I got another glimpse into the music industry on Tuesday, August 21st, when I was given the chance to attend the recording of a televised concert for CMT, a Canadian country music television station. The featured artist was Colin James, which to me was interesting only because I associate Colin with a sub-genre of rock that mixes swing and blues and not with country. He has always been a versatile musician, capable in many categories, but having gone to the show and listened to his new CD, “Fifteen”, I’m still not sure I’d put a country label on him.
We were escorted up to the rooftop of the Corus Quay building, with breathtaking views of the downtown Toronto skyline in front of us and lake Ontario and the islands to the side. It was a perfect August evening, with its gorgeous sunset and moon sliver both bringing colour to the fading sky. The producer gave us all kinds of directions, from emergency procedures to reminders that we would likely be on camera at any given point during the recordings—no nose picking or grotesque facial expressions please!
Technically, the stage had all sorts of different colour schemes for every song, and it never got boring to see the banks of lights change from number to number. Colin James also kept his guitar handler busy with an instrument rotation at every song. There were five cameras working the crowd and the stage at all times, including a jib, which is essentially a camera on a moveable arm that resembles the part of a sailing ship that it is named for.
Once we were herded to the centre of the audience area—no spectators off to the useless side!—our job was to hoot and holler at appropriate times and display enthusiasm for the set list. That part was easy, mainly because the show itself was featuring his new material and some familiar older hits, all of which I liked. What was more difficult was to stand for the better of two hours on a hard cement floor, especially when numbers had to be repeated because of audio problems or delivery mistakes from the band. That was the truly interesting part—watching the band work through new numbers live on stage, missing their cues or messing up their lyrics because they are likely fresh out of the studio and not quite well-rehearsed enough to know their new material inside and out. There was a huge contrast between the new songs and their more familiar standards, which were performed flawlessly. One song needed three run-throughs before the producer was satisfied, and this “redoing” was sometimes a bit tedious. One number I didn’t mind hearing more than once was the beautiful “Shed a Little Light” by singer-songwriter Foy Vance. I’m familiar with him due to his connection to Pete Townshend’s “In the Attic” podcasts, and I was only too happy to have a few listens of the song.
The one thing that made the repetition less boring was Colin James himself. He is so comfortable on stage and such a natural performer that he can laugh at his screw-ups and poke fun at himself. There were many self-deprecating jokes bandied about after he made mistakes, and the audience clearly appreciated his good humour before having to listen to a song more than once. In the end, the two hours passed rather quickly, and we were quite satisfied by the mini-concert we got to enjoy. I am now looking forward to seeing the final product, just to compare what I experienced last night to what the television audience will see and hear.