After a couple weeks delay due to an immigration problem at the border, The Jim Cuddy Band made it down from Toronto for a well received set at The Tralf Music Hall on May 17th. Touring in support of his latest solo release The Light That Guides You Home, Cuddy is out for a handful of dates before returning to work with Blue Rodeo. This time out he is assisted by fellow Blue Rodeo members Bob Packwood and Bazil Donovan on keyboards and bass respectively, Colin Cripps on guitar, Joel Anderson on drums and Anne Lindsey on violin. Playing a mix of solo and Blue Rodeo songs the two hour set featured something for everyone. Bright spots included "Too Many Hands", "I'll Make Believe" a song Cuddy co wrote with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and "Falling". A duet with Lindsey on "Married Again" brought a loud response from the crowd as did "The Light That Guides You Home" both from the new CD. Blue Rodeo favorites included "Til I Am Myself", a duet with opener Justin Rutledge on "Bad Timing" and a blistering "Trust Yourself". The transcendental moment came during the Blue Rodeo classic "Five Days In May". Always a great song to hear live Cuddy and the band took it to new heights with some brilliant melodic interplay. Each musician was giving time to solo and explore the melody and offer their interpretation. Lindsey took advantage of this to offer a classic performance as she simply played till she had sawed thru her bow and coaxed everything from her violin. Encores included "Stagger In", "Truscott" and "I Could Never Be That Man". Opener Justin Rutledge offered a brief twenty minute set that featured some nice song compositions but suffered without a backing band to bring some punch to the songs themselves. For more on Jim Cuddy go to www.jimcuddy.com or www.bluerodeo.com. For more on upcoming shows at The Tralf Music Hall go to www.tralfmusichall.com