The Agenda with Steve Paikin (Audio) - A New Generation of Canadian Country Rock

Episode Date: December 20, 2024

Coming off a five-week national tour, country rocker Devin Cuddy joins us in studio to talk about his inspirations, his upbringing, and how he lost his writing voice and found it again. He also performs an acoustic version of "Dear Jane," the title track from his latest album.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Matt Nethersole. And I'm Tiff Lam. From TVO Podcasts, this is Queries. This season, we're asking, when it comes to defending your beliefs, how far is too far? We follow one story from the boardroom to the courtroom. And seek to understand what happens when beliefs collide. Where does freedom of religion end and freedom from discrimination begin? That's this season on Queries, In Good Faith, a TVO original podcast.

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His latest album is called Dear Jane, which he started writing and recording before COVID, but couldn't finish until after the pandemic had done its worst. There's definitely a story there, so let's get into it, with Devin Cuddy. Devin, it's great to have you in that chair. How are you? I'm very well.

How are you? Excellent. Just great. I want to start with where that introduction left off. What happened to your songwriting abilities during COVID, which started just about five years ago? Oh, I sort of realized that being alone at home was not a great source of inspiration for me. I think a lot of people, a lot of songwriters were able to sort of woodshed themselves, lock the door and do that, but I realized that I

draw a lot of inspiration from doing the job of being musician, traveling, meeting people, hearing people's stories, whether they're interesting or not, and so there was a little, I guess, writer's block as a result of that. Did you worry that you were not going to get it back? Yeah, of course. A little bit. I mean, I think because of the whole, what was sort of going on in the whole world, that you felt you were

in some suspended state anyway. So it came out in small pieces eventually. How did that happen? With the aid of television, I was watching, well, for the one song that I got out of it that was usable, I was watching MASH and sort of powering through it as quickly as I could. And you use those stories to draw inspiration

from television, film, and stuff like that. That was sort of what drew me back out of it until we could go out into the world again and experience. How did watching a TV show that's four decades in the rear-view mirror about a war in Korea, which is funny, how did that help you find your voice to write again? I was thinking about some of the themes and one of them was the song Dear Jane. So it was about Dear Jane and Dear John letters. And those are letters from the home front to service members on the front saying that their spouse is leaving them while they're serving the country. So happy thoughts. But, and I don't know, it just started coming out.

And I sat at the piano and wrote it. It's not about MASH necessarily, but you take things that you hear or see or are part of the storylines and just sort of expand on that. And songwriting is like that in a lot of ways in general, things that you experience in life and so. I can't think of a better segue to hearing this song, Beer Jane. I feel like I set it up.

You absolutely did and it was all accidental, but well done. So would you mind favoring us with Beer Jane right now? Sure. And you normally play this on the keyboard. I normally play everything on the piano, so this will be different. You got a beautiful guitar there with you.

I do. On my very early days, I wrote a lot of songs on guitar, but I haven't been doing that so much. Here's Dear Jane. Let's do it. ["Dear Jane"] Oh, dear Jane, I hope you get this note. Hey Jane, I hope you get out there to do your part. When you left I should have known Now here's what I should have said from the

start I won't be there when you get home Oh dear Jane, it's true I loved you so But it's been so long since that time Not that I don't love you anymore Just I'm moving down the line I'm moving down the line Oh DJ, I know that you've been brave I can't imagine what you've seen They just keep coming wave after wave

Then go back to where they've been Oh dear Jane, you'll find somebody new You never like to be outshone But when this war is all done and through I won't be there when you get home. Oh dear Jane, farewell for now. Oh, Devin, that's beautiful. Well done. Thank you. Well done. I have so many questions emerging from that. First of all, I think you've already answered this, but let's just confirm. Jane is not a specific person that you're speaking to here, is she?

Well, yes and no. I think in my mind, I was just using that. Dear Jane is the name of the type of letter, but I think it became the name of the person that is being written to just through the structure. Do you want name of the person that is being written to and just through the structure Do you want to tell us who that is? It's not anybody really I mean I don't You know again, it was sort of birthed out of mash, so maybe it's Halib Suleyman. I don't know

I suspect probably not but okay Another question. I mean there's a lyric in there about you know sorry I'm not going to be in touch anymore because I'm moving down the line. Certainly makes it sound like she's quite disposable and he's about to move on to his next conquest. Is that what you meant to imply? No, not necessarily. I think it's just sort of an old cowboy line

moving on down the line. I'm not sure that I meant it to carry too much weight. It was just sort of, just one of those lines that every songwriter wants to say who likes country music at some point. Right. When you speak, you have this very soft, raspy voice. But when you sing, and I'm a meter away from you here,

you really boom, you really project. Do you know that you do those two things very differently? I have been told by many sound people that that is the case. I was never a traditionally trained singer, so I've spent a lot of time developing it on my own. I did piano through all of the traditional avenues, went to university for it and everything. So I just sort of taught myself.

And singing loud makes it a little easier to hit the notes for me. Got it. It's survival. Do you know that when you sing, your eyes are closed almost all the time? I do. I find the world to be distracting when I'm singing.

And especially at shows, you'll start looking at things, and you lose your way. And it has happened to me enough times that I close my eyes. I also find it easier to hear and focus on the sounds that you're making. So it is, again, just a habit that I developed. And yeah, some people want me to open my eyes, but I will lose my way.

Sometimes you've got to look at your hands, though. That is the one thing that you do. Yeah, I know. You're obviously not looking to make sure your fingers are in the right place on the strings. Practice, I guess. You know that. OK.

OK. You know, I don't have to tell you this. Taylor Swift made a very good living putting her kishkas out there on the table for everybody to see. How revealing of your own whatever's in your heart do you want your music to be? Yeah, that's something you think about a lot, I think, as an artist, especially when

if you sing too much and too obviously about the people around you, then people can get hurt or upset. I wrote a lot from the third person right at the beginning, starting when I started songwriting. It was the way that I wanted to write. It was also a style that I was interested in. My very favorite songwriter whose name is Randy Newman, writes a lot in the third person and speaks about capturing the voice of somebody else

and the challenge of that as a songwriter. And I was always intrigued by that. Over the years, small things from my life have snuck in to the songs, but I generally don't write as myself. Randy Newman is an interesting choice because Randy Newman, how do I put this delicately, does not have a good voice.

You have a good voice. Why would he be your inspiration? I love his piano playing and his songwriting, especially stuff from the pre-movie days. Short people? That one's not bad. I played that one in the past. You get some looks when you play that song.

Well, he's got a lot of songs like that. But yeah, of that era. And I just, again, I was very drawn to the third person thing. And I think he has an amazing ability to write something very sweet and very tender. And then the following track is hilarious and silly. And I've always admired that. And obviously, as a piano player,

he drew from a lot of classical and stuff like that and that was my interest growing up. Jazz and things like that and turning that into more mainstream country rock stuff. Okay that maybe helps answer the next question which was how you characterize your sound because it's not quite New Orleans. It's not quite country. Yeah, a hybrid. All that's in there. I know.

Well, we've been told we're allowed to use this term roots, which is an incredible umbrella term that you can just describe anything that draws from. But country blues, country rock, like where, I don't know, Hank Williams and Ray Charles cross over, wherever that is. Nice. That's the angle I try to run. Now, apologies for the obvious question here,

which I suspect you've had before. But you grew up in Jim Cuddy's home. I did. Greg Keeler, his Blue Rodeo pal, produced one of your albums. So I have to assume that there's a significant amount of influence of those two guys in your work. Is that fair to say?

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, even if it was not on purpose, there would be the soundtrack of my life and every music that I discovered and stuff that I liked is from the CD collection at the time that my dad had. And I was obviously exposed to lots of great music and inspired by them and their friends. And I grew up in a really very cool environment lots of great music and inspired by them and their friends.

And I grew up in a really very cool environment and it was pretty natural to want to follow in that footsteps and fall into that world. When Justin Trudeau was your age, he got a lot of questions about the advantages and disadvantages of having Trudeau as a last name. So I guess I want to ask you the same kind of question, which is, are there advantages and disadvantages to having Cuddy as a last name? Well, there's an endless well of advantages, for sure. I haven't really found any barriers or problems.

I mean, you know, anything to do with being the son of, I'm completely fine with. I mean, that would be such an uphill battle if you were fighting against it. And so we do a lot of playing together. And I have had nothing but doors open as a result of it. And I'm very grateful and very lucky to have that. Well, one of the doors that opened

was the last time I saw you perform, and that was Massey Hall. We had a lot of friends and a lot of family there. When I asked you after the show what you thought about the experience of playing Massey Hall, which is obviously one of the finest places in this country to play, you kind of turned white as a ghost for a second there. I would have thought it would be an unambiguously good thing.

You remember what you told me? I am a little worried now, but now I don't. Well, you said something like the fact, I look out in the audience, I see all my friends and family and I'm a bit petrified that I'm gonna screw up. Oh yeah, hometown shows are always nerve wracking and a hometown show at something as hallowed as the Massey Hall is the full experience.

But I, you know, there's no, it's always exciting to be in that place. And I love watching shows and obviously playing as a privilege at that place. But hometown shows are funny, especially when you're doing a tour. You get into a routine of things and there are very seldom are there a lot of people

that you know around. And then the hometown show happens and everybody is there, which is great. But it's very different. It shakes your routine a bit. And then obviously you see your family and everybody in the audience. It's like, yeah, it's a nerve-racking.

Well, you were on stage for some of it with your dad. That's why I closed my eyes. Yeah, I can understand. You were on stage for some of it with your dad, but your mom was in my eyes. Yeah, I can understand. You're on stage for some of it with your dad, but your mom was in the audience. And I want to, I know everybody asked you about the influence of your father. I want to find out, your mom is an actress.

I'd like to find out what her influence was on your performing abilities. Well, I'm not an overly theatrical person, so I'm not sure I got that from her, but you know, she raised us. I'm gonna disagree with you. Do you see your, no you don't, because your eyes are closed. You should see how expressive your face is when you sing.

That's a performance skill, and I know, okay, maybe you got some of it from your dad, but I'm willing to bet you got a lot of it from your mom too. I'm sure that that is very much for my mother I mean, you know, she we used to run lines with her and do we were very involved in her life. So She's a big part of everything that I do Well speaking about on stage with your dad here is you it's kind of funny to watch you grow up in public

You know because this is we're gonna show a clip of you 12 years ago on stage with Blue Rodeo. And you look and sound a little bit different. I want to talk about that when we come back. Sheldon, if you would, let's roll that clip. I used to think I knew what I was fighting for. No, I don't think that anymore. And Greg Keeler says at the end of that piece,

he says, that song has never sounded so good as it did that day in that show. What's the biggest difference between that guy and the guy I saw in Massey Hall last month? Well, you develop a confidence on stage for sure that comes with time and experience. And I was probably pretty green back then, as I was just saying, same hair but younger face, right?

How about the voice? Different voice? You know, I have sometimes a hard time analyzing, listening to yourself. But yes, I would assume my voice is stronger now. I hope that's true. It's stronger and richer. And there's more sandpaper there.

Yeah, I was definitely, I mean, that would have been either I would have just made my first record or just before it. So I was new to it. I've done a lot of stage hours since then. Let me ask you just finally, defining success in your business is hard because so few participants get to experience it, right? It is a very tough road that you are going on. So let me just ask you directly, what will constitute for you a successful career in music?

Well, for me and many musicians, it's sort of the only thing that you can and want to do and you need to perform is something that you feel you need to do in order to feel alive in many ways. So for me, success is just being able to do it as a job, make just enough money to live and not have another job. And I love the travel. So traveling is, I would consider that to be success. And there's an amazing thrill when

you look out in a crowd and somebody's singing along to one of your songs. And that, to me,, the number one thing. So. You back on the road in the new year? We will be back on the road in the new year, yes. East and west and everywhere. Smaller chunks this time.

Got it. This guy's a lot of fun to watch play, I gotta say. So if you get a chance to go see Devin Cuddy on the road, somewhere around Ontario or Canada, do so. Devin, thanks a lot for coming in today. This was a pleasure. Pleasure is all mine. Thank you, Steve.

Thank you.