Welcome to the church of Colin James! I've been hard to convert but I finally see the light. Hallelujah! Never being a huge Blues fan Colin James' music has never really caught my radar. Sure it's hard to deny that his more Pop oriented hits like "Just Came Back," "Five Long Years," and "Voodoo Thing" are catchier than fly paper but somehow up until now our path's have never crossed. His latest album 'Traveler,' a smorgasbord of different styles and inspirations kind of stopped me in my tracks and made me wonder if maybe I've missed out on something big here. First, there has been this stereotype that James had this special allegiance to the blues. That's partly true, "When I was a younger kid I loved the Blues" says the guitarist, "That's all I wanted to hear and when I was sixteen up until twenty-five, I was a purest and anything else was bullshit to me." The Vancouverite told me he wanted more on his plate. "I love the Blues but if someone told me that all I was going to sing were Muddy Waters songs for the rest of my life I'd cry! I love him to death but you have to grow." This new album represents a more mature and open performer. Sure, the Blues fans will enjoy his take on John Lennon's "I'm Losing You" which was one of the highpoints of the former Beatle's last album "Double Fantasy." Other highlights on the album include "Sky Diving" a tune about unfulfilled dreams and too tight boundaries and "I Know What Love Is" featuring a tasty bluesy, gospel textured chorus. If you don't tap your toes to the latter, you're dead! James started off sounding a little country fried on "You and Whose Army" a tale of the human spirit and pure old fashioned resilience. "Know How to Love You" features the singer in a Gospel/Soul mode and that's truly breathtaking and a true example of a matured singer - you can really feel this one. While Rock radio is playing the Lennon cover, James for the first time is being played on Adult Contemporary radio with the single soul retro "Make a Mistake." James was pleasantly surprised, "For me at this point of my life to reach out to people that may or may not have followed me makes me happy." As good as this album is the truly brilliant moment comes on "Black-Eyed Dog" an old tune from the late Nick Drake about "the universal language of death." It's simply breathtaking and a crowning achievement in this singer's long career. "We just kind of sat down got into the vibe, closed all the windows, lit some candles" says James. "I know it sounds a little hippie dippie but we really tried to get there to that special spot." This song is so good it's scary on many different levels. "It does have a spooky lyric and my kids won't listen to it," James says laughing. Because of the way the tune was mic'd up it had to be done in one take with no inserts, "When the song ended everyone was kind of in a trance. It's probably because we were all concentrating so hard not to make a mistake." The old fans should love it and the new fans will finally understand hoopla around the church of Colin James! - by John Beaudin