HAPPY WITH THE BLUES
Colin James’ new album takes off
It took Colin James quite a while to get back to England but apparently music fans haven’t forgotten him.
The 52-year-old guitar icon headed to England in November to open shows for Beth Hart, marking his first appearance in the U.K. since opening for Robert Plant in the early 1990s.
James, who released Blue Highways, his 18th album, on Oct. 14, wasn’t sure of the reaction he would receive on the tour.
“We were playing Newcastle and I casually mentioned to the crowd, ‘Years ago I was up here opening for Robert Plant but I don’t think we played here,’ and a voice from the back went, ‘Yes, you did,’ ” James recalled with a laugh during a recent telephone interview. “That guy showed up after the show and he had every record that I’ve ever made. It was fun. We made a lot of new friends over there.
“It was great trip in that I couldn’t really play the new record because it’s a band record and there’s only a couple of acoustic things on it so I just had to find a way to try and connect with the audience by doing whatever so that’s what I did. I’d play a couple of Robert Johnson songs and then a couple older songs. We just kept it varied. I think that because the album was getting a fair amount of radio play at the same time, that brought some new people out. We had a great time.”
So it won’t be 20 years until you go back?
“No, in fact we’ve got an agent
over there now and it looks like we might possibly be going back in July,” said James. “I’m looking forward to that because we had such a great time. I even met a fantastic guy named Bob Harris who was involved with the radio show The Old Grey Whistle Test in the 1970s. He’s quite instrumental in the music scene, he’s quite connected to the Americana thing as well and I went to his farm where he had me on his radio podcast.”
When James released Blue Highways, which features 13 of his favourite blues songs, he wasn’t sure how the album would be received. It turns out his apprehension was unwarranted. The album has been a success with both music fans and radio stations throughout North America.
Asked to explain how the album was able to capture such a large audience, James said it was a case of everything falling into place at the right time.
“It’s the old, ‘Keep going’ because sometimes timing works and everything works out. In this case, everything that went on to make this record, from paying for it ourselves to finding a place where it was going to get the kind of support it needed, all that worked out just in time in the right sequence of events,” explained James. “That includes going to True North Records who are doing a killer job on it. It’s fantastic to see it getting played all over the world and especially in the United States where some of the charts that I’m showing up on, I’ve never shown up on in my life.
“I went from not being included to really getting something that’s reacting with people and it’s been really great.”