James Gregory Keelor, OC (born Francis McIntyre; August 29, 1954) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as a member of the band Blue Rodeo, where he shares song writing and vocal duties with Jim Cuddy. Keelor has also released three solo albums and appeared as a guest musician on albums by Crash Vegas and Melissa McClelland. He participated, along with Rick White and members of The Sadies, in the supergroup The Unintended.
Greg Keelor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | James Gregory Keelor |
| Born | August 29, 1954 Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record producer |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Website | gregkeelor |
Early life
editKeelor was born Francis McIntyre in Inverness, Nova Scotia, on August 29, 1954.[1] Though he didn't know until adulthood, his birth parents had put him up for adoption. Keelor was adopted at age three and raised in Montréal.[2]
Keelor attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute, and it was there that he befriended football teammate Jim Cuddy in 1971. After graduation, Keelor, Cuddy and a group of college friends, in search of adventure, traveled to Western Canada in a rundown old school bus. The bus broke down in Saskatchewan, and Keelor somehow or another ended up in Lake Louise where he worked for a time. It was in Lake Louise that he learned to play the guitar and first considered a career as a musician.[2]
Career
editKeelor has been friends with Jim Cuddy since both attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute high school. When they both had finished university, they decided to form a band which they called the Hi-Fi's, along with Jim Sublett on drums and Malcolm Schell playing bass. The band released a single in 1980 featuring "I Don't Know Why (You Love Me)" and on the B side "Look What You've Done". The record was not a big commercial success, though, and when they couldn't get a record deal in Toronto, they headed off to New York City.[3] A while after returning to Toronto from New York, Keelor and Cuddy formed Blue Rodeo.
Keelor is also a producer, having co-produced Blue Rodeo's Lost Together and solo-producing Cuff the Duke's albums Way Down Here and Morning Comes.
Keelor also composed an original soundtrack for the 2010 Canadian Western comedy Gunless.[4]
In 2000, Keelor and Blue Rodeo bandmate Jim Cuddy were the recipients of the National Achievement Award at the annual SOCAN Awards held in Toronto.[5]
In 2013, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada along with Jim Cuddy, "for their contributions to Canadian music and for their support of various charitable causes".[6]
In 2018, he contributed the song "Unprovable" to the compilation album The Al Purdy Songbook.[7]
In 2024, Keelor and Cuddy were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.[8]
Discography
editAlbums
edit| Year | Album | CAN |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Gone | 95 |
| 2005 | Seven Songs for Jim | |
| 2006 | Aphrodite Rose | |
| 2010 | Gunless- The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
| 2010 | Down and Out in Upalong (with Travis Good and Gordon Pinsent) | |
| 2018 | Last Winter | |
| 2021 | Share The Love |
Singles
edit| Year | Title | CAN AC | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | "White Marble Ganesh" | 44 | Gone |
Music videos
edit| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | "White Marble Ganesh" | |
| 2018 | "City Is A Symphony" | Christopher Mills |
| 2021 | "Wonder" | Michael Hurcomb |
Producer
edit| Year | Title | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Way Down Here | Cuff the Duke |
| 2011 | Morning Comes | Cuff the Duke |
| 2014 | Kitchen Knife | Devin Cuddy Band |
References
edit- ^ "Bio – Greg Keelor". Archived from the original on February 25, 2002. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- ^ a b "Greg Keelor". Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- ^ Panontin, Michael. "Review of Hi-Fi's I Don't Know Why (You Love Me)". canuckistanmusic.com. Canuckistan Music. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
- ^ "Blue Rodeo- Better Off As We Are". Exclaim Magazine. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
- ^ "2000 Socan Awards | Socan". Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
- ^ "Governor General Announces 90 New Appointments to the Order of Canada". December 30, 2013.
- ^ "Canadian poet Al Purdy inspires songs by Jason Collett, Sarah Harmer and more" Archived February 3, 2019, at the Wayback Machine. Now, January 22, 2019.
- ^ David Friend, "Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame: Sarah McLachlan, Tom Cochrane inducted". Global News, September 29, 2024.
External links
edit- Greg Keelor official website
- Greg Keelor at IMDb
- Greg Keelor discography at Discogs
- Entry at canadianbands.com Archived October 21, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
- Entry at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca