Canadian blues man Colin James has done it all. He went platinum in a meteoric rise to rock stardom in the late ’80s, he has eight Junos and 27 Maple Blues Awards to his credit, and he’s widely credited with launching the swing revival with his work with the Little Big Band.
“Fortunately, I’ve been blessed with the ability to avoid doing the same thing over and over again,” says James. “In a lot of careers, artists are coerced not to confuse the issue. I’m not saying it’s the best thing to do but keeping yourself on your back foot once in a while is really good for your professional journey.”
For 34 years, James has stayed on top of his game. He says he tries to put out an album every two years and tours in between. James says that the COVID pandemic was a shocker, as the music business literally came to a complete halt.
“For people who are born to play, who’ve been playing for their whole lives, and then you take two years away like that, It’s hard,” he admits. “You live to play in front of people.”
James recorded his latest record Open Road over the pandemic with his co-producer in London, England. They did it all over computers, which James says was a very different process.
“Making a record wasn’t hard except for the fact that we weren’t together so we weren’t spending the time together between work to discuss what we could be doing,” says James. “It was disjointed and it took a lot longer than usual, and it’s lonely.”
Once upon a time, James hit number four on American rock charts with “Just Came Back” and he played Letterman and Conan O’Brien but he says that, for a number of reasons, he lost that audience at some point.
“It’s just a lot of country down there, and there are a lot of people going for the brass ring,” says James. “And, honestly, there’s no incentive for a Canadian company to try to break you in south of the border because they’re going to lose money before they make money. There is no way around it, and if you’re not prepared to do that it’s not going to work. It’s that simple.”
James says that it was his 2016 release Blue Highways that got him back on track in America.
“It’s strange after all these years,” says James. “My job now is to kind of go back many years and go down there and not be a household name. I have to work a lot harder. It’s opened up a new path for me to continue to work but I have to kind of prove myself in a new place and it’s really fuelling the passion, you know.”
After some time away James says that he’s been waiting far too long to do a real tour of Canada. He can’t remember for sure but James says he has played the Royal Theatre 10 or 12 times over the years and he can’t wait to get back.
“I’ve learned to play appropriate to the room,” says James. “When I was in my 20s we’d come out swinging and just be super loud. We really try to keep an eye on sonics and make sure it sounds the way it should. It’s usually an energetic show. I put a lot into it. That’s all I’ve ever known how to do, so I’ll keep doing it.”
Colin James
7:30 pm Wednesday, September 28
Royal Theatre
rmts.bc.ca