It's been a good year for Jim Cuddy.
The lead singer for Canada's much-loved Blue Rodeo, Cuddy wrapped up the year as the No. 5 favourite artist among CBC Radio listeners, chosen from a stellar list of Canadian and international musicians on CBC Radio 2's Top 50 Artists of 2011.
And in December, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced that Blue Rodeo members have been named as the 2012 inductees to the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame.
Blue Rodeo will be bestowed that honour at the 41st annual Juno Awards ceremony on April 1, at Ottawa's Scotiabank Place, and the ceremony will broadcast nationally on CTV.
"We couldn't be more honoured to be going into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. We have always been grateful for our long musical journey above the 49th parallel," Cuddy said in reaction to the announcement.
Cuddy also kicked around with Heritage Minister James Moore in December, when he was invited to perform at a "Canadian cultural evening" in Ottawa.
(Ironically, Cuddy has a brother, Loftus Cuddy, who ran under the Conservative banner in 2004, against the late NDP leader Jack Layton in the Toronto-Danforth riding. Jim Cuddy didn't vote for his brother, apparently.)
For local Cuddy fans, it will be a good start to 2012, as the laid-back singer-songwriter will bring his band to perform on Sunday at Mission's Clarke Foundation Theatre.
With 700 seats and a top-notch sound environment, the Clarke is a perfect venue to enjoy Cuddy and company, since it's intimate enough for the audience to feel close to the performer.
Over the years Cuddy's musical journey has taken him on several successful side trips from Blue Rodeo.
Working with his touring group, the Jim Cuddy Band, he's created albums that highlight his skills both as a writer and as a musician.
Cuddy fronted the gold-selling All in Time album in 1998, followed by the 2006 project, The Light That Guides You Home, which won Juno for Adult Alternative Album of the Year.
The Cuddy band features musicians Bazil Donovan, Colin Cripps, Joel Anderson, Anne Lindsay and Gavin Brown. Last September, they released their third well-received album, Skyscraper Soul (Warner Music Canada).
This was born out of the work Cuddy did for the sound track of his wife Rena's short comedy movie, Four Sisters. Some pieces didn't work for the film but became the foundation for Skyscraper Soul.
It features more sentimental ballads than you might hear with Blue Rodeo, such as Everyone Watched The Wedding, and introspective country soul with the title track, Skyscraper Soul.
Cuddy said he writes for his own band, his songs tend to more personal than what he writes for Blue Rodeo. He gives himself time and space to create those thoughtful lyrics so appreciated by his fans.
"When I write songs I find someplace quiet, close the door, take out a guitar and start going over in my head all the things I have been thinking about in the prior year or so. Eventually as I am strumming, from these thoughts emerge stories. I just follow these stories to their conclusion and put a melody underneath."
He tinkers with various instruments in the studio, building the ideas until a song emerges. Once he has demoed a track and played it for the band, they work on fleshing it out, he explained.
The focus in SkyScraper Soul is on Cuddy, his clear singing voice and acoustic guitar, and no doubt is a hit with fans.
To get a taste of what you will hear on Sunday, go to jimcuddy.com.
Presented by Rock.It Boy Entertainment, the Jim Cuddy Band performs Jan. 8 at the Clarke Theatre, 33700 Prentis Ave., Mission.
Advance tickets are $45 at Ticketmaster locations, by phone 1-885-985-5000 or online at www. ticketmaster.ca.
Doors open at 7 p.m., show starts at 7: 30 p.m.
CToth@abbotsfordtimes.com
www.abbotsfordtimes.com/
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