Ontario roots/ rock musician Devin Cuddy makes a long awaited return to the Geomatic Attic , Sunday, Feb. 25 with guitarist Mike Tuyp and special guest, Ryland Moranz.
Cuddy is looking forward to returning especially with a new album “ Dear Jane” to support.
“Well we’re just starting a little run of Alberta, Edmonton, Calgary and finishing down there in Lethbridge. So we’re hoping for a good time,” Cuddy said, just pulling into his motel in Edmonton.
He enjoys touring with Mike Tuyp, noting it give them an opportunity to reimagine the songs and enjoy some more musical space.
“We‘re doing a duo show, which we do on occasion just for these short runs.
It’s a fun grouping to do it in. It’s a lot different than playing with the band. There’s a little more space and its sort of interesting to hear reworks of these songs. It’s very fun,” he continued.
He is playing keyboard snd piano for this tour.
He is pleased with the new album “ Dear Jane,” though the release was delayed due to Covid.
“We put out an album in early November called ‘Dear Jane’ which is sort of a collection of songs we had and added to over the past five or six years. In fact we had quite a bit finished when the pandemic hit and sort of decided to sit on it instead of putting it out during that time because we always feel that we need to tour in order to get our music and our record out there. So it sort of felt pointless or fruitless I’d say to do during the travel restriction times. So I feel very relieved to have it out. It’s a lot of stuff we’ve had finished for a long time. We did add the title track just last year. It’s a mix of different stories and sounds and we’re very happy to have it out. The reception has been great. We’re very thrilled we can bring it to Alberta this weekend,” he said.
He always like to add a cover to his CDs. For “Dear Jane,” he added a cover of Barney Bentall’s early ’80s hit “Come Back to me.” as a tribute to a family that he ah and his dad , Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, consider to be their western family.
“I’ve been very lucky to have played with Barney for many years and he even sings a little on it as well which is a real thrill for us to have him doing some backups and cal and response. It was great,” he said.
“Our families have been friends our whole lives. So we grew up with the Bentalls. They’re sort of our west coast family and we do some fundraising and charity events with barney. We’ve played some shows in 2018 I believe. My brother, myself and Barney joined my dad Jim Cuddy on tour. so We did a double family band thing. So we’ve played with Barney in many different forms over the years. So it was extra exciting to record one of his songs that I’ve played for many years,” he said.
“We started playing it live at gigs fiver or six years ago and we got it to a place that we felt really good about it and people reacted to it and when it came time togo to the studio. We like to record at least one cover on each album. And that was sort of the hot cover we were doing live at the time. So we thought we should ask Barney to sing on it and it turned out pretty good,” he said.
Despite the pandemic getting in the way of touring lans, there were still able to road test some of the new songs.
“That’s another strange thing that sort of presenting and playing the new record now when we play live is that a few of the songs we’ve played for a long time live, which is nice because we’re comfortable in playing them and presenting them, but there is some times a thrill when you have a new record out and you’re playing these songs live for the first times to see how will people react to it. It’s actually incredibly nerve-wracking to see the crowd’s reactions to the songs it‘s thrilling. So it’s definitely strange to have these songs finally out but lots of fans know them from seeing us play them live five or six years ago,” he said audience response definitely impacted the decision for which songs to put on the album.
“It‘s a mix of that and how they turn out when they’re recorded. I think every musician has a few tunes they recorded and didn’t make records. Some artists I’m sure have lots. You use a lot of different factors. Obviously audience reaction is very high up there because you want people to like it,” he said.
The show will be a mix of songs from throughout his career, the new album and maybe a few surprises.
“We‘re going to be doing a mix of old songs and pretty much all the new record. I’ll talk about the songs themselves and what they‘re about and we’ll play some fun covers and we}ll play some fun offbeat stuff.
“We’ve done duo shows back in Ontario quite a bit recently. So ee have a really nice show put together we feel really good about it We are very sure everybody is going to have a great time and enjoy themselves,” he promised, adding he is looking forward to Ryland Moranz joining the bill
“Yeah, we’ll probably get him up for something but we’ll let that be a surprise for people who show up to see us,” he said.
They are organizing another busy year.
“We have some Ontario dates for when we get back and then the summer’s just coming together and hopefully record some new music and maybe do something cross-country in the Fall,” he said.
“We’re just out there pushing this record and trying to get it into as many hands as possible, travelling a little bit which is nice and hoping to get started on something new . A record that maybe we would do in a different more record and release thing as opposed to this last one that was recorded in three or four different sessions over six years. I’d like to do a record that is more traditional, collect the songs, record the songs and put them out in one straight line motions. So I’m finishing some songs that I’ve started,” he said.
“We ’re very excited to come back to Lethbridge and particularly excited to be back a the Geomatic Attic. it’s been many, many years since we did it, but we have some very fond memories of the crowd and the space and Mike (Spencer). We’re just ever excited to be back,” he said.
Devin Cuddy and Ryland Moranz, play the Geomatic Attic, Sunday, Feb. 25 at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $35 members, $37.50 non members.
—By Richard Amery, L.A.Beat Editor
