James Gordon Cuddy, (born December 2, 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter primarily associated with the band Blue Rodeo.
Early life and education
Cuddy was born in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, Ontario. His Mother Jean Cuddy was an English teacher at Monarch Park Secondary School. He attended
North Toronto Collegiate Institute
North Toronto Collegiate Institute (North Toronto CI, NTCI, NT, or North Toronto) is a non-semestered, public high school institution with over 1,200 students located in North Toronto area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school is operated an ...
, where he met and befriended
Greg Keelor
James Gregory Keelor, (born Francis McIntyre, August 29, 1954) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as a member of the band Blue Rodeo, where he shares song writing and vocal duties with Jim Cuddy. Keelor has also rel ...
, his future bandmate. He also went to
Upper Canada College
Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...
After graduating from university, Cuddy and Keelor formed a band called the Hi-Fis along with Jim Sublett on drums and Malcolm Schell playing bass. The band released a single in 1980 featuring "Look What You've Done" and on the B side "I Don't Know Why (You Love Me)". The record was not a commercial success, and when they couldn't get a record deal in Toronto, they headed off to New York City. In New York they met keyboardist
Bob Wiseman
Robert Neil "Bob" Wiseman (born 1962) is a film composer, songwriter, author and music teacher. Wiseman discovered or produced many artists including Ron Sexsmith, The Lowest of the Low, Bruce McCulloch of Kids in the Hall, Anhai, and former ...
, but were still unable to arrange a recording contract. They later moved back to Toronto.
Blue Rodeo
In 1984 Cuddy and Keelor formed a new band, Blue Rodeo, with Wiseman, and recruited Bazil Donovan on bass and
Cleave Anderson
Cleave Anderson is a Canadian punk rock, alt. country, rock, pop, etc drummer. Anderson has played and recorded with several well-known groups, including Blue Rodeo, Battered Wives,Tyranna, Viletones, Sherry Kean, Forgotten Rebels, and the Beat Cl ...
on drums as backup. Since that time, Cuddy has continued to lead the band, which has toured extensively and released 16 studio albums.
Jim Cuddy Band
Cuddy has recorded five solo albums and performs live with the Jim Cuddy Band, featuring musicians such as Bazil Donovan,
Colin Cripps
Colin Cripps (born January 26, 1961 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian musician and record producer.
Career
Colin Cripps is a Canadian guitarist and member of Blue Rodeo and the Jim Cuddy Band. He has been a member and producer of the bands ...
, Joel Anderson, Steve O'Connor, Anne Lindsay and Gavin Brown. Guest performers on his solo albums have included
Kathleen Edwards
Kathleen Edwards (born July 11, 1978 ) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. Her 2002 debut album, ''
Weeping Tile
A weeping tile (also called a drain tile or perimeter tileGradwell, John B., and Malcolm Welch. ''Technology--shaping our world''. South Holland, Ill.: Goodheart-Willcox, 1991. 116. Print.) is a porous pipe used for underground water collection ...
member
Sarah Harmer
Sarah Harmer (born November 12, 1970) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and environmental activist.
Early life
Born and raised in Burlington, Ontario, Harmer gained her first exposure to the musician's lifestyle as a teenager, when her older sis ...
, and
Wilco
Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently d ...
Jim Cuddy's song "Whistler" from the ''All in Time'' album was featured in the 2002 documentary ''Ski Bums'' by John Zaritsky.
In 2016, Cuddy participated in a benefit concert in
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Alberta and another in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, Ontario for the citizens of
Fort McMurray
Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significan ...
, whose town was destroyed by fire.
On March 19, 2020, he performed the first concert in the
National Arts Centre
The National Arts Centre (NAC) (french: Centre national des Arts) is a performing arts organisation in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre building.
History
The NAC was one of a number of ...
's #CanadaPerforms series of livestreamed home concerts by Canadian musicians during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.
He narrates the
TVOntario
TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...
JUNO Awards
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
and Adult Alternative Album of the Year for The Light That Guides You Home at The 2007
JUNO Awards
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
In 2000, Cuddy and Blue Rodeo bandmate Greg Keelor were the recipients of the National Achievement Award at the annual
SOCAN
The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collects ...
Awards held in Toronto.
In 2013, he was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the cen ...
along with
Greg Keelor
James Gregory Keelor, (born Francis McIntyre, August 29, 1954) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as a member of the band Blue Rodeo, where he shares song writing and vocal duties with Jim Cuddy. Keelor has also rel ...
, "for their contributions to Canadian music and for their support of various charitable causes".
Personal life
Cuddy is married to Canadian actress Rena Polley. They have three children, their daughter Emma, and their two sons, Devin and Sam, who are also musicians. His brother Loftus Cuddy was a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
candidate for the riding of
Toronto—Danforth
Toronto—Danforth (formerly Broadview—Greenwood) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1979. It lies to the east of Downtown Toronto. Its best-known MP was ...
in the
2004 Canadian federal election
The 2004 Canadian federal election was held on June 28, 2004, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority but was able to continue ...
.
In the 2004 edition of ''
Canada Reads
''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...
'', Cuddy advocated for
Guy Vanderhaeghe
Guy Clarence Vanderhaeghe (born April 5, 1951) is a Canadian novelist and short story writer, best known for his Western novel trilogy, ''The Englishman's Boy'', '' The Last Crossing'', and ''A Good Man'' set in the 19th-century American and Can ...
's novel '' The Last Crossing'', which won the competition. In the 2007 edition of ''Canada Reads'', an "all-star" competition pitting the five winning advocates from previous years against each other, Cuddy returned to champion Timothy Taylor's novel ''
Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and ...
''.
In 2016, Cuddy collaborated with Tawse Winery in Niagara to launch a new wine brand, Cuddy by Tawse.
In 2017, Cuddy narrated the documentary TV series ''Striking Balance''.
Discography
Albums
Singles
;Notes
*A ^ "Too Many Hands" peaked at number 13 on the Canadian ''RPM'' Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and number 34 on the ''RPM'' Country Tracks chart.