From the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada to sharing the stage with arguably the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time, Colin James still remembers the words of advice given to him by the late, great, Stevie Ray Vaughan, “I’m opening doors for you –walk through them.”

Colin James has taken those words to heart. His career has spanned over 30 years, with a track record that includes 20 studio albums, 8 Juno Awards, 31 Maple Blues Awards and multi-platinum record sales. His 2021 release, Open Road, for which he won a 2022 Juno Award for best Blues Album and was nominated for Blues Foundation 2023 best Blues Rock Album, is a celebration of personal connections. It includes original tunes written with long time collaborators such as Colin Linden, Craig Northey and Tom Wilson and reinterpretations of covers by a diverse group of songwriters including Bob Dylan, Albert King, Tony Joe White and others.

Colin was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2013.

Over the years Colin has worked with some of the world’s most revered artists including, Bonnie Raitt, Albert Collins, Pops Staples, Robert Cray, Albert King, Keith Richards, Lenny Kravitz, ZZ Top, Mavis Staples, Luther Allison, Roomful of Blues, Bobby King and Terry Evans, John Hammond Jr., The Chieftains, Carlos Santana, Little Feat, Johnny Hallyday, Jeff Healey, and Buddy Guy.