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Colin Linden | |
|---|---|
 Colin Linden performing withEmmylou Harris in 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Colin Kendall Linden (1960-04-16)16 April 1960 (age 65) |
| Genres | Blues |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter, record producer |
| Instrument | Guitar |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Labels | Yellow Dog,True North,Compass, |
| Website | colinlinden |
Colin Kendall Linden (born 16 April 1960) is a Canadian guitarist, songwriter and record producer. Linden plays acoustic and electric guitar, specializing in slide guitar, country blues, and ragtime fingerpicking, who frequently collaborates withcountry andfolk performers.[1]
He is a member ofBlackie and the Rodeo Kings withStephen Fearing andTom Wilson, and has worked withBruce Cockburn,Lucinda Williams,T-Bone Burnett,Kevin Gordon,Colin James,Emmylou Harris,Leon Redbone,Rita Chiarelli,Chris Thomas King,The Band,Keb' Mo',Charles Esten, andBob Dylan.
| This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Colin Linden" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Linden was born inToronto,Ontario, Canada.[2] When he was still an infant, his family moved toWhite Plains, New York. The ten-year-old Linden heard rock performers in New York venues, such asVan Morrison, theFlying Burrito Brothers,James Taylor,John Mayall,Johnny Winter andTaj Mahal.[citation needed]
When the family moved back to Toronto, Linden became interested in performers such asTaj Mahal,Mississippi Fred McDowell, andHowlin' Wolf. When Howlin' Wolf played at Toronto's Colonial Tavern, the then-11-year-old Linden spent three hours talking with the elder bluesman.[2]
He began performing at a local coffee house, the Fiddler's Green Coffee House, singing and strumming a guitar alongside his two older brothers Jay and Harley. By 1973, Linden began learning how to fingerpick. When Linden metDavid Wilcox, Linden decided to learn how to playslide guitar. Wilcox gave 140 blues albums to young Linden, to help Linden to learn about blues styles.[citation needed]
Paul Mills, the producer ofSylvia Tyson'sTouch the Earth show, at theWinnipeg Folk Festival and an outlet onCBC Radio for acoustic roots music, booked Linden in 1975.[2] At the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Colin metMississippi bluesmanSam Chatmon, and later that year made a pilgrimage to the U.S. to meet South Detroit'sSippie Wallace. North Carolina'sPeg Leg Sam, and Mississippi'sSon House.[citation needed]
In 1976, Wilcox had asked Linden to join his band, the Teddy Bears, which meant that Linden had to learn to play the electric guitar. In 1977, he played solo gigs and did his first western Canadian tour, which was booked byHolger Petersen. In Edmonton, he met then 13-year-oldColin James, also a budding blues performer. In the late 1970s, Linden formed his own group, the Group du Jour, which played a mix of covers and a few Linden originals, and a group called the Lucky Charms, which was featured on his first album "Colin Linden Live!!!!!" (1980).[citation needed] In 1979, Linden recorded the Sam Chatmon album, "Sam Chatmon & His BBQ Boys" (Flying Fish Records).[2]
In August 1980, Linden recorded his albumColin Linden Live! He also played as a sideman forJoe Mendelson,Willie P. Bennett,Gwen Swick, Morgan Davis andAmos Garrett. His second album,Colin Linden and the Immortals was released byStony Plain Records in 1986.[2] Linden has acknowledged the influence of theBand; in the early 1980s, Linden met three of its original members,Rick Danko,Garth Hudson andLevon Helm. Members of the Band contributed to Linden's recordings, and songs like "When the Spirit Comes" got radio airplay and "Miles Away from You" made the rock charts.[1]When the Spirit Comes was released by A & M in 1987. Linden signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell and did producing for Mendelson Joe, Morgan Davis, Jackson Delta and Hans Thessink.[2]
In 1991,Bruce Cockburn recruited Linden as a sideman, and for three-and-a-half years, Linden played guitar for Cockburn. Subsequently, Linden became his co-producer.[3] Linden's blues album of 1993, entitledSouth at Eight, North at Nine, distributed bySony Music Entertainment in Canada,[1] won aJuno Award in the blues and gospel category.[4] Guests on the album included Bruce Cockburn and Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Levon Helm of the Band.[1]
As Linden got more interested in gospel records, he began taking vocal lessons fromBourbon Tabernacle Choir singer Dave Wall, such as breathing and warm-up exercises.[citation needed] In 1996, Linden won a Juno in the blues and gospel category for his producingLennie Gallant'sThe Open Window. Linden co-wroteColin James's hit song "Real Stuff".[5]
That same year, he joined withTom Wilson ofJunkhouse andStephen Fearing to formBlackie and the Rodeo Kings. This band was a tribute to Canadian singer-songwriterWillie P. Bennett. After the albumHigh or Hurtin', onTrue North Records, their second album,Kings of Love, won a Juno.[2]
In February 1998, Linden shared the Maple Blues Producer of the Year award with Colin James.A Tribute to Howlin' Wolf was released by Telarc Records in 1998.[2] In 1999,A Tribute to Howlin' Wolf was nominated for aGrammy Award in the category Best Traditional Blues Album.[6] In 1999, Linden received the Toronto Arts Award.[2]
In 2000, Linden won three Juno awards: in the category "Blues", as the producer ofRay Bonneville'sGust of Wind; in the category "Roots and Traditional: Solo Artist", as the producer of Bruce Cockburn'sBreakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu; And in the "Roots and Traditional: Group" category, as a member of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings.[2] That same year, Linden producedSue Foley'sLove Comin' Down and Paul Reddick and the Sidemen'sRattle Bag.[7]
For the albumBig Mouth, a more acoustic recording, Linden recruitedKeb' Mo', Bruce Cockburn, and other musicians. In 2002,Big Mouth won a Juno for Best Blues Album. That same year, an album Linden worked on,Timeless, won the Grammy for Country Album of the Year.[1] He also co-produced Stephen Fearing'sThat's How I Walk and Bruce Cockburn'sYou've Never Seen Everything. In 2003, a third Blackie and the Rodeo Kings album,BARK, was released, and in 2006 they releasedLet's Frolic andLet's Frolic Again.[2]
In 2003, he had a minor role in the filmIntolerable Cruelty as a singing, guitar playing minister and was featured performing Paul Simon's "The Boxer" during the closing credits.
On 15 July 2013, Linden joinedBob Dylan's band for eleven dates until 3 August 2013 [whenCharlie Sexton rejoined Dylan's band], playing the first show in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was featured on Diana Krall's albumGlad Rag Doll in 2012 and Rhiannon Giddens'sTomorrow Is My Turn in 2014.[citation needed]
Linden has been a main musician, music producer, music director and songwriter for the ABC television show "Nashville" since its inception in 2012. He has performed electric, acoustic and slide guitar on most of the show's recorded musical numbers and appears regularly on screen in many of the live performance scenes.[citation needed] His primary residence has been in Nashville since the late 1990s. Linden performed as part of the house band for aT Bone Burnett–produced gospel music concert at the White House on 14 April 2015.[citation needed] Following the end ofNashville, Linden has been a member of starCharles Esten's band and has toured both the US and the UK with him.
Linden married Janice Powers on 14 February 1988.[8]
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