didn’t play Mystic until the encore and got rid of a few ballads.”
The Saturday- night set wound up being documented on the North Vancouver- based bluesrocker’s new concert album Twenty Five Live, which will be released March 19. The album comprises 16 songs including new cuts from James’ last studio album Fifteen as well as classics like Freedom and Why’d You Lie.
The live album was produced with the help of longtime associate Joe Hardy, who was also behind the board for Fuse ( 2000) and Fifteen.
“I find it extremely painful listening to live stuff,” James said with a chuckle. “I just do. I can’t watch myself on TV or anything like that. It’s weird. I know I should do it more often but you become aware of stuff in the background. I get very picky with it.”
James said the live album may come with extra material recorded during sound checks, including his rendition of Craig Northey’s Something Good.
“I love that song. I also got a chance to do Carried Away off Fuse — we did three or four songs from the sound checks on different days.”
Video was also shot, though James said the three- camera setup didn’t generate enough angles to produce a full- fledged concert DVD. If the material doesn’t end up in a “deluxe” package, James said he may simply put it up on his website for his fans to enjoy.
James will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame on March 21 in Toronto during Canadian Music Week, being recognized as a key contributor to the Canadian musical landscape.
“When I first heard about it I went, ‘ Oh really?’ ” he said with a laugh. “But it’s really nice. You think about the years you put in and the jobs you created around those 25 years. Chances are I’ll get tongue- tied and weirded out by the whole thing.”
A six- time Juno winner, James is also nominated in the blues category for this year’s Juno awards, taking place in his old hometown of Regina, Sask., in April.
James explained how for years he didn’t submit his work in the Best Blues Album category, instead aiming for bigger categories like Male Vocalist, which he won in 1991 and 1996. “I think we finally realized that I’m a blues player,” he said with a laugh. “So it’s cool. It’s ironic that none of the Little Big Band albums have ever won anything for the blues category. I won once for a really traditional blues record and that was National Steel. I haven’t won a Juno since 1999 ( as a producer for the Little Big Band II album). It’s been a while.”