April 9, 2004

Canadian Guitar legend Colin James Revisits Red Deer, On Tour to Promote His Latest Album, Traveler.

It's been many long years, but Colin James is heading back to Red Deer for a Memorial Centre performance on April 29. James, who began his musical journey as a teenage guitar slinger with a reputation as an awesome musician, has a new album out. It's called Traveler and now he's on the road to promote it. Yes, he's happy with it, he says from Vancouver.

"I think we wrote some great songs, what more could you ask for?"
"I wanted to do two more records of contemporary material in a row and that's exactly what I have done."

The earlier album was Fuse, which came after two blues-influenced albums. He said he wanted Traveler to be a snapshot of who he is now. "It's a bit more personal than some of the records I have done." Know How to Love You and Make a Mistake would certainly fit into that category, he said. The album is about traveling and also being a traveler himself, said James. Nick Drake's Black Eyed Dog, which makes an appearance on Traveler, is "one of the stranger songs I have ever recorded," said James. "It's just its ambience."

Asked if any of his albums stand out, James says he has a particular soft spot for National Steel, an acoustic and blues influenced album he made with his longtime friend and fellow Canadian musician, Colin Linden. "We made it very inexpensively. I didn't expect it to take off like it did," he said. "It has beautiful music on it - a little softer than some of my other records. It could be one of those Sunday afternoon records."

James admits to being fond of his first Little Big Band album, too. He had made his name as a blues rocker and then, in 1993, moved off at a tangent with Little Big Band, which happened to anticipate the swing-era craze of the late 1990s. "People said, 'Oh My God! Don't put that out, nobody will know what to make of you anymore.' "It did brilliantly and is still selling. It's heading for triple platinum right now, said James. "It's probably my most successful record." He put out Little Big Band II in 1995.

James, who is upbeat and chatty during the interview, seems to be a happy man. He's approaching 40 (later this year), has been married for 14 years and has two children, an eight-year-old daughter and a five-year old son. Both are showing musical ability, he said, and in fact his daughter takes piano lessons. "I don't know how to read music, but she does," he said with a laugh. James enjoys spending time with his family when he's not at work and he is a voracious reader he said, with an interest in history and archeology.

He also runs 8 to 10 km a day, something he can do year-round in his adopted hometown of Vancouver. Born and raised in Regina, James moved to Vancouver in 1984 after landing a guitar gig. He loves the place, he said. "When you come back off the road, you fly in and it's all green and I love the fact the flowers are out as early as they are out here."

For the future, there will be more albums in a shorter space of time. "I don't want to have a three-year span between records right now." The plans include another Little Big Band album.
"The research is always fun," said the upbeat James. And also in his future, is something he's long thought about: a Chicago blues album.