Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Colin James: Toronto Mike'd #381

Episode Date: September 27, 2018

Mike chats with Colin James about his 19 albums over 30+ years of making music.

Welcome to episode 381 of Toronto Mike, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery located here in Etobicoke. Did you know, Colin, that 99% of all Great Lakes beer remains here in Ontario? I know it. I wrote it. GLB. Brewed for you, Ontario. And propertyinthesix.com, Toronto real estate done right. And Paytm, an app designed to manage

all of your bills in one spot. Download the app today from paytm.ca. And Census Design and Build, providing architectural design, interior design, and turnkey construction services across the GTA. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me is a man who needs no introduction, musician Colin James. Welcome, Colin. Thank you. It's a pleasure, man. I was a big Q107 listener in the late 80s, and you were all over that station, and I loved it.

I'd turn it up to 11, and what a great career. And, man, you're here, man. That's awesome. Thanks so much. Yeah, why not? Now, at the door, I met you and I asked you about your hair. So I have a question. As a guy who, I've never dyed my hair.

Right. And I got the white hair going on. Yeah. Did you previously dye the hair and then let it go down? Yes. Okay. Yes, without a word of, without a doubt. And finally, someone looked at me and said, you look like a magician.

And that was enough. And I said, that's it. Look, honestly, I'm not just blowing smoke up your butt here. You look good with the salt and pepper. Like, this is the look for you, man. The frightening thing was growing it out and not knowing exactly what was going on there. So, you know. And again, this is what I tell people.

I don't care about my hair going white. Like, it kind of looks cool. As long as I keep the hair, right? You're holding on to the hair, this is what i tell people uh i don't care about my hair going white like it kind of looks cool as long as i keep the hair right you're holding on to the hair which is what matters yeah and that's long but as you can't like walk to starbucks like you can't wake up and just go get coffee so that's a hassle well why you got to do some kind of some kind of bryl cream is that what you're doing otherwise Otherwise, you'll get tasered on the way. See, that's my look. That's my look.

I have that unsheveled, homeless, chic thing going on as I walk the streets of Lakeshore early in the morning. Now, I'm going to start off with this. Graham, actually, he wrote me and he said, really looking forward to your interview with Colin. The only interviews I see of him are five minutes on the promo tours. His music has always been a big part of my life,

whether running around the house at six years old, only singing Chicks and Cars in the Third World War over and over again, or feeding my band geek side in high school with Let's Shout or my first dance with my wife to Better Way to Heaven. Hope it goes well. So that's from Graham, who's a big fan.

But my question is, you came from you were on Breakfast Television today, right? Did I see the promos for that? You were on BT Breakfast? Yesterday. Yesterday? Yeah. Okay. I'm living in the past here. Good on you. Props to you for mixing in some new media with the conventional

traditional media. Because you could just do like the breakfast television and the CP24 and all this. And you could skip the Toronto mics of the world. But here you are. Oh, good. Like it's respect for the new media. And that's a good thing, man. Yeah.

Breakfast TV. Somebody sent in. You're talking about people's kids or people growing up with the music, which I love, by the way, and I think that's fantastic what you read. But somebody sent a picture of their kid dancing to the song I did on BT that morning. And it's awesome. The kid's like... Was it 40 Light Years? No, we did the Blind Willie Johnson song that's on the record

and he was just bopping to it. Is that Soul of a Man? Soul of a Man. You got it. I'm going to play it later. Nice. Because it's a personal fave on the new album.

Nice. Yeah. You're from Saskatchewan. I am. My first wife was from Saskatoon. Wow. I don't know if that bonds us.

That's where all first wives come from. And then I got a girl from Edmonton, so that's my second wife. Whereabouts? Regina? I don't even know what I meant by that. I meant nothing by that.

I'm from Regina, yeah. That's right. Let me play this dude and ask you about his... A little louder at first. ¶¶ She's my pride and joy. She's my sweet little baby. I'm a little lover boy. Man, there's a jam for you, buddy. That's Stevie Ray Vaughan, of course, Pride and Joy. So he played a big role in sort of launching your career, right?

Yeah. Tell me a little bit about the influence of Stevie Ray Vaughan and how he played such a role in the Regina in the mid-80s? You know, it was just that pivotal thing where I'd already kind of been doing stuff. I'd been playing, and I'd opened up for other artists, and I'd done some of that. But right when I met him was kind of where, well, it perked people's interest. See, it happened over two years, right? So the first time he got me up in two different places.

I wasn't even living there in Saskatchewan at the time. I was already living in B.C. I just got home for a break. I had to borrow money off my mom. Right, right. Which is the best reason to go home and it was just by chance and then uh friendship developed and when he came through then he asked me at that time to go on the states with him and i couldn't because i was in a band in vancouver which sounds crazy but my leader the guy of the band i was me, don't you go do that or I'm going to get another player.

So I had moved to Vancouver to get that job. So anyway, I was playing later with another artist out of Vancouver and Stevie came through again and then I did the Calgary Edmonton shows. So we reacquainted then and that's when I went down and joined him for some shows in the states and joined on the bus for a little while but that's like you were a kid right how old are you at this time uh 20 20 21 like that's amazing though stevie ray vaughan i mean uh it was ridiculous it was like you know i'd always loved blues and i've always loved albert king and you

know so stevie wasn't my introduction to the blues by any means. But when I heard him, I thought, here's a guy who puts all the best players into one player. He's unreal. So it was just ridiculous that it all happened when it did. And as soon as that happened, I started getting phone calls

from managers. And that's when things started rolling. Yeah, man. And I've got to say a shout-out to Michael Moniz, who actually he sent in a question about being anointed by Stevie Ray Vaughan, and I stole his question. So sorry, Michael, but I was going there anyways. You know, one thing I did have that I lost while I was stolen was a strap he gave me.

He just made a point of gave me. He gave me a, just made a pointer, gave me a beautiful note strap. It was a beautiful brown leather. Oh, man. Just like the one he had on. So, like, stolen out of your house? No, out of the crew. Okay, well, somebody in the crew's house.

Anyway. We know who it is, don't we? Because we can get that back, man. I know people. It went missing, that's all. And it's sad. It's sad because he had played with it for a long time before he gave it to me.

And I'm bummed about that. I remember I was working at the CNE, which is the Canadian National Exhibition, a big... I know what that is. I got to tell you Westerners what that is. It's like the peony, except bigger. That's how I describe it.

Do you guys have sushi? There's sushi. Do you guys have sushi? Yeah. It's funny, peony, except bigger. That's how I describe it. Do you guys have sushi? There's sushi. Do you guys have sushi? Yeah. It's funny. I'm talking. That's why I'm not with my first wife anymore. I was talking down to her, like me from Toronto.

Right, right. Explaining her. Playing Saskatchewan. You explained to the Saskatchewan person. There's this movie I want to go to see. I don't know if it's come to Saskatchewan. Do you have movies? Yeah.

Top Gun. Was that released in Saskatchewan? Where was I going? I don't know if it's come to Saskatchewan. You have movies. Yeah. Top Gun, was that released in Saskatchewan? I remember the day that we lost Stevie Ray Vaughan. I was working the X that day and got the news. Man, what was... I mean, I don't want you to relive terrible memories on the show. Yeah, I was at the funeral, you know. So that was heavy and that was all hit.

Really super, super awful. And I mean, that's all. And what really sucks is I was supposed to play with them the next week. So we were booked to play a gorgeous London, England. It was my first time playing. Had I already played showcases? I might have already played showcases there. But whatever the case was, it was like

a very famous place. I can't remember what. There's a poster out there because I've tried to look it up. But anyway, and as a result, we went and played the Town and Country with Los Lobos. And we did a bit of a little tour, but the whole thing was kind of blown. Man, it's Just way too soon. It's just tragic there. And this experience with Stevie Ray Vaughan is when you become Colin James, right? Because you were Colin James Munn. Somehow through this experience,

tell me quickly why I lose the Munn. It was just simple. I mean, we were talking and I was Colin Munn. The first time he saw me get written up at a review before his show, I was written up as Colin Munn. So, and I said to him, especially when I went to Texas, everyone was M-U-N-D-T, you know.

I just got tired of it, so I thought, you know, might as well stick with my middle name, you know. And I asked him one, and I said, I'm thinking of doing that. And then one night, right before, because I never knew if he was going to get me on. So I'd have to wait for him to glance over to the right, stage right where his guitar guy was, Rene.

And then Rene Martin is. And then if I got the glance, I'd go up and play. So I referenced earlier hearing you all over Q107 back in the late 80s and that first release and we're going to play if it's okay we're going to talk

about the new album we're going to play some early stuff what are you going to play come on hold on stuff that the listeners want to hear

no I don't want to hear it I don't want to do it I can't do it that's okay I almost called you the D word but that got me in trouble I'm very picky

about things alright well you can anytime your show you tell got me in trouble. I'm very picky about things. All right. Well, you can, anytime, your show, you tell me to shut it down. I know you're kidding. Can I ask you to shut it down before you play the songs?

No, that's not, otherwise I won't give you your gifts that are in front of you. So can you tell me, how do you end up with the record deal? Was it just through this exposure from the Stevie Ray Vaughan stuff that you got a record contract?

We played our R's off across the country over and over. I mean, we toured in a van. We did multiple cross-Canada trips, so there was a lot of that. And those are back in the days. When I first played here in Toronto, I played the horseshoe for a week. The whole week. We played Monday to Saturday.

I did a whole episode on the horseshoe. It was like the 70th anniversary or something, and I had a whole episode on the Horseshoe just all about it was like the 70th anniversary or something and I had a guy, an expert come in David McPherson and we just talked about that that's a historic, that's a legendary venue that's cool to make your first

dive in there and what is that, I'm guessing that's like is that like 89 or something? I'm trying to think if we actually did play maybe someplace before then I just remember we were starting to kind of get a bit, you know, they were starting to, but we still had to play to nobody on Monday

until like Monday and Tuesday were dead. It was back in those days, it was cool because you could build an audience, you know, through the week. And then that was the whole point. Hopefully by the weekend, you'd have it rocking, you know. Well, let me make you feel better about those couple of early shows.

Is that I just had Gary Cormier on this show and he's one of the Garys who was promoting. He did nine months at the Horseshoe. He promoted some new rock stuff, and he was the first guy to bring the police to Canada. And he told me they played two nights at the Horseshoe, and total number of people over the two nights. This is before Roxanne broke. He said 19 was the number he gave. 19. So two shows at the Horseshoe.

19 people came out to see Sting. He did his encore in his underwear and apparently a kick-ass show. Three months later, he said they would blow up. But at that time, 19 people. I think it's a famous show in Vancouver where Tina Turner played the Commodore and very soon after, everything went crazy.

I love the stories you hear from people like, I saw that band just before they broke. And in some regard, they almost resent the fact that now they're sharing this with the rest of the world. You know what I mean? You know who I saw in Saskatchewan at a curling rink years ago? The song was just breaking. Don't you forget about me. Simple Minds, right? Simple Minds.

Oh, my God. We all drove. It was outside of Saskatoon, like 30 kilometers or 25 in some curling rink. Oh, man. And I just remember, oh, my God, that's the song on the radio, and that's the band. And yeah, you're like, I saw them first, and you can tell a story the rest of your life. I just saw this guy, The Flyer Vault on Instagram. He shares old Toronto concert posters.

And there was one about the Blur coming. The Blur were coming to play some little place and they were like from England. They had no songs on Toronto radio at all

but this little band from England was coming and they probably played to 19 people too. I remember when The Fabulous Thunder was almost, when they first started

playing in Vancouver, I remember going to meet Kim Wilson down at the hotel. He was saying, because I asked if I could meet him. Oh, that's awesome. And they were saying

at the Bosman Tavern, which I don't think is there anymore in Vancouver. And on the poster it said, brother of Steve Ray Vaughan. It was like some kind of crazy, like, anyway, it's funny though. Hey, do you live in Vancouver now?

Mm-hmm. Is there a Toronto, sorry, a Vancouver Mike? Like, is there an equivalent, like, a Vancouver Mike podcast? I'm not really hip to any, like, I listen to, I like Alec Baldwin. I listen to his podcast. Never heard of him.

Just kidding. And Marc Maron. But I'm not really, I don't know a lot of, although, yeah, I'm not. But you're busy listening to music, right? Well, you know, I just finished making a record, so. All right. We're going to talk about that for sure.

Let's do some housekeeping here before we dive into the 88 stuff and then bring you up to current days. In front of you, Colin, there is a six-pack of beer. Courtesy of Great Lakes Brewery. It's all yours, buddy. This is a gift just for making the trek to Toronto Mike's studio. That is so nice. That's yours. So nice of you. And anytime you're

in the hood here, they love to give you a free beer over there at the patio of Great Lakes Brewery. They're not too far from here, but they really are. 99% of that beer stays here. The 1% that doesn't goes to Nova Scotia. None of it makes its way to Vancouver. They say it won't stay fresh.

They want it completely fresh. Yeah, there you go. You got to come here to get the Great Lakes. Nice. They're good people. Also, I want to... Let me just... Talk about my friend Census Design and Build.

They provide architectural design interior design and turnkey construction services across the gta to learn more about the possibilities for your home do you own a home in vancouver yes that means you're rich that's what i heard anyway 416-931-1422 is the number for census or go to censusdesignbuild.ca today to schedule your zoning and cost project feasibility study. I don't think they'll make the trek to Vancouver, but if you're in the GTA, you got to contact census. Census working overtime, as I say. Overtime. You ever seen Ecstasy in concert?

Yes. In Winnipeg. Great, right? Yeah, it was awesome. Cool. I always liked the Dear God. That was the one that got the big radio airplane. Oh, dear God.

Sorry to disturb you, but... Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is for Paytm Canada. Paytm, of course, is the only app in Canada that gives you rewards for paying all of your bills. So you pay all your bills with Paytm Canada. Super convenient. Totally free. Go to paytm.ca.

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Toronto Mike. All right, Colin, before we get to the music here, I have a question from Brian Gerstein. Brian Gerstein is a real estate sales representative with PSR Brokerage. He's at propertyinthesix.com. I guess he did a little Googling about you and he learned something about you that we have in common here. And I think he's going to try to play matchmaker. So let's listen to Brian's question for you here.

for you here. Hi Colin, Brian Gerstein here, sales representative with PSR Brokerage and proud sponsor of Toronto Mike. I can be reached by caller text at 416-873-0292 for all of your real estate needs. Colin, I thought my question would be for you and Mike to spend a few minutes talking about your passions for bike riding. Back in 2012, Mike biked a ground total of 214 kilometers. Last year, Mike cleared 10,000 kilometers in a calendar year. And that includes riding on cold, snowy days. Though when the windshield hits over minus 30, even Mike takes a day off. How hardcore are you compared to Mike? And I have been one of the fortunate few people

invited to go on a bike ride with Mike and would love to see you guys set one up. I think it would make a great post. Calling your cyclist? You start biking from here, I'll start biking from Vancouver where we'll meet in Calgary. I could get there.

I just need like six months or something, but I could get there. You know need like six months or something, but I could get there. You know, yes, I am pretty hardcore. I'm hardcore in some ways and just the worst in some other ways, technically. But I bike just about every day. But Vancouver doesn't get the minus 30 days. No, but it did crash me out two years ago

and I landed on my hands and just killed my right hand. Did you break any bones in the hands or just sprains? I don't know. Saying I don't know doesn't sound very good, does it? But you know how hands are. There's a lot of stuff going on there.

I have exercisers and stuff, and I can do push-ups and stuff, but for the first while, it was kind of brutal. So now, I have exercisers and stuff, and I can do push-ups and stuff, but for the first while, it was kind of brutal. So now I have Kevlar-coated racers for the in-season. And then as soon as it gets gross, even with rain, perhaps, I'll get the nubbies on up to size. I have a specialized Diverge

which has got the shock in the stem, which is wicked awesome. I love this. I'm a little ignorant here. Is that a mountain bike? No, it's a hybrid. Road bike.

They make the Roubaix, which is a beautiful carbon road bike. It. They make the Roubaix, which is a beautiful carbon road bike, but it has some built-in cushion built into the carbon, whatever. But this one, I got it because I got so pissed off at hitting potholes.

If I wasn't looking and I hit a pothole, my hand would take a beating on the handlebars. Yeah. I heard about the stem they got like three springs that come with it and I thought how's that going to be when you're pumping up a hill standing up or whatever but if you go to the high spring

you don't even feel it it doesn't compress at all total no problem so what's it like if you're going to go for a ride you're going for a ride what kind of a nice... You're going for a ride. What kind of distance do you do for just your average ride? 30K a day. You and I have a lot in common, Brian's right.

And I don't like going that much farther. I don't mind on a nice day. And as it is, I have to stop myself from riding every day because I shouldn't ride every day. I should do something else. I should do something else. Like cross-train? Yeah, like some, you know, I hate lunges and stuff like that,

but that's the stuff I should be doing. Right. So, you know, and I find I ride better if I give it a day between because I'm just a little stronger and I'm not prone to... You know, it's funny you mention this because I ride every day, and I don't take a day off. And if I ever do have to take a day off and you're if i ever do have to take it off for whatever reason it feels like you feel strong so much stronger the next day and

i always think i need to like i need to take days off but i enjoy it too much you know i mean i enjoy it too much too and i would rather be there in a gym any day and i don't do good on stationary bikes i freaking hate them i don't like them either um i'll do them if i have to even if it's for 10 minutes or 50 minutes I actually have one of the stationary ones in the garage in case it's just raining and it's so gross in Vancouver which in the next 5 months

right anyway I love my bike because I'm not trying to be a salesman but the cool thing is you can put the big fat tires on the diverge because it's equipped to do that, whereas the Roubaix, you can't. What kind of price range,

what are we talking about for this bike you're describing? We're not talking like a $5,000 bike, are we? Well, they're four, you know, they're, yeah. All right. Yeah, I told you, you're rich because you live in Vancouver. No, you know. But once you ride a carbon bike,

listen, I started out the, like the... Okay, this is seven, this bike car, I started out getting the iron bikes, trying to put them on the roof of the car and knocking yourself out. Forget that. I ride this hybrid every day. The one right here I'm pointing to that no one can see except you. It's $799.

I paid $800 for that thing a couple of years ago. I like it fine, but I feel like you can throw some money at this and get something even more enjoyable. I have to make some tough financial decisions here. But you've been a big influence here. I like that our rides, my go-to ride is about 30K too. I like to do 30K a day.

Yeah, 15,000, 15,000. And I tend to do the same route. And the reason, it's a bit boring, but the reason I do it is because it's safer, man, because you know what you're getting into. You've done it every day and it's, you know, you feel like, sometimes you feel like a hamster. Yeah. I don't like that. Do you record your rides with an app or something?

I used to and I realized I do the same app every day and nothing changes and I thought this is dumb. See, I'm too, I'm not so about like year over year, I'll say, oh, I rode this much last September, this much this September and like he said, I did 10,500 kilometers

and I only know that because I use this app for every ride. So it's like, I have this, I don't know if that's. I could do kind of like I rounded up.

I'll round her up. I'll round her up and lie. Now, I can't tell if you were joking earlier now that we got the rapport here because we're bike buddies here. Like, I'm okay to play some, I can play stuff from the were joking earlier, now that we got the rapport here, because we're bike buddies here. I'm okay to play some... I can play stuff from the Colin James,

the self-titled album here. I can just dive into some stuff and ask you about it. Play deep at the bottom. I know, but here's the thing. I have the radio hits are loaded up in the soundboard. Let me try it out here. If you hate it, you have the power here. All right.

If you hate it, you have the power here. All right. Because this was the first song. This was your first song. Yeah. Yeah, this one and Why'd You Lie, they were both around the same time. You wrote this one. Yeah.

So five long years. And I know you get asked this all the time, but maybe even if you did a couple of minutes on each of these jams I play now, and then we can kind of talk about the new album and I guess some jams from that school. Sorry, so I got carried away. Okay, so how did this song come about? Okay, so really it was a just typical story.

I was on the road. You know, we toured and toured and toured. And I ran into some, a girlfriend who I spent two years with. And we both, I had to move away because I had to go play. And that was just the way it went. And we had to make that, I had to move away because I had to go play. And that was just the way it went. And we had to make that, so I ran into her. And by this point, she'd had a young child, you see. The girl's half grown.

She sees right through my thin disguise. So, but really, the inspiration came one day. I went to the park, Kitty Corner, from my place on commercial Avenue I used to I stay in an apartment on commercial right behind Joe's cafe which is kind of a famous Portuguese cafe and then I went to the park across the street and I was actually supposed to be a country song was more like girl I see you holding hands we like that's what first drumming was like, you know. And that's it, man. We, Bob Rock was found as producer for it.

And I was new to Vancouver, relatively new to Vancouver. So I'm like, okay. And we did Why July in this. And we had kind of a hit without even having a label. You know, I mean, we had our own label, but yeah was a big yeah big big time hit and uh i'm gonna give you something i see you got buttons you don't have to put it on now but you've got buttons on that jacket here so this is howling wolf i got a howling wolf button awesome it's hard to get a howling wolf button you gotta make up yourself that's uh so that button there is actually, I'm wearing the shirt too,

just so in our photo afterwards, Pete Fowler, Pete Fowler hosts a show called Lost Indie City, passion project about great music. And man, he'd be tickled pink if I gave Colin James one of his buttons. So there you go, buddy. Well, this record was an indie. I mean, until we re-released it. Well, awesome.

Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Thank, this record was an indie. I mean, until we re-released it. Well, it was awesome. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Pete Fowler. But it's funny, because this was an indie, really, in its own way. And we delivered it to a radio station in Seattle. Seattle and Vancouver, I think we gave it to first, because they were the closest places. Right.

And Seattle played KXRX? Played the hell out of it. So that was really exciting for me. And then we recorded it for Virgin later. So yeah, and that's your self-titled debut. So it gets re-recorded here. And let me bring her down here. I know you hate me playing the radio hits.

I already know that. But I'm going to be an asshole and play another one because... me playing the radio hits. I already know that. But I'm going to be an asshole and play another one because I'm just a fanboy sitting over here. You must have put up with a lot of us annoying fanboys in your travels. They probably didn't play

Voodoo Thing on Breakfast Television. We'll be right back. I bought a pretty widow who never goes home And how she buried her soul with the wedding ring Paying it off with that voodoo thing Fucking great, man. I'm sorry. This is fantastic. So, voodoo thing. First of all, would you regard this, is this bluesy rock or is this pop rock? What would you... Okay, what you got is a guy in Miami who's got a record contract with Virgin America who doesn't have enough songs,

who's not really getting along with the producer very well, who had to come up with a song now, yesterday. And we were down there for a month by that point. So we got heard about the mangrove trees. And we kind of got a local's perspective of Key West. And the studio, which is a very famous studio, Criteria, sorry. Where Tom Dowd, the producer, was working out of. Anyway, the bottom line was,

I phoned my manager one day from down there. I said, I think we got a song. It's called Voodoo Thing. I mean, you can't call it that. And I went, why? He says, because of Voodoo Child. Stevie, Jimmy Hendrix, you can't. I don't know if I agree.

I don't think I agree. I think I stood my ground on it. Anyway, I don't think it mattered At the end of the day So I think I was right in that respect But yeah We had to have a song And thank god we got it And it was again man

Fucking catchy ditty and radio single But we didn't get it there though We didn't get it with Tom We had to fly to LA and do it with Danny Korchmar. Okay, I read a bit about this. How many producers on this self-titled debut? There was seven or eight. So how does that, that sounds like somebody...

It's a nightmare. It started because Bob Rock did the original indie version. And you can't get much better, especially in those years, for what Bob, you know, Bob is years for what bob you know bob is great engineer in any regard but um it was a it was a a a perfect time for uh so why not get bob rock to do the uh do the album oh we had a chance to work again but but anyway so so then the tom thing didn't work and i went to la uh la with Danny Korshmar and we had to kind of, and I think Bob's never forgiven me for this, had to remix it because his mix

was so different than the rest of the Danny Korshmar mixes that we had to blend it into the record. Right. So that's the kind of story. And then Neil Dorfman produced two tracks, who's a Mark Knopfler producer, and amongst millions of others, Paul Simon, and then we had, who else was on it?

Like, it was just crazy, and, you know, it's too bad. It should have been a lot easier, and it ended up being a very, you know, costly affair.

But it seems like it worked out. I mean, what do I know about music, except that this is a playthrough album With so many memorable songs So whatever that was, it worked For better or worse

Alright, here's the one Who was that guy at the beginning? We read the quote from What was his name? Graham This is the one Graham was running around Singing as a six-year-old Oh, wow, yeah

He's a little younger than us This song and songs from the Little Big Band running around singing as a six-year-old. Oh, wow. He's a little younger than us. This song and songs from the little big band tend to be kids go crazy for. They're crazy. That's right. Okay, so I should tell you a story about this song. Yes, please.

And as you talk, I'll fade it down. I'm just digging it. I'll tell my tale about this song. So originally, this song was supposed to be kind of a... just kind of a doo-wop song, and there was a band called Keep... So it went like that. I went and keep your feet on the floor

Keep your feet on the floor I said, I'm sorry, St. Peter, gotta close the door. It was like a 1948 all-vocal gospel. And who was it? It was like, I'm trying to think who it was, like the Dominoes or the Billy Ward and the Dominoes. Whoever it was, it was, you know, that. And really, and we had, like I say, we had to come up with the tunes. Whoever it was, it was that.

And really, like I say, we had to come up with the tunes, and I thought that would be a good idea. Yeah, man. It worked. Chicks and Cars and the Third World War. You wrote this one too, right? Yeah, this is yours too. Because the next one I'm going to play... By the way, I'm sure that when you're live one too, right? Yeah, this is yours too. Because the next one I'm going to play,

by the way, I'm sure that these are, you know, when you're live in concert, you got to bring these chestnuts out, right? The crowd wants to... That was an Amos Garrett like I just did. I do this big double note bend there because I'm just a huge... Amos Garrett's a Canadian guitar player who I love. So that's funny.

No, I love that stuff. It's like pop-up video. You ever watch pop-up video? I don't like pop-up video Whoa, those are fighting words here What did you not like about pop-up video? Oh, the fact they're making fun of the people That floated their television stations for years Do you think they're making fun of them

Or just pointing out fun facts? Okay, here's the deal We provided free content for video Now yes there was promotion There was some good things about that But those things were expensive And they usually made records cost Four or five times more than they would have otherwise

And when I see The same station that used your content On your dollar That you had to pay back to the record company. And then later on have little pop-up jokes about it. Nah, I don't like it. I don't mind taking a joke

about stuff. God knows I had some crazy 80s bloody awful hair and stuff, but you know what I'm saying? I know what you're saying. I never thought of it from that angle, actually. It's about time you did. You're making me see Toronto Mike. That's why I do these deep dives. Come on. I never thought of it from that angle, actually. That's about time you did. You're making me see something. Toronto Mike.

No, that's why I do these deep dives. I need to be educated. But I actually kind of assumed, I think, on some level, that the artists participated in those. Well, you had to. It was what you did, and it was powerful, right? So if it worked, you used it. But unfortunately, say a record like The Little Big Band won.

Right. Record cost $80,000, which is expensive nowadays. Back then, that was considered a cheap record. The videos? $500,000. You know, something like, and for what avail? Not much.

No pun intended. No pun intended. Yes. Yes. Does it ever upset you when somebody will go to you and say, my favorite song from you is this, but it's not a song you wrote? Do you always wish maybe your favorite song of Colin James would be a song Colin James wrote? Does that matter to you at all?

Not at all. You look at so many people in this life, a song's a song. Like Billie Holiday, I don't think she wrote a single song. That's a good point. And there's a lot of that. Ella Fitzgerald. You could go on and on. Elvis Presley, right?

Frank Sinatra. Elvis Presley, hugely. Well, you could just go on and on and on. So it's just a beautiful song. It connected with people. It connected with me. And I still, I've played it a lot now, I will say. You're getting sick of it?

How many years later? Oh, I've been sick of it. Oh, is it an, no, did this album, what year did the self-titled debut come out? Was that 88? Yeah. So we had like an anniversary. Did we? Well, it's 18, right?

I have to do the math now. Is that 30 years? Yeah. 30 years, right? I guess. Wow. Did you have a party? No.

I don't think so. That's the thing the bands are doing now. I noticed that I get these, it'll be like, oh, we're celebrating the 25th anniversary of this big release. Like, this is the move I see. Yeah. And people are doing, recreating their records. They're doing the whole record back to, you know, not back to front because that would

be very hard. Backwards. All right. We have learned our records back. He was me, but I didn't find him back. Paul is dead. That's what happens when you go back to front. That's right.

Yeah, right. Hey, I got a very good relationship with the guys from Lowest of the Low. Okay. And they're doing some big Shakespeare My Butt box set anniversary thing later this year. They're going big on some huge box set. So big, they're going to come play in my basement. That's how big they're going. Nice, nice.

I didn't make you bring your guitar. No. Well, at least I got sleep last night. Man, the night before. When I come and do promo from Vancouver, it's three hours difference, so I have to wake up at like one in the morning or two in the morning Vancouver time.

How long are you going to be here for? Just a couple of days. You jam in as many... In addition to this awesome new media you're doing at Toronto Mic Tier, you have to jam in as many traditional media outlets. I've got a show tomorrow up in Brighton.

And then back home. That's it nice maybe we should talk about this jam before it runs out before I pester you

for more info on that but five okay so Why'd You Lie massive airplay like just just amazing

like so who wrote this song Morgan Davis fantastic he's actually from St. Louis. Morgan, are you from St. Louis? I think so. My daughter's name is Morgan.

Oh, wow. But he came up here years ago. He's been here for a long time. His record got shown to me back then. I run into Morgan now. I think he lives on the East Coast now. Outside of Halifax, I think. But he's a great guy, and he just wrote

a gem here. I think he said he found the original paper he wrote the lyric on the other day. He showed me. I think he made me a photocopy

of the original lyric sheet, which is cool. Yeah, for sure. But when you realize it's time in the Colin James show to play why do you lie because the crowd's gonna go bananas you're at that moment now where you're like do i need to

play it every night like you must be a little uh you know it's really here's the thing you know you want to you don't want to begrudge a song that was popular however you don't want to get to the point where you're doing it and you can't bring anything into it because you're so exhausted with it so i just got lulled i got lulled into the break there good night Man. But having said that, I like this song a lot and I would still always do it. It's just fantastic.

It's just, you kind of picture like a dark, bluesy, that kind of smoke-filled room or whatever. It's got that whole ambiance to it. It's just brilliant.

We recorded the video for that in the Charlie Chaplin soundstage at the A&M Studios in Los Angeles. So it's like the same place he did, I think, the Gold Rush. It was the same soundstage. Wow, that's amazing. Yeah, and then it was the Jim Henson.

It was A&M Studios. And then it was the Jim Henson, the Muppet people. Hold on. Big finish here. Big finish here. That's the end of the song. Jim Henson stuff's all gold, man, but for my money,

I'll take Fraggle Rock every day of the year. That's the underappreciated gem in the Jim Henson Muppet catalog. Sure. I don't know much about Fraggle Rock. I didn't watch it. You know, I think you've got

maybe five to ten on me. I think that's the big difference here. So if you were five to ten younger, you'd be all excited I mentioned Fraggle Rock. Yeah, you want to talk Bonanza? I think that's the big difference here. So like if you were five to ten younger, you'd be like, oh, excited. I mentioned Fraggle Rock. Yeah, you want to talk Bonanza? I got tons of time for Bonanza. I missed the entire Bonanza era,

but I did get Little House on the Prairie was a big... Yeah, watch that. See, look, we're just off by just a little bit. That's just it.

But we have Cycling. We have Cycling. That album was got you a Juno Award for Most Promising Artist. Do you still have that album was got you a Juno Award for most promising artist. Do you still have that somewhere? Did you sell it on eBay?

I don't know, but I'll promise to go look for it. Yes, I do have it. Of course I do. And yes, I do. Where is it? He said it in odd ways.

Well, where is it right now? Over and over again. It's in the house. In the bathroom, right? It's somewhere in the house. Is that where. It's in the house. In the bathroom, right? It's somewhere in the house. Is that where... It's actually around the studio area. Oh, here's a great question

from a guy who calls himself Jake the Snake. I don't think it's Jake the Snake Roberts. I think it's a different Jake. He's from Hamilton. Would you like an area walk? For Colin James, wondering about your memories

of your epic performance at Court Cliff Park in 1988. Have you ever seen as many empty beer cans at any other venue? Jake the Snake, I think he was there maybe. This was,

he's got good memories in this. Oh, God. Yeah, I remember that. Oh, my word. That was crazy. Crazy good? Okay, sorry. Courtcliffe Park?

That's what he said. Okay, I'm thinking of somewhere else. Oh, that wasn't crazy. Yeah, I think it was pretty... Courtcliffe Park. Did it rain a bit? And was it slippery on stage? Yeah.

The answer is, I'm going to give you a pro tip here. Yeah, it was fantastic. What a day. Yes, what a day. That way Jake says, yes, he has the same. Because we all meet you once. We remember meeting Colin James, but you do a million performances.

How can you differentiate? I personally don't know exactly where it is, except is it in Hamilton? I don't even know. No. I don't know. where it is, except is it in Hamilton? I don't even know. No. I don't know. I googled it, but... It's in the surrounding

areas. It's a West Calgary. How is that for a... No, I think it's in the immediate surrounding areas. Okay, we'll go with that. I mean more immediate than something. Okay, we're almost at the new album here. We're going to go a little faster here, but... Seems dark at night I got stones in the pathway

And my road seems dark at night I got pains in my heart They ain't tak'm taking my appetite Colin, lately I've been kind of interested in like, when an artist has a big album, right? You have a big album. Your next album's first single. There's something there. Like I had this chat

with my buddy Cam the other day like what is your lead single from the follow up to the big the big album like it's kind of

kind of fun to name like great lead singles from follow ups to great you know what I'm talking about like this was a

kick ass first single from the follow-up. Yeah. It's your biggest hit, do you think? Most likely, I suppose. You know, now you can kind of see numbers on Spotify and stuff. It's funny, you know, because it's crazy the things that like right now

you know anyway no I'm interested in this stuff like in Spotify to me it's interesting because you get a million streams

right and they give you like $23.18 that's right yeah you know I think I got to number three

on the American rock charts with this and then they tried to cross it over to the American pop charts yeah

and it didn't do well and it was such do well and it was such a disappointment because it would have changed my life but you know what you know there you go right it's like it it got a lot of play and it got uh all over still gets kind of played all over the world and but on that note like we earlier Are you blues rock? Do you consider this pop? Was there somehow

Was there kind of an issue In terms of marketing you? Did they want you to pick a lane? Well you wanted to be on the radio And you wanted to play blues And sometimes Guys like Stevie Ray Vaughan Manage to bridge that gap

But it's not easily done Even with songs, Stevie did stuff like that was a bit more modern or he'd do like superstitious. I mean, he still had to play that radio game as well. But, you know, and then, you know, now rock radio, it kind of there's really no format like that anymore, apart from, you know, untraditional formats. So like like satellite radio and what have you so right but anyway you know it's um joe hardy did this and uh that's joe producer and he's the bass player on the new billy gibbons record that's out right now um joe and billy are are super good friends joe is the one of the smartest guys i know. And he's brilliant. And he's

the producer of this. And we had a great time. We did it in Memphis. I was there for a whole month and a half or two months. Got to know Memphis quite well. And bought that guitar that does the intro for Just Came Back there. Great intro too. It's even got the pops in it.

We did that by... See, now you just get a something to generate it off a sound sample right we actually put a vinyl pressing in the garbage can on monday and then pulled it out on saturday whooped it around the room and scratched it and everyone um well it sounds authentic anyway yeah yeah that's good and that guitar i'm playing i bought it at a at a not a pawn shop but a little music store not too far from Ardent, which was the studio we recorded that in. And that's the guitar that plays the intro.

And I still play it occasionally live on stage. It's this red Supro. And it kind of has this banjo tone to it because it's made of fiberglass and metal, so it's got this kind of banjo-y bounce to it. But that's got a great little groove. Boy, he sure produced that song, didn't he? And that song got another Juno Award, right?

Single of the Year. That's just came back from Sudden Stop. And you got, did you win Male Vocalist of the Year as well? I think so. You got a bunch of Junos, eh? How many you got? Six, very good. Good on you, man.

But the last one I won was in 1932. Best Horse and buggy. Let's get you into some little big band stuff here, bringing it up to current day here. You were kind of ahead of the curve on this, right? Because Swing had a big revival. I mean, I think of Jump, Jive, and Whale. You mentioned Brighton earlier.

I almost broke into Rumble in Brighton by Stray Cats. I was a big Stray Cats fan growing up. There was a Rumble in Brighton tonight. The, uh... So this here, of course, is from, uh... This is Colin James and the Little Big Band Project and Cadillac Baby. So tell me why the switch here.

You kind of left the bluesy rock sound for a more swinging, jazzy sound? Well, it was more than that. There was lots of stuff that was going on to influence the decision, but mostly the fact that blues rock had kind of, grunge had kind of emerged out of the Northwest. It was kind of like beating your head against it while trying to do the same thing because you were up against a monolith.

So I think the idea was to do something completely different. And also, for me, it served as a way to show my dedication to the music with real, with results. And getting together with Roomful of Blues, I remember hearing Roomful of Blues on Country Road in the Prairies when I was a kid on the radio. And I went, that is not a band playing now. That must have been recorded in the 50s.

It must have been. Are you kidding me? I was so shocked. It was so authentic. So they were always in my mind. And I'd always done, in the earliest of my shows if people might some people might remember I would do five long years and then I would do a song like this there was like I would I was blues influence and the pop songs came later so um so anyway the idea was to do this song and I got

to meet Roomful of Blues the same time everyone else did. The producer flew from London, England. Roomful flew in from Rhode Island. Chuck Lavelle on keys, a legendary keyboard player for the Allman Brothers. What a band. And we did the whole record in two weeks. Mixed, done, wrapped. Nice.

That's the way to roll, man. Yeah. And then some some I mean timelines I get a little hazy here but at some point like everyone everyone was all into was it

like sing was it swingers was it well this is way later so this is this is 93 swingers didn't happen until 97

your trendsetter man brought it back and then there was some early indicators, you know. So on that one, my timing was really good on Little Big Band 2. Not good enough, mind you. Not good enough. Why? You had higher expectations in terms of...

No, the problem with Little Big Band 2 was I had the record done far earlier than it came out, probably by about a year and a half. And by the time it came out, the swing movement was in full bloom, and I looked like I was at Johnny Come Lately. Right. When I had it in the bag way before Sensor did.

Right. And that was just bad timing, and it was an honest trouble we had was finding an American partner to put the record out. So when Elektra finally, in the Warner family, Elektra finally ponied up, by that point, the Skrillna Zippers and the So-and-So's Nippers and the Royal Crown.

Big Daddy Voodoo. What are they? Voodoo, Big Daddy, this, that. Big Pants. Yeah. Right. And then by that point, we were pretty traditional

compared to all those bands because we played more blues and so we'd go to these kind of trendier clubs and they're like, hey, why are you playing blues? Stop that.

That's funny. Sometimes you're on the bleeding edge. It's called the bleeding edge for a reason. But do you ever have any resentment at all? I'm just,

just, just, no. Why do you say that? You're in? I'm just, just, just. No. Why do you say that? You're in Vancouver. Yeah. Do you think maybe if things had gone a little different at some point that you'd have a mansion in California?

You know what I mean? Like. Years ago, I was actually in Los Angeles in 1991. And I phoned, I phoned home and said, oh my God, you could buy a house in the Hollywood Hills for like $300,000, $250,000. It was true. And all those places would be like $8 million, $10 million, $12 million now.

So it's funny you should say that. No. I love being in Canada. I love being in Vancouver. It's been my home for years. I love coming home to Vancouver. I can bike all year round, which is huge. But you can do that here, too.

It gets icy, though. The ice is a problem. It does get icy. You got to cut that speed, man. I know. I know. Yeah. And every time you turn, because I bike through icy stuff, not only are you reducing the speed,

but every turn becomes really wide. But all it takes to get you is a curb where the city's done a two-inch curb lip. Have you ever seen one of those big curbs where it's not like a gradual thing? Yeah, I know what you're saying. Yeah, I've seen those. Those will take you down. Yeah, they'll take down my old beater

in the driveway, too. Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely. Avery is a big-time listener to the podcast, and Avery writes a question for you. What was it like working with Lenny Kravitz on Savior and Mavis Staples on Freedom on your fantastic Bad Habits album?

Oh my god. Well, come on. First of all, we're in the Bahamas. And we're staying in this studio where Bob Marley did all those great recordings. Did he do Survivor there? Rita Marley, all kinds of Rita Marley, all kinds of Robert Palmer, Talking Heads recorded there,

ACDC, Roxy Music. Some of their biggest records were done there. So you're surrounded by that amazingness. And to have Mavis on the record was, I just saw her the other night and went and said hello because we've been friends ever since. She's amazing. She's the best.

She's the best person. She's the most amazing testimony to having faith that someday the world will change and suffering through when it doesn't. Oh, my God. But she was just incredible the other night, and I just love her. But she came down with Yvonne, her sister,

and I got to know her. And who else did you say? Lenny Kravitz. Lenny Kravitz. So he was recording next door. So he was recording. I was, man, it is a crowd. So we'd hear that all the time.

Yeah, of course. And he came in one day when Savior was on, and he went, or what else did he hear? He heard Bad Hab, Better Days. What's good about a good thing? He heard that, and he went, Hey, man, did you write that?

Yeah. So we got to know each other a little bit there. He was going out with Vanessa Parody at the time, so she was there. And he said, hey, can I play Clavinet on? He heard Savior and he came in and played Wawa Clavinet. So he came in and just, we put a Wawa through. This was cool.

And I remember the last time I ran into him was in Paris. Wow. I saw him. We were both in the lobby of the hotel. I said, Lenny! Because we hadn't seen each other in years because we were on the same label. Look at you bumping into Lenny Kravitz in Paris.

You got a good life. Yeah. Great life. I'm going to skip ahead to this question here, but you performed for Queen Elizabeth. Because she was coming to Saskatchewan. What kind of laugh was that? That was horrible. Have you heard Kawhi? Are you a basketball fan at all? Or no?

I can tell no. Look at the gaze. Kawhi Leonard has quite the laugh, but yours is great too. So, you performed for the queen. No big deal, right? Just another day's work. That was crazy.

That was crazy because we're in this big, huge arena, like hockey arena. No, it wasn't. Was it? I don't know. No, it wasn't. Was it? I don't know. Yeah, it was. But I think they had cordoned it off to make it so it wasn't so... Yeah, I think they had done one of those curtain-off area things.

And it was a symphony orchestra. That's right. There was a symphony. And I was playing... The song I played was a very strange song I wrote called Misplaced Heart. I wrote with two other writers. And the words are bizarre. I thought, why? But it had a beautiful

orchestral arrangement. I guess it was the one that was most inclined to have a symphony. So here I was singing this song that had words like twisting and turning in the breeze and lyrics like that. But anyway, there she is sitting there with Philip. And she was very

polite. Does a polite get a polite clap? It was amazing. She had this big plush red chair like you'd think she would, because she did. You can't make that stuff up. And then she came walking up, and she shook people's hands, and one of the dancers offered her hand too early,

and she would not take her hand. And so I learned that there's this thing you're not supposed to extend your hand. Right. And then she came over there's this thing you're not supposed to extend your hand. And then she came over and said some words to me. And I have no idea what they were. She mumbled a little bit. And I said,

and she understood everything I said, which was weird. That woman's still in charge of this country. Don't forget that. She's still in charge. Did you watch The Crown? Yes, of course. I really enjoyed that show. Yeah. I'm going to miss the lead actress.

Claire Foy. Yeah, she's... Don't swear at me. She's great. Actually, she's exceptional. Yeah. Who's... Because they age her up, I guess, in this next...

The third season. Claire Foy. She was great. But the guy who played Philip was fantastic, too. Excellent. Yeah, no, the show was... They were all good. Crazy good. But the guy who played Philip was fantastic too. Excellent. Yeah. The show was

crazy good. And the guy who played Winston Churchill I thought There's so much good TV now. Why have a life? Why have a life?

Hey, I'm a big Odds fan. I love the Odds. Nice! So tell me a little bit about your working relationship with Craig Norby.

That's all. He's the best. He can't be the best. I'm pretty sure you said Mavis Staples was the best. Well, they're both really great people. They're both the best. That's all. He's the best. He can't be the best. I'm pretty sure you said Mavis Staples was the best. Well, they're both really great people. They're both the best.

Craig is just one. I didn't meet Craig. We were label mates, but we didn't really know each other. We're both out of Vancouver, but we were in different circles. Around 2000, someone said, you should write with Craig Northey. I went, I don't know Craig Northey. I've met him. He came over and we wrote a hide together off the Fuse record. And he left and I went

upstairs and said to my wife, I said, why didn't I do that sooner? He's awesome. And we've been friends ever since. He played guitar with me for a while. And occasionally we play together now if I have to. He'll be a sub sometimes. But he's just one of my, his son now is my son's, they're super chummy, which is really great. I love it, man. How old's your son?

My son's 20. Nice. Going to Concordia. Oh, cool, cool,ia. Oh, cool. There's this super group that was formed. I've got to get the names right. Chris Murphy from Sloan, Moe Berg from The Pursuit of Happiness, Steven Page.

He was in a band you might have heard of. And Craig Northey, Trans-Canadian Highwayman or something like that. You could be a fifth member of that. You could make that happen. That would be amazing. Well, yeah. Every year, my daughter does a charity I help her with.

And Craig always comes and plays guitar, and I play with Pat and everybody. And Pat will still play a gig here and there. And Doug Elliott came on one of the blues cruises with me not that long ago. We had a really good time. So Doug's hilarious. So how many kids you got? Two.

Okay, so how old is the daughter? My daughter's 23. Nice. Yeah. That's good stuff, man. Good stuff. Now I'm going to ask you real quickly about the corner gas thing.

So corner gas, every Saskatchewan person of fame needs to appear on this show. Is that contractually obligated you know what's really cool about that apart from the fact that I was really it was nice to be asked and I went to Regina for it

and I went down to the studio where they did the gas station and everything because the scene was from the gas station scene which is near Pence but Janet Wright the director sorry the woman who played the mother she directed me Um, uh, but Janet Wright, the director, uh, sorry, the woman who, who, um, uh, played,

you know, the mother, she directed me in, I was, I acted a bit in musical acting when I was, uh, when I was pretty broke, when I was like 18, I, I got my theater, I got my acting card, like my union card. I did like six or eight months of live theater, maybe more actually. And she was my director. Wow. She was my first director.

That's amazing. So that was cool to see here. Very cool. I got a question here from Mike Grigotsky. He wanted me to ask you about what it was like working with Tom Wilson and if there's any plans to collaborate with Tom again. Tom's the best.

Ah, it's not allowed. Real talk only on this show. They might let you get away with that nonsense on breakfast television. No, in all honesty, Tom and I, we write so many songs together. He's my main collaborator when it comes to writing.

We've written songs. Other people have recorded. Lucinda Williams sang on one of the songs we wrote together which I'm so happy about that's amazing yeah and

and we have a lot of fun so we actually we have a writing a writing trip planned in the next week and a half so there you go tell Tom to come on

Toronto Mike I will tell him order him how's that Thomas Thomas the shine jam that's another Canadian classic that's a great one now okay Tell Tom to come on Toronto Mic. I will tell him. Order him. How's that? Thomas. Thomas. This Shine Jam. That's another Canadian classic.

That's a great one. Now, okay, let's talk about this. Is it Miles to Go? This is your 19th album? What? So we only talked about the first three, and then we skipped while we talked about a few more, but there's a lot there.

You need to book five hours with me. It's like when you know someone for a long time, and you tell the whole story, but you just shorten it. Right. Yada, yada, yada. Yada, yada, yada, and the 19th record.

There we are. I mentioned the best. So, yeah, it's my 19th. We had two best of records, and because every time a label is kicking you off the label or bringing you on the label, they want to do one,

so you know you're getting your walking papers when. Hey, we're going to put out a best of. Should I pack now? And sometimes we'll do it when you get signed. That will happen as well. Oh. But I did two, and we always put extra tracks on. So there's always two or three songs

that didn't appear anywhere else. So, yeah. It's okay. It's early, man. It's really early in Vancouver yeah the time in Vancouver is only 8.05am

I know man and I've been up for four or five hours and I've only got here two days ago it's yeah oh this is the pre-interview

should I have been recording they gotta figure out they gotta figure out a thing like a thing where they can put you three hours like really actually

forward you in time or back in time our greatest minds are working on that actively as we speak here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I'm going crazy over here. It's essentially, that's a sequel to Blue Highways, right? This is a sequel to Blue Highways. Yes. I would say so. Yeah, it is. I don't even think it's up for debate. So do you want to tell me a little bit

about how is it different from Blue Highways? Just a little bit. And we're going to play some I'm going to play 40 Light Years while we talk. So this is from Miles to Go, which is out now. Sure is. And that's why you're here. That's why I'm here. I am a robot.

From now on, whenever you have a new album coming out, I'm going to have an expectation. You'll drop by to check in and catch up with me. So tell me what you wish to tell us about 40 Miles to Go. This is 40 light years. Well, just like Blue Highway, it's highways, just like Blue Highways, we went in two days and did 30 songs.

So that's how I do these records. We go in and we just do kazads, kazads of songs. That's a word. And you get to know pretty quickly how much you're going to sound good with how much effort and how much will never sound good ever. And you toss the ones that, you know, and obviously when you're doing songs,

especially classics, this is an original, but if you're doing classic blues, And we're going to do one in a minute, yeah. Yeah, then you've got to make sure that you're adding something to the mix. If you're just kind of doing the same thing, then you've got to look at that. And if the guy sung it really well,

or the woman or man sung it really well, you better be singing it better or different or your own way or different exactly yeah because Miles to go the blend oh sorry I don't mean new and sorry when I say I should exactly I don't mean better you better be singing it that's gonna do the song justice because sometimes the wrong key sometimes it's just not the right song for your voice you know so this one's yours so the new and old so this is a this is a colin james uh original 40 light years just get a little taste of this here here Did you find it frustrating in 2018 that, like, finding radio, like, traditional terrestrial radio stations that would play a jam like this?

I don't even know what those are. I mean, you got maybe CBC Radio 2? I don't know. I don't know. You know, it's all streams now, you know, it's like... Interesting how that's changed. Like, I know there's a couple of stations that would play, like, Why'd You Lie? Like, I could tell you maybe Boom.

Sure, but you know what? But they won't play anything new from an artist like me anymore. So you can't even... And they won't even do that if you're going in promoting something new. It used to be, even if you were doing something new, they'd, you know, it's gotten very tight, you know?

I hear the same thing. Maestro Fresh West, for example, I'm looking at him right here. He came by. There are stations in this country that will play Let Your Backbone Slide. But if Maestro puts out a new piece that's maybe just as good, if not better, than Let Your Backbone Slide, which is from 89, they won't touch it.

That's got to be frustrating as all hell. It's frustrating, but I've got off that. I've got off that. I've been off that merry-go-round for a while. Just before I play something old. So this is something new. I feel like we're getting married. Something borrowed, something blue. So do albums even have lead singles anymore?

This is Tom Wilson and I. Well, they have a focus track. A focus track. And that's essentially so when you're doing a promo, there's something to play in the background or whatever. Times have changed, man. And all the money nowadays comes from touring, right? This is essentially what pays the bills.

What always has been for me. It's never been, like I say, you know, it was tough. The record business was great when it was making money, but we weren't making the money anyway. It's kind of a good thing, right? Because you weren't reliant on selling it. No, it's always been live performing. It's always been that.

How many gigs will you do in a calendar year, typically? I don't know. I don't really account that. It used to be a lot more because we were always just hitting the road but a fair amount

and that's a good thing because you've got to keep your hands working that's why you wear the Kevlar gloves yes that's right. Is anybody here gonna tell me What is the soul of a man? Just what is the soul of a man? Tell me what's the soul of a man

I've traveled in different countries I've been in foreign lands I've found nobody to tell me what is the soul of a man. I saw a crowd stand talking. Man, this is, of course, Blind Willie Johnson's Soul of a Man. And you put your own stamp on this. And like I said, that album, Miles to Go, you got the new stuff and you got the old stuff like this. Very cool, man.

Very nice. It was really fun. We had the Sojourners, who were a group out of Vancouver, a gospel group. And they came in, all four in a row, and sang to this.

It was just so nice. I love it when you hear that. four in a row and sang to this and it just, oh, it was just so nice. I love it when you hear that. On the end of the record, we do another song called, you know, One More Mile. We do an acoustic version at the end of the record

and they sang live with me as we cut it and that was cool. It was fantastic. Are you a gearhead when it comes to your, I know you dropped the name of some of your guitars and stuff, but James Edgar wants to know, he wants to know all about your gear.

Like, I don't want you to, but he wants to know, like, your guitar gear and all this. Like, I personally, this is going to be, like, a different language to me, but there's a lot of listeners who might be curious. Yeah, you'll have people who don't go cross-eyed and people who do go cross-eyed. That's what I've noticed. You could tell pretty quick. I don't go on about gear a lot. I do love, you know,

when everything works and when things do what they're supposed to do. I love my guitars, you know. I've got a nice collection of Strats now. Finally, after all this time, I've got a few different guitars that are in different packs so I can leave some for a while and have others. It used to be if my guitars were all in a row, then I had nothing at home. So that's been good. I've had a couple of nice Gibsons lately, a 335, a brand new 335, which I'm loving, made in Memphis, and a Gold Top, which I'm loving, made in Memphis, and a gold top, which

I love with P90s. Amps, I'm loving my little Supros. They make a hell of an amp these days. They're solid as a rock, although I've got a divided by 13 and a couple, you know, you can't lose with a Fender Deluxe. There you go. There's gear in a row. Don't get into pedals now. Okay, we won't promise you. No, I mean, some guys are getting off on that. That's awesome. Love it.

Now, a real quick couple of closing questions, but this guy named Talbotime, actually, I don't know if it's a guy or a gal, on Twitter, Talbotime. Talbotime. It's Talbotime.

Gabbo. Three Desert Island blues albums. If you had to go to a desert, you're going to a desert island to bring three blues albums with you. Do you have a short list? Oh, man. You hate those questions, don't you?

Well, you have to have Albert King. You have to have Albert because you still have to try to figure out what he's doing. So you have to have Albert. You see, he played upside down and so he was pulling down on his high string. We're all pushing up.

He was pulling down. So he's the guy who Stevie did such a good job of figuring out. It's insane how Albert played. So you have to have Albert. That's all I'm saying. So which Albert record? I like funky 70s Albert sometimes because it's

truckload of lovin'. Great. How could you miss with truckload of lovin'? Cold woman and warm hearts is my kind of woman. That's a great one, but you can't any good Albert. I'll play the blues for you. Any good Albert King. You can't go wrong.

Have to have a Stevie because you have to make sure that other civilizations, if they say civilizations die and they find you, they have to be able to hear Stevie Ray Vaughan. Right. So, you won't believe this guy, you know, so you have to be able to give them that.

Maybe Django Reinhardt to keep us all honest and realize we're all idiots. At the end of the day, we're all idiots compared to Django Reinhardt. It doesn't sound so bad, this Desert Island. Sometimes I get these questions about Desert Island discs, and I'm like, that doesn't sound too bad. Yeah, you're listening to Jimi Hendrix, but you're dead.

Right. Well, I was going to say, what are you listening on? Clearly, your battery's not going to last. You're drinking from a 5-day? Rotten 5D old coconut. Like the professor on Gilligan's Island can hook you up with something or other. This is my last question.

I really appreciate this time. I know these other outlets want you for five to seven minutes and I stole you for over an hour here. You had to do a little deeper dive. And again, if Miles to Go is out now what's your preferred method if you wanted to tell people to pick up Miles to Go

I use my voice get Miles to Go get Miles to Go figure it out well we have vinyl coming out that's exciting yeah that's great I have not seen it yet but I know it's out soon.

I guess I don't have a preferred way. It's all, who knows these days. Like iTunes, Apple Music, Sky, they all got it. You got the Apple Music. You got yourself the iTunes. I don't know from the Google Music. They must have it. I'm sure they do.

I've said it. They'd be fools not to have it. But the vinyl thing, can I ask you about the vinyl thing? This is a big resurgence that's happening now. Is it because, is it, are people really wanting to listen?

Because it sounds really inconvenient, but is it more of like a souvenir, kind of like a memento of your journey? I don't know, man. Like I ran out, both of mine died the other day. Both of my turntables, one I've had forever,

and it had a belt, it was belt driven, but I had it fixed, and the belt would still slow down, so forget it, I'm done. It was a duel. And then I had a belt with belt driven but I had it fixed and the belt would still slow down so forget it I'm done it was a dual and then I had a new pretty new you know kind of like DJ style Sony and it died

on me and there's no belt it's all diodes and like capacitors you know so I had to buy a new one and I got another one and so I'm but I hated not having it I hated not having it. I hated not having it. However, please bring back the auto return. Come on, record makers.

Yes, I know it's more maybe neat-looking and modern to have the no return. Have the return. Let us put the needle back. Why are they removing function for style? Because I come home, and the thing has jumped over. It's now sitting in the middle of the thing like... And I'm killing my needle. You're like me.

My phone gets thinner and thinner every time I get a new phone. And it's really thin right now. But I actually wish they would triple the thickness of that phone just to give me triple the battery life. I would sacrifice the size for battery. I don't feel that way. How do you feel? Well, I'm happy with it.

I guess I'm not on the phone a lot. I don't have a phone dying issue. Okay. Because you're not using it as your source of news. No. I tend to use my iPad. Okay. I don't have an iPad.

Maybe that's why. I use mine as a tablet. It's tough to get through. I tell you, Apple's got us by the... Well, LG has me. I don't have any Apple stuff. But Colin James. Oh, yeah, my last question.

I never got to it, but here it is. And it's kind of a dick question anyways. But here you are. You've been at this game since the mid-'80s. You've produced some fantastic movies. It's a crazy game. You've produced some fantastic movies. and we all have great memories and uh thanks so much for the music any regrets like anything you would have done differently along the way

like is there any turns you took and you wish you could just go back and take a turn that's the right answer buddy i know everything i need to know about you now good on you we'll take our photo together before you get out of here but sure thanks so much buddy. I know everything I need to know about you now. There you go. Good on you. We'll take our photo together before you get Jed out of here. Sure. Thanks so much, Colin James.

Amazing. And that brings us to the end of our 381st show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Colin is at Colin James Music. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Propertyinthe6.com is at Raptors Devotee. And Paytm is at Paytm Canada.

See you all next week. And drink some Guinness from a tin. Cause my UI check has just come in. Ah, where you been? Because everything is kind of