An Evening With BLUE RODEO

In celebration of 25 years since the release of their debut album, Outskirts, Blue Rodeo has announced a cross-Canada tour, which will begin on Jan. 2, 2013, in Whitehorse, and will make a stop at Ottawa’s Scotiabank Place on Thursday, Feb. 14.

Blue Rodeo emerged in the early 80’s as a countrified rock band in the era of hair metal and glossy pop. Despite sticking out like a sore thumb (or maybe because of it), their single ’Try” became omni-present on radio across Canada and set in motion a three decade long career of headlining every club, theatre and arena in Canada. In 1993, when grunge rock was squeezing commercial rock off the radio, they recorded their most acoustic album, Five Days In July, and scored their biggest hit selling over a half million copies of that one record alone.

Over the course of the next 20 years, Blue Rodeo has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, sold over 4 million records, won an unprecedented 5 Juno awards as Group of the Year, been handed keys to the City of Toronto and given a Star on Canada’s Walk of Fame. But for them, the accolades and awards pale in comparison to the good fortune of being musicians.

’I think that’s the testament – to really do it for a living,” says Jim Cuddy reflecting on all that has happened to the band. ’Not just live the life of a popular band but to actually create music for a living.”

On Oct. 16, the band celebrated its legacy with the release of a Blue Rodeo: 1987-1993, a box set of their first five albums fully re-mastered and repackaged, plus a fully remixed Outskirts, Casino Demos and an Odds & Ends package.

For more information on Blue Rodeo, please visit: www.bluerodeo.com.