There must have been something brewing in 1991 when it came to Canadian music. Colin James won the Juno for Single of the Year for his song “Just Came Back”. To win that award, he bested two other Canadian acts that I have profiled separately, Alias (with “More Than Words Can Say”…which you can read about here), as well as Maestro Fresh Wes (with “Let Your Backbone Slide”…which you can read about here). He also triumphed over The Northern Pikes, who, I guess, will have to be profiled at a future date so as to complete the 1991 Juno set. In any case, 1991 also saw Colin James win the Juno for Best Male Vocalist. Over the course of his career, he has won eight Juno Awards in total. Not too bad for a young man from Regina, Saskatchewan, whose name isn’t even Colin James.
Colin James was born Colin James Munn in 1964. Up until his late teens/early twenties, Colin James performed in public under his legal name of Colin Munn. As a teenager, Munn had long been fascinated by the Blues. He was particularly attracted to the Mississippi Delta Blues style played by Bluesmen such as Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and newcomer Stevie Ray Vaughan. Munn dropped out of school in Grade 10 as soon as he was legally able to do so. He focussed solely on his music and soon began to gain a bit of notoriety in the Regina area as an up and coming talent. Munn got his big professional break when one of his heroes, Stevie Ray Vaughan, came to Regina while on a Canadian tour. Vaughn’s opening act canceled at the last second. Promoters of the show came to Munn in desperation to see if he could cobble together a twenty-thirty minute Blues-Rock set. Munn agreed to try. He assembled a group of local session players and took to the stage to open for Stevie Ray Vaughan. The show went well. Vaughan was impressed and invited Munn to join him on stage for his own finale. The two men hit it off. Vaughan asked Munn to open for him on the rest of the Western Canadian leg of his tour. Munn agreed. Vaughan grew to like and respect Munn so much that he even brought him into the United States with him as opening act. It was while in the U.S. that Stevie Ray Vaughan gave Colin Munn a piece of career advice that set the young man on the path to success. Vaughn noticed that whenever announcers were introducing Munn at the beginning of his set, particularly in the deep South of the U.S., they were often slurring his name and making it sound more like “Mudd”. Vaughan asked Munn what his middle name was. Munn replied that it was James. Vaughan told him that Colin James had a much better ring to it than did Colin “Mudd”, and that he should think about changing his name for professional purposes. Munn respected Vaughan’s advice and made the change. From that point on, Colin Mudd performed as Colin James and he has never looked back.
Colin James came into prominence in the Canadian music scene around the same time that singers Bryan Adams and Corey Hart had been ruling the airwaves. His music videos were played in heavy rotation on the nation’s music station, Much Music. Thus, James not only became one of the voices of Canada’s music scene, he became one of the most recognizable faces of that scene, too. He first cracked the Top 40 with a Blues-Rock song called “Voodoo Thing”. The song had a great Bluesy groove, a pulsating rock beat and great sax accompaniment as it paid tribute to the origin of the Blues in the swamps and bayous of the Deep South. In the very popular music video that aired on Much Music, Colin James looked young and handsome clad in a leather jacket as he sang and played guitar while beautiful women danced before him in the audience as if in the throes of a voodoo trance. All in all, with its great music and beautiful people thrashing about, the video seemed almost too sexy to have been Canadian, but it was. (You can watch that video here. There is no lyrics video for this song. Sorry.). In the same way that Bryan Adams and Corey Hart began appearing on the covers of magazines in Canada, marketed as Canadian sex symbols, Colin James found himself in the spotlight as well. And just like Adams and Hart again, Colin James refused to let his looks overshadow his music.
In 1990, James raced to the top of the Canadian music charts with a steady stream of hits, such as “Five Long Years”, “Why’d You Lie?”, “Back In My Arms Again” and the Single of the Year at the Junos, “Just Came Back”. In all of these songs, Colin James straddled the line between Rock and Blues. He was easily becoming the most popular proponent of Blues-based rock in Canada as the 1990s began. It would have been easy for James to have stuck to that formula and continue racking up the hit songs and potential Juno nods, but that was not who Colin James turned out to be. In the end, it was always about the music and about discovering niches in the musical landscape of Canada. Thus, as the 1990s rolled along, Colin James took a career detour and released an album of Swing music. Colin James and His Little Big Band set out to bring a whole new style of music to the bars and hockey arenas of the nation. While Colin James had no Top 40 hits from this project, to this day he will tell you that playing music that got people up and dancing and having fun is what motivated him most. Consequently, James has spent the remainder of his career relentlessly touring as a rock artist who plays his hit songs, as a Bluesman who plays the Blues as well as anyone from the Mississippi Delta, as a Big Band leader with a complete Swing orchestra and even as someone who plays Holiday songs during the Christmas/Hanukkah seasons. Proof of his longevity can be seen in the fact that almost thirty years after receiving his very first Juno award, Colin James received his eighth when he won for Best Blues Album of the Year for Open Road in 2022.
The career of Colin James has been one that has been marked by creativity, innovative planning and, most noticeably, by consistency. He is a rocker, a Bluesman, a proponent of Swing and even a bit of a Country singer, too. However, I think at the end of the day Colin James would be happiest being referred to simply as a music man for that is what he truly is. When you get a chance to link to his website below, check out his tour schedule. I am fairly confident that he will be coming to a club or theatre or arena near you soon. His is a career that has made Canadians from coast to coast to coast proud. I am sure that when he looks at all that he has accomplished over the years, that he is happy with the result, as well. It has been over thirty years and Colin James is still vital, still touring, still releasing new material that is garnering him awards. He is still respected by his fellow musicians and is still performing music that gets people up and dancing everywhere he goes. You can’t ask for much better from a career than that. Well done, Colin James. Well done, indeed!
The link to the official website for Colin James Munn can be found here.
The link to the video for the song “Just Came Back” by Colin James can be found here. ***The lyrics version can be found here.
The link to the official website for the Juno Awards can be found here.
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I am a fan of Colin and have seen him a couple of times, he’s a remarkable talent. I did know he had a relationship with SRV but no idea that is where he got his name or that they were so close.
He just keeps bringing it, year after year. A solid talent, for sure. I have never met him or anything but he seems like a good guy. While I was researching for this post I came across lots of Facebook photos where he is with his family, in restaurants, at BBQs, etc., posting normal stuff just like the rest of us. I don’t know if it a Canadian thing to be so down to earth but, whatever it is, Colin James seems like a good decent guy to me.
From what I’ve heard in interviews (CBC) and his stage persona I think you’re right.
The name and looks of Colin James were immediately familiar. When you noted his blues influences, I remembered that I saw him open for Buddy Guy in April 2022. Here’s a little clip I captured:
That’s our boy! He was always more interested in being a Bluesman than a Pop/rock star. Good show!