After releasing his great Chasing The Sun album earlier in 2024, musician Colin James continues to be on fire thanks to the album’s second single, “Protection” (feat. Lucinda Williams). James says a music video was shot in Nashville recently for the song, and a certain someone makes a special appearance in it.
“This song was written by Lucinda, and I was so, so happy that she agreed to sing on it and join us for the video shoot as well,” James says. “She is a treasure. Hope you enjoy!”
Williams, who wrote the track, originally recorded “Protection” for her 2014 double-album Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone. The cover, meanwhile, came together near the end of the album recording. “When I first had to sing it, she was on the couch in the listening room, and I didn’t know she was coming over that early,” James told Canadian journalist Terry David Mulligan in an August 2024 episode of the Mulligan Stew podcast discussing “Protection.” “I hadn’t even sung the song yet because it was a late choice for us. ‘Protection’ was at the last minute.
“We were going to do a song of hers that was much quieter, much more really played down and sad. I think we decided we needed tempo. So, (co-producer) Colin Linden phoned me one morning and said, ‘What about ‘Protection’? Do you know it?’ I said, ‘I think I know it.’ We listened to it, and I said, ‘Oh, I think it would be awesome!'” After James and Williams had a “nice dinner,” Williams ended up singing on the track the following day.
The video release is the latest big news for James, but not the only feather in his proverbial cap. Chasing The Sun, released on Stony Plain Records, has topped the Roots Music Canada Album Chart for eight weeks. The album, co-produced and co-arranged by James and Colin Linden, was released in late August and has been steadily gaining new fans and listeners ever since.
With a new music video for “Protection,” a chart-topping studio album in Chasing The Sun and an extensive Canadian tour slated to start next February, the only thing currently hotter than the sun might be Colin James.
Colin James 2025 Tour Dates:
January 24, 2025 Lyric Theatre, Stuart, FL
February 7, 2025 National Arts Centre, Ottawa, ON With Terra Lightfoot
February 8, 2025 Grand Theatre, Kingston, ON With Terra Lightfoot
February 9, 2025 Empire Theatre, Belleville, ON With Terra Lightfoot
February 11, 2025 Centre In The Square, Kitchener, ON With Terra Lightfoot
February 12, 2025 Centennial Hall, London, ON With Terra Lightfoot
February 14, 2025 Massey Hall, Toronto, ON With Terra Lightfoot
February 15, 2025 FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Hamilton, ON With Terra Lightfoot
February 16, 2025 Capitol Centre, North Bay, ON With Terra Lightfoot
February 18, 2025 Community Auditorium, Thunder Bay, ON With Terra Lightfoot
February 20, 2025 Burton Cummings Theatre, Winnipeg, MB With Terra Lightfoot
February 21, 2025 Casino Regina, Regina, SK With Terra Lightfoot
February 22, 2025 TCU Place, Saskatoon, SK With Terra Lightfoot
February 24, 2025 EA Rawlinson Centre for the Arts, Prince Albert, SK With Terra Lightfoot
February 26, 2025 Grey Eagle Event Centre, Calgary, AB With Terra Lightfoot
February 27, 2025 Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton, AB With Terra Lightfoot
March 1, 2025 Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver, BC With Terra Lightfoot
March 3, 2025 Royal Theatre, Victoria, BC With Terra Lightfoot
March 4, 2025 Port Theatre, Nanaimo, BC With Terra Lightfoot
March 8, 2025 Mount Baker Theater, Bellingham, WA