BY STEVE MARTINDALE
For Salt Spring Film Festival Society
Fans of Jim Cuddy won’t want to miss the award-winning new documentary Blue Rodeo: Lost Together screening at ArtSpring on Wednesday, Jan. 22, as part of the Salt Spring Film Festival’s popular Best of the Fests series.
Blue Rodeo clearly has a rabid fan-base here on Salt Spring, as Jim Cuddy’s performance in April as part of ArtSpring’s 25th Anniversary Festival sold out so fast that a second show was added — which sold out even more quickly.
Guided by the unmistakable voices of Cuddy and Greg Keelor, this electrifying journey into the heart and soul of one of Canada’s longest-running and most beloved bands delivers an unfiltered, often hilarious, and deeply moving account of their 40-year journey.
Toronto’s Queen Street West in the mid-1980s was a gritty, vibrant scene where a band with no label and no fans started making waves. Almost overnight, Blue Rodeo became the talk of the town. They weren’t just making music; they were creating a whole new Canadian music scene.
Rewinding over half a century to North Toronto Collegiate where it all began — when two high school football players sparked a creative partnership and a lifelong friendship — this is the story of how Blue Rodeo defied the odds to become Canadian music legends.
A celebration of the unbreakable bond between high school buddies who formed a legendary musical collaboration and together reshaped the sound of a generation, Blue Rodeo: Lost Together is a must-see for fans and a story that will resonate with anyone who believes in the power of music to bring people together.
Featuring interviews with such Canadian luminaries as Sarah McLachlan and Eric McCormack, this lively retrospective, which won the Audience Award for most popular film at last month’s Whistler Film Festival, is co-presented by Salt Spring Music Events.
The Best of the Fests series continues in February with two more screenings at ArtSpring on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.: award-winning Cree filmmaker Tasha Hubbard’s new film Singing Back the Buffalo on Feb. 5; and Fairy Creek, a new documentary chronicling the Ada’itsx Valley anti-logging blockades, presented by filmmakers Jen Muranetz and Sepehr Samimi on Feb. 19.
Tickets are $14 each and available through ArtSpring, online, by phone and at the box office.