Colin James


Colin James is a Canadian rock and blues singer and songwriter.

Biography

Early years

James was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. He got his break opening for Stevie Ray Vaughan in Regina in 1984. When the scheduled opening act didn't show, he only had a few hours' notice to put together a set of blues standards with members from the local Regina band "Flying Colours". Vaughan invited Colin to perform with him during the encore, and then join his tour as a permanent opening act. He and his band The Hoodoo Men opened for Vaughn for several tour dates in the United States. According to legend, Vaughan himself suggested the stage name "Colin James", because when announced over arena P.A. systems, "Munn" sounded like "Mud". James also played guitar on Richard Marx's song "Thunder and Lightning".

Rock, swing and blues career

In 1988, following his association with Vaughan, James released his self-titled debut album, which yielded several international hit singles, as did the follow up Sudden Stop. He presaged the mid-1990s swing music revival with his Colin James and the Little Big Band project, which released a successful first CD in 1993, with a follow-up gold record in 1998, a third disc 2006, and a Christmas album in 2007.
James's worldwide popularity waned somewhat in the late 1990s, but he continued to release albums in rock, blues, and acoustic styles. In 2005, he gave a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to his home province of Saskatchewan.
James' backing band frequently includes members of the Vancouver-based band Odds, and he has co-written songs with Odds singer-guitarist Craig Northey. In February 2005, James guest-starred in an episode of the television program Corner Gas, a Canadian sitcom based in rural Saskatchewan.
In 2007, James' album Limelight received a Gold record for sales in Canada. In January 2008, James received three Toronto Blues Society Maple Blues Awards: "Entertainer of the Year", "Electric Act of the Year" and "Recording of the Year" for Colin James & The Little Big Band 3.
In 2009, James recorded an album, and amongst the collaborators were Tom Wilson, once of Junkhouse. The album, Rooftops and Satellites, was co-produced, engineered and mixed by Mike Fraser, at the Warehouse studios in Vancouver.
James' 2016 album Blue Highways spent 10 weeks at No.1 on the Roots Music Report's Blues Chart following its debut, and appeared in Living Blues magazine's Top 50 albums of that year. Its follow-up, Miles To Go, was released in September 2018, to equal acclaim entering the top 10 blues charts in Canada, USA, UK and Australia.

Discography

Studio albums

Television appearance

James made a cameo in the Canadian television program Corner Gas, Season 2, episode 15, which was originally broadcast on February 21, 2005.

Juno Awards

James has been nominated for 17 Juno Awards, winning six of them.

Wins

Colin James has been nominated for, and won, 20 Maple Blues Awards, between 1997 and 2018