The Blue Shadows
| The Blue Shadows | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Canada |
| Genres | Alternative country |
| Years active | 1993-1996 |
| Labels | Bumstead Records, Sony Music |
| Past members |
Billy Cowsill Jeffrey Hatcher J.B. "Jay" Johnson Barry Muir Elmer Spanier |
The Blue Shadows were a Juno Award-nominated Canadian alt-country band that existed between 1993 and 1996, releasing two albums in Canada on Sony Music.
The origins of the group are referenced to Billy Cowsill and Elmer Spanier, who had been performing as The Billy Cowsill Band, playing traditional country songs.
The settled initial group formation was Jeffrey Hatcher and Billy Cowsill as guitarists and principal songwriters, plus bassist Elmer Spanier and drummer J.B. "Jay" Johnson. Spanier left the band in 1993, prior to the release of their first album, and was replaced by Barry Muir, who had previously worked with Barney Bentall and The Payolas. The name of the group, suggested by Hatcher's wife, was based on the song "Blue Shadows On The Trail" by Sons of the Pioneers.
The group was initially managed by Larry Wanagas and David Chesney, who also managed k.d. lang and owned Bumstead Records, through which lang's early recordings were released.
The group was eventually signed to Sony Music. The group's first album, On The Floor of Heaven, released on Bumstead Records and distributed by Sony, was certified gold in Canada, for sales in excess of 50,000 copies. The group generated the interest of U.S. record executives, appearing at South by Southwest in 1994, among other U.S. showcases venues, but did not receive a U.S. record distribution contract. The group also received a 1994 Juno award nomination as Best Country Group or Duo. The group's second album, Lucky to Me was released in 1995 and was followed by regular touring by the band for the year thereafter. Both Blue Shadows albums were co-produced by Cowsill and Hatcher. Having not obtained international record distribution by the end of 1996, the group broke up, amidst "creative differences" which were, as acknowledged by Cowsill, precipitated by Cowsill's drug addictions. Cowsill's addictions impaired his ability to contribute to songwriting meetings with Hatcher, band rehearsals and, ultimately, band performances. The actual end of the band occurred during a three-day layover in Ottawa, Canada, when the band found that its van had crashed into a laundromat, after Cowsill had gone to retrieve a guitar. The band fulfilled its remaining contractual performance obligations, and then disbanded. Cowsill continued for a brief period with another band, using The Blue Shadows name.
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