Former Odds singer/guitarist Craig Northey is serving as the musical accompanist for comedy troupe Kids In The Hall on its Tour of Duty 2002 North American tour, which wraps up at the end of May.
"This is the first time they've had a musician with them on tour," says Northey, who has also been enlisted for a few skits. "There's so much music in Kids In The Hall stuff. It's a real multi-media type of show."
Northey has worked with The Kids before. He scored the comedians' feature film debut, "Brain Candy", as well as Kid member Bruce McCulloch's directorial debut, "Dog Park". He also produced, played on, and did some co-writing on McCulloch's latest album, "The Drunk Baby Project", a collection of tone poems, songs, and musings.
"There's also so many sketches and characters that Kids In The Hall have done over the years that use music," Northey says.
Northey adds that most of the material in the live show is performed on guitar or MIDI guitar, some with pre-recorded tracks. "I wrote all the stuff for it, other than a few needle-drop elements to the show, when I can't do something. I also play a piece of a song ("Giddy Up") from my record at one point."
His record is entitled "Giddy Up", and marks the first solo album from a member of Odds, the band he sang in, wrote for, played guitar in, and co-produced from 1990 to 2000. The eight-song release features a host of musicians, including Vince Jones (Sarah McLachlan), David Gamson (Me'Shell NdegeOcello), Blair Packham (The Jitters), and Keith Scott (Bryan Adams).
His latest bandmates -- bassist Doug Elliott and drummer Pat Steward (Odds), who play with Northey in instrumental R&B project Sharkskin (along with keyboardist Simon Kendall of Cowboy Junkies and Doug And The Slugs) -- also make an appearance.
Northey had been piecing together the album over the last year or so. "The Cash Brothers asked me to go out on this songwriter tour -- with Jason Plumb from The Waltons, Jenny Whitely, me and them, and I didn't really have anything (ready)," recounts Northey. "(But) the September 11 (tragedy) happened at the same time, and my plans -- I've been a songwriter back and forth into Los Angeles -- fell apart at that point, and I had some time.
"It gave me a bit of a push there, so I cobbled it together. I took things that I had been working on as demos and finished them off and brought them with me on this tour".
The Kids In The Hall -- Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, Scott Thompson, and McCulloch -- are allowing Northey to sell "Giddy Up" at the merchandising table on the Tour Of Duty shows. It had previously been available only through his web site (www.craignorthey.com) where, he happily reports, it has sold hundreds of copies over the last two months with no promotion.
"I guess people were waiting for something," he says.
Odds released five albums over its career: two for Zoo/BMG, 1991's "Neopolitan" and 1993's "Bedbugs"; followed by three for Warner/Elektra, 1995's "Good Weird Feeling", 1997's "Nest", and the 2000 compilation "Singles Individually Wrapped".
Since leaving Odds, Northey has been playing with Sharkskin, whose CD is also available through his website. He also played on, co-wrote, and co-produced Colin James' 2001 album "Fuse", and toured with him for most of last year.
In addition, he has been busy co-writing with such artists as Rosanne Cash, Wide Mouth Mason, Damhnait Doyle, Paul Hyde, ex-Toad The Wet Spocket's Glen Phillips, and ex-Gin Blossoms' Jesse Valenzuela.
In other words, his solo career kept taking a back seat.
"I figured I'd do it backwards," he explains of recording and releasing 'Giddy Up' independently. "And then The Kids asked me to do this (tour), I thought, well, this will be a good chance to let people know that (the album) exists. I'm going to be out there in all the cities in North America for nine weeks. I might as well let people know I have something.
"I'd love someone to pick it up," he adds. "I've been down the road of being on a couple of different labels, but I'll take this opportunity to find someone at least to distribute it in a wider way than I can. It would be nice to see it in stores and get better pictures taken so I don't look so like it's the second cup of coffee."
