Blue Rodeo, a rock group, was formed in 1984 by high school friends and songwriters Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor. After playing as the high-energy pop group the HiFi's and the New York-based Fly to France, Cuddy and Keelor returned to Toronto and recruited self-taught jazz pianist Bobby Wiseman, bass guitarist Bazil Donovan, and drummer Cleave Anderson. Beginning in clubs along their hometown's Queen Street, Blue Rodeo delivered a melodic blend of folk, rock and country marked by Beatle-esque harmonies.
The group's debut recording, Outskirts (1987), included the plaintive top-10 Canadian hit "Try," which was sung by Cuddy. The subsequent albums Diamond Mine (1989), Casino (1990), Lost Together (1992), Five Days in July (1993) and Nowhere to Here (1995) have collectively sold more than 1.5 million copies in the wake of steady concert touring throughout North America and Europe. Following a number of personnel changes, the band's lineup in the mid-1990s comprised Cuddy, Keelor, Donovan, drummer Glenn Milchem, keyboardist James Gray, and multi-instrumentalist Kim Deschamps (who was replaced in 1999 by Bob Egan).