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.
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