A Conversation with Colin Linden (continued)

PM: [laughs] I can't remember which of my friends it was, but somebody recently told me, "Frank, the first time I ever met Colin Linden he was like twelve years old playing his ass off at a festival, billed as Howlin’ Wolf, Junior."

CL: Well, there are a few people who would have said that. I know quite a few people who I knew when I was a kid. Al Bunetta being one of them, that might have been it, or John Prine. I’ve known those guys--or David Bromberg.

PM: I haven't talked to any of them lately. But all of those people would know. So Bromberg is an old crony of yours?

CL: Yeah. I haven't seen him in years and years, but I knew him when I was a kid. He was very encouraging to me, very good to me, so yeah, we go back a long way.

PM: I certainly saw him a lot in my teens and stuff, too. And he was very important in our lives.

CL: And he was one of the first guys to talk about me to the press and stuff like that. Him and John Hammond were really helpful to me when I was a kid.

PM: Amazing. I didn't understand until I read some on your site today that--I considered you a Canadian, but actually you bounce back and forth between Toronto and White Plains.

CL: All my life I've been crossing that border. I was born in Toronto, but I was one year old when we moved to White Plains. And then my folks split up when I was about seven, and I came back to Canada just before I turned eleven. So all my life I've kind of felt fifty percent Canadian, fifty percent American.

PM: So who better than you to describe what's the difference, if it can be described, between the American and the Canadian scene, like being a musician in one place or the other?

CL: Well, America is so much bigger, there are just so many more places to play. The audience is so much larger. And there's a whole lot more stuff on the bottom and a whole lot more stuff on the top. In Canada, it's a little bit more in the middle. It's hard to describe. But there's a much smaller scene, and that has pros and cons to it as well.

It means that you have access to--at least you used to be able to have access to major labels, and you could kind of rub shoulders with the business if you weren't as well known. Because the scene was smaller, there were fewer people involved. The thing that's cool about that is that artists who are on the fringe could get some coverage in the major label world, and it was less like, "Oh, how will I ever get my tapes to the important guy?" And so business is a little bit more accessible in Canada. In America, there's just more of everything.

PM: Even though there are so many fewer people in Canada, I mean, just the great acts coming out of Toronto alone, to me, is staggering. There are so many good ones.

CL: Over the years that's true. I don't know what's going on now so much. I'm a little out of touch lately, but there probably still are some good people. But Toronto has become a much more corporate city over the last ten, fifteen years. So I think it's less conducive to having roots music do as well.

PM: I see. I'm still a huge Sexsmith fan, always have been.

CL: Oh, man, he's amazing. He's one of the greatest songwriters walking the earth right now, I think.

PM: It's incredible that he still hasn't gotten the attention that he deserves, like so many great people.

CL: That's true. I think--sorry, there's stuff going on here--Ron is really terrific.

PM: So Bark has taken off bigger than anything else so far, of the Rodeo Kings albums. I know you've all had successes of different levels solo, but do you think, the way it's going now, that Blackie & the Rodeo Kings is helping your solo careers, or is it going to take them over to some extent, or...?

CL: Well, it has taken a little time away from the other stuff, but if there's an interesting avenue to pursue, you take a look at it. I'm not one who thinks exclusive too much, I like to think inclusive.

PM: Right.

CL: So it seems to me that everything helps everything as long as it's positive. If you're out there playing music for the right reasons and having a good time doing it, and knowing when to say "Okay, time to move on to something else," all of this just helps add to the whole, to the overall vision you have of your music and to your overall development.

PM: I agree. So I'm going to talk to The Sadies later today, as you know. And I'll send your regards.

CL: Thank you.

PM: Oh, you bet. I'm looking forward to that. And I had a note the other day from Cara Luft of the Wailin' Jennys. She said to say hello to all you guys

CL: Oh, she's the sweetest. I like them so much. They're such great gals. We've done quite a few festivals with them, and we love them.

PM: That was a really amazing record, that Forty Days. [see our review, and check out our interview with Nicky Mehta of the Wailin' Jennys]

CM: Oh, man!

PM: You bet. It's fabulous.

Well, thanks for your time at Cracker Barrel today, because that helps me flesh out what I had going on.

CL: If there's anything else, you've got my number, give me a call.

PM: Okay. Take care, Colin.

CL: You too, Frank. Bye-bye.

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