The Edmonton Journal
February 25, 2006
By: Peter North

Bluesman Colin James nails his vocals and guitar solos: Top roots artists treat sellout crowd to soul-tinged evening of new and old tunes

Colin James and Colin Linden are two blues-based artists that we've been able to watch grow up and mature on stage for the past two decades. Ontario's Linden was landing in town and gigging before he was of legal age back in the Seventies and by the early Eighties he was playing dates as an original member of the Amos Garrett Band and then returning to play the Sidetrack fronting his own group.

Most of us know the chapters to the story since then as he recorded a string of discs as a solo artist and member of Blackie and The Rodeo Kings and became one of the most in demand producers in Canada.

Like Linden, James was here, there and everywhere as a prairie-born child prodigy, and by the time he was 18, he was playing club gigs with Billy Cowsill and San Francisco harp player David Burgin before landing his first record deal with the Edmonton-based Bumstead label that was home to k.d. lang.

Today, there's no question that they are the two of the most commercially successful and artistically creative forces of their generation on the Canadian roots scene.

Of the two, James has been the home- run hitter while Linden has that high, on-base percentage. Together they make for a hot team, one we first encountered when Linden produced the National Steel sessions for James back in '97. Almost a decade later, the two hooked up again in the studio for James's Limelight disc and a tour, and the results show two talented individuals who keep raising their bars.

"You've got to move on," said James matter of factly on Thursday night about three tunes into his set, "so I hope you don't mind that we do a lot of material from the new album."

The loud round of applause that followed that statement was interpreted as "do what you want, we're with you," and with that the star continued to roll with new originals and covers from the books of many of his favorite tunesmiths.

Gone are the days of painfully loud volume and sound mixes that murdered dynamics. Bright and balanced sound is now the order of the day and with James really coming into his own as a vocalist, the timing couldn't be better as he nailed everything from Healing Time to Dylan's Watching The River Flow and some heartfelt and slippery Sam Cooke.

Backing vocals from Craig Northey polished choruses and tags. Searing horn shots lit up the soul-tinged material that owed a nod or two to Van Morrison's bag of tricks.

James got in and out of his guitar solos in record time, while never failing to make strong, creative statements.

With Linden to his left, the two effectively doubled up on slide guitar runs when required or Linden would take the breaks while James focused on the vocals.

As for Linden's solo set, he broke out a number of tasty acoustic country blues tunes from Easin' Back To Tennesse, his latest release. Before his 35 minutes were up, he tossed in the title track from Big Mouth before grabbing his electric axe and closing with 'Remedy.' That gritty number was set-up with a spot-on impersonation of the late-Rick Danko who recorded the Linden tune with The Band.

Based on Thursday night's performance, the two could probably come back in three months and sell the Winspear out all over again.