Blue Rodeo
Background information
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Country rock
Years active	1984-present
Labels	WEA/Warner Music Group, Rounder
Associated acts	The Jim Cuddy Band The Swallows The Unintended
Website	www.bluerodeo.com
Members
Jim Cuddy Bazil Donovan Bob Egan Greg Keelor Glenn Milchem
Former members
Cleave Anderson Kim Deschamps Mark French James Gray Bob Packwood Bob Wiseman

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 12 full-length releases along with multiple solo albums, side projects, and collaborations.

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 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] Currently, musician Michael Boguski plays and tours with the band as keyboardist and he filled this role on the band's latest album, The Things We Left Behind. 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] In 1985 Blue Rodeo played their first show together at The Rivoli in Toronto.[4] After playing a terrible gig in New York at CBGB the band decided to make Toronto their home.

Blue Rodeo is one of the most successful and well known contemporary Canadian bands, having released 12 full-length studio albums, three live recordings, one greatest hits package and five video/DVDs.[5] 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". Greg Keelor has also gone on to produce for other artists, notably alt-country group Cuff the Duke, who have also toured as support for Blue Rodeo.[6]

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, Jill Barber, 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 was held on September 12, 2009. They are the fifth band to receive the honour.[7]

Band members

Television and film

• Blue Rodeo's song "Flying" appears on the soundtrack to the television show dueSouth as track 10, album released in 1996.

• The songs "Try" & "Heart Like Mine" is played in the TV show Friday the 13th The Series from the episode 'Cupids Quiver'.

• The song "Bad Timing" is played towards the end of a season finale of the hit Canadian show Corner Gas.

• Blue Rodeo is the band appearing at the end of the 1990 film Postcards from the Edge. [8]

• The song "Try" is played in the background of the bar in the film Navy Seals.

• Greg Keelor, one of the band's founding members, composed the soundtrack for the 2010 film Gunless. The soundtrack for the Canadian Western comedy also featured an original ballad by Blue Rodeo titled "Don't Let the Darkness in Your Head". [9]

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". On November 28, 2009 the band performed at half-time of the 97th Grey Cup. The band also performed live concerts for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Cuddy and Keelor performed at the annual Folk on the Rocks music festival in Yellowknife, NT from July 16 to July 18, 2010.[10]

Singles

• 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

1. ^ "People – About the Band". Official Community of Blue Rodeo. http://www.bluerodeo.com/people/biography/. Retrieved 2008-05-14. 
2. ^ "Inevitable Institution". Uptown Magazine. http://www.uptownmag.com/archive/feature/05apr28.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-14. 
3. ^ "Jim Cuddy Biography". Official Community of Blue Rodeo. http://www.bluerodeo.com/people/biography/JimCuddy.aspx. Retrieved 2008-05-14. 
4. ^ Schneider, Jason Timeline: Blue Rodeo: Better Off as We Are at Exclaim! December 2009.
5. ^ "Discography". Official Community of Blue Rodeo. http://www.bluerodeo.com/music/discography/. Retrieved 2008-05-14. 
6. ^ "Blue Rodeo Timeline". Exclaim Magazine. http://exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=139&csid2=9&fid1=42671. Retrieved 2010-07-05. 
7. ^ "The Stars Align at the 12th Annual Canada's Walk of Fame". Canada's Walk of Fame. 2009-06-16. http://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/news/the-stars-align-12th-annual-canadas-walk-fame. Retrieved 2009-06-16. 
8. ^ "Full Cast and Crew for Postcards from the Edge (1990)". IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100395/fullcredits#cast. Retrieved 2008-05-14. 
9. ^ "Gunless (The Official Motion Picture Soundtrack". Official Community of Blue Rodeo.. http://www.bluerodeo.com/music/discography/cd/gunless.aspx?albumid=e391bd9b-8567-44c8-b546-f2db07f26b19&album=6#title_discography. Retrieved 2010-07-05. 
10. ^ http://www.folkontherocks.com/festival/2010-lineup-2/ Folk on the Rocks Lineup
11. ^ "Gold & Platinum Certification – July 2001". Canadian Recording Industry Association. http://www.cria.ca/gold/0701_g.php. Retrieved 2010-08-17. 
12. ^ "Gold & Platinum Certification – May 2003". Canadian Recording Industry Association. http://www.cria.ca/gold/0503_g.php. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 

External links

• Official Website of Blue Rodeo
• Official Website of Jim Cuddy
• Official Website of Greg Keelor
• CanConRox entry