“I think Kid Rock is an asshole based on his politics”: Jim Cuddy on songwriting, artistic collaboration and using his platform to speak out

Congrats on your induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame with your creative partner, Greg Keelor. Take us back to the moment you guys met. It was 1971 and we were in high school. Greg had just moved from Montreal to Toronto. He walked into math class with this big afro. He dressed ­differently—sort of a Montreal style—so my friends and I started passing around notes about him. Greg stayed after class, found the papers and realized what we were up to. He wanted to identify his adversaries right away.

You started as foes? We eventually played football together. He loves to tell the story about when he was a defensive end and I was junior quarterback and he decimated me on the field. We ended up running in the same crowds. Eventually, Greg and I and some friends bought a bus and went on an odyssey to see the Rockies. We got really close on that trip.

So that’s when you started writing the soundtrack to my youth. Actually, no. After that trip, I went to study English at Queen’s. My plan was to try music for a year before applying to law school. Greg would come visit. Then we decided to start a band.

And the rest is Canadiana history. That was it. We lived together. We played music in the park. We discovered that our voices went well together. When we formed the band, Greg was insistent that we not perform covers. He wanted us to write our own songs. So that’s what we did.

Do you consider Blue Rodeo Canadiana? I think we are. When the band first formed, “Canadiana” meant writing only about rural issues, which neglected so much of the Canadian experience. We’re lucky that we came along in the ’80s, when home-grown music was exploding. Listeners were tired of absorbing art that was always referential to foreign places: the US, Britain, what have you. Then, all of a sudden, here come people like the Tragically Hip and k.d. lang—artists writing about many aspects of Canadian life. But, if I had to choose a genre for Blue Rodeo, it would be roots music, which is often labelled as Americana, and that’s kind of offensive to me. The Band defined roots music, and four of its five members were born in Ontario. Related: Inside the rise of The Tragically Hip

Looking at your resumé, there’s the Order of Canada, multiple Junos, Canada’s Walk of Fame. What makes your entry into the Songwriters Hall of Fame special? I’ve been very happy with all the accolades Blue Rodeo has received, but this one is special because Greg and I consider ourselves songwriters first. It honours what we’ve worked hardest to be good at. This was the first time where we called each other and said, “Okay, this is pretty good, pretty nice.”

In addition to Blue Rodeo, you front the Jim Cuddy band. Does that scratch a different itch for you? In the late ’90s, Greg left Blue Rodeo to record his first album. We weren’t getting along well at the time. So I tried recording my own stuff with producer Colin Cripps. It was nice to not have two generals. And it took pressure off being in Blue Rodeo. It meant not having to fulfill every creative impulse within one band. I came back renewed.

My theory is that every great band is at some point fuelled by sex, drugs and hedonism. True? We’ve never been an extreme band. We’ve dealt with alcoholism. And there were pot years—not for me, but for the band. It was hard being the non-pot guy. My pulse went at least twice as quickly as everyone else’s. I’d be on stage waiting for the next song, like, Oh, come on.

You raise a good point about artistic partnerships. You have to not hate each other. Do you and Greg have any rules of engagement? We’ve worked hard to get along and accept each other’s differences. Greg is an unusual thinker. I’m traditional. He can be vague. I can be dictatorial. But we’re partners. My 38-year-old son’s first babysitter was Greg.

Let’s talk about process. Elton John focuses on music while Bernie Taupin writes the lyrics; John Lennon and Paul McCartney collaborated closely, at least in the early years. How does it work for you two? Each of us acts as an editor of the other. I remember playing an early version of “Til I Am Myself Again” for Greg, and he created this little chord progression for the solo that kept the rhythm but changed the harmonic structure.

I recently learned that Willie Nelson wrote “On the Road Again” on the back of an airplane barf bag. Dolly Parton wrote “I Will Always Love You” and “Jolene” on the same day. Do you have songs that just materialized like that? “Five Days in May” came together pretty quickly. We were touring in New Zealand and were visiting this beautiful black-sand beach. Our sound man was kneeling down, and I asked him what he was doing. He said, “Oh, I always write my wife’s name in the sand, no matter where I am in the world.” It inspired me to write the song.

Is it true that you wrote “Try” for your mother, Jean? No, but I often dedicate that song to her because she taught high school at Monarch Park Collegiate in Blue Rodeo’s early days. She’d write the CFTR and CHUM phone numbers on the blackboard and ask her students to call in and request “Try.”

The US election is fast approaching. Do you think musicians should use their platforms for politics? In 2015, we released “Stealin’ All My Dreams” about Stephen Harper. We got some blowback, but it was better for us to speak out. It works both ways. I don’t listen to Kid Rock because I think he is a complete asshole based on his political opinions. But, clearly, he’s willing to suffer the consequences of supporting Trump.

You’ve been a summer headliner at Budweiser Stage since the ’90s. Do you realize how much of a tradition it is for so many people? This past summer, I noticed lots of young folks. Their parents probably brought them to our shows over the years, and then it became a ritual. You go, sit on the lawn, listen to the music.

You’ve written some pretty romantic songs. Think there were Blue Rodeo babies in the crowd? That’s an inevitability.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.