Iconic country rockers returning to Oshawa’s Tribute Centre for seventh time Dec. 28
Published October 7, 2024 at 10:36 am
Make it seven trips to the Trib for legendary Canadian band Blue Rodeo, who are booked into the Oshawa venue on December 28.
For nearly thirty years Blue Rodeo has taken the road less travelled – and succeeded far beyond anyone’s expectations – with their eclectic blend of countrified rock and mournful ballads that have been mainstays on the Canadian charts since the beginning.
Fronted by the singer/songwriter duo of Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor – who has called the Kendal hills of Clarington home for decades – Blue Rodeo emerged in the 1980s as a force in an era of hair metal and glossy pop and have stayed relevant in the years since.
Despite sticking out like a sore thumb (or maybe because of it), their single ‘Try’ (off their 1987 debut album) 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, which sold more than a half million copies.
Blue Rodeo’s successes are measured in terms that include induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (2012), receiving a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award (2014) and, as of a week ago, induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame for Cuddy and Keelor, who were inducted at a gala event in Toronto (along with Sarah McLachlan, Tom Cochrane and Diane Tell) on September 28.
The band just released its 16th studio album – Many A Mile – and Cuddy took a moment to reflect back on three decades of success in the music business and more than four million records sold.
“Success seemed really real when we were entertaining people at the Horseshoe. That was the top of the heap for us,” Cuddy says. “When you look back, you realize that it has just been this beautiful dream.”
Along the way the band has been a regular in the Motor City and have played at the Tribute Communities Centre in downtown Oshawa seven times, though the last time was in 2017.
Tickets go on sale to the public for the Saturday, December 28 show on Friday, October 11, at 10:00 AM at tributecommunitiescentre.com.
