Blue Rodeo, the band group of the two singer-songwriters who have fronted since 1984, had been on hiatus when it came to recording. Keelor’s solo album, Share the Love, was released in 2020. They were still doing the occasional show, but the band hadn’t published a record since 2016’s 1000 Arms.
In 2016, the two-song leaders went their separate ways for a while. Keelor’s health was the basis for the breakup. The recording of that album had been a slog, and the tour to support it had been especially difficult for Keelor, whose tinnitus had gotten so severe that the ringing in his ears caused painful migraines while he was on the road. His tinnitus has worsened as a result of sound exposure. While they were on tour, the buzzing in his ears gave him migraines, so he decided to take a break. When he arrived home, he was in a bad mood, unsure of what the future contained for one of Canada’s most legendary bands.

The pandemic struck, making the likelihood of recording even more improbable. Cuddy was surprised when Keelor called him in early 2021 and suggested creating another Blue Rodeo record. He used the pandemic downtime to heal and create separately at a studio in Cobourg, Ont. Cuddy had also been composing for the past year because the pandemic had prevented him from performing with Blue Rodeo or the Jim Cuddy Band. He’d taken up residence on his rural farm north of Toronto, where he’d had a prolific period of writing.

That’s how Blue Rodeo’s 16th studio album, Many a Mile, came to be. Cuddy and Keelor ended up reducing the latter’s contributions, and the 12 songs are split pretty evenly between the two songwriters, as with every studio album since the band’s 1987 debut. The record, released on December 3rd, sounds very much like vintage Blue Rodeo. The folky and nostalgic When You Were Wild, which also opens Many a Mile, was the first song Keelor recorded with Bowskill during those 2020 sessions.
While this album may have brought Blue Rodeo back from the edge, neither Cuddy nor Keelor is willing to speculate on the band’s long-term prospects.