Renowned veteran musician Colin James was in Whitehorse this week for two performances at the Yukon Arts Centre.

Sold-out well in advance, the shows were part of a national tour titled Upclose, Personal & Slightly Unplugged.

Unlike his usual mode of touring, which involves being accompanied by a big band, for these shows, James either played alone or with just one or two other guitarists.

With 10 albums to his name spanning a 25-year career, James is a six-time Juno award-winner known for his soulful vocals and blues-influenced guitar mastery.

At the age of 18, while in Regina, he captured the attention of guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughn, who decided to take him on the road through the Canadian prairies and later the United States.

Born in 1964, James first visited the Yukon at the age of 13 in 1977. Then, during the winter of 1983, he came and spent two weeks with his band playing nightly at the former Sluice Box in Whitehorse.

Since then, he's returned to play at the Dawson City Music Festival and in 2000 for an event held on Marsh Lake.

Playing alongside him on the tour is long-time friend and collaborator Craig Northey.

A founding member of the rock band The Odds, which released four albums in the 1990s, Northey is perhaps best-known for writing the theme song for the hit television show Corner Gas.

Through his association with other artists, Northey has played on more than 40 albums.

James explained how he and Northey came to work together.

'People said, Hey, you should work with Craig,'' he said. 'We got together and I was writing a song and I was having trouble coming up with a chorus.

'He came over and we spent two or three hours and got a great song. It ended up doing really good on the radio.'

Northey echoed these sentiments.

'We got together years ago,' he said. 'We had a shared interest in R&B music.

'He came out to see me at a gig to steal the drummer and we ended up talking and then writing together. He's very funny and genuine, and we have a great time.'

Writing music has never been one of his strongest points, confessed James.

'I've always been a player first and then writing came later for me,' he said.

'I find the hardest thing about writing songs is being in a room long enough with someone to fail and then to not fail.

'Back in the early '90s, when I had my big American record deal, I'd get sent down to Los Angeles and I'd meet with somebody who had some track record because he'd just written a hit song, and we'd end up in a room together for an uncomfortable six to eight hours and then that'd be it. I learned to hate it; I loathe it.

'In Craig, I found someone I could just sit with and hang and spend the time.'

Northey agreed.

'We became friends almost instantly,' said. 'So we've been working together as much as we can, whenever we can, since.'

The idea for the pair to tour together came came from James' manager.

'He pushed me into it,' said James. 'He thought it'd be good for me and it's been a really positive experience for me.'

With a full band, it's easy to just keep playing, he said.

'I never talk to the audience much and in this kind of intimate situation, you really do have to let down your guard and relax,' he explained. 'It's really good training in people skills and that's half of putting on a show.'

Northey agreed, and management nudged them together for the tour.

'This idea of doing a tour together was because we had written all these songs together over the years; his manager told him, Wouldn't that be cool?'' he said.

Though there was reluctance at first, the result has been a big success.

'Like you saw tonight, it's gone like that all the time,' said Northey. 'Lots of people come out. They understand within a few songs what's going on and then it's about listening to these songs and hanging out with us for a couple hours.

'It's fantastic.'

Sitting in with the pair on several of the songs was Brian Gibney, a member of the tour's technical crew.

'He's mostly a guitar techie,' said James. 'But we started getting him out because he's a good player.'

Northey has been in the territory at least twice before once to play at the Dawson City Music Festival in the 1980s and then later, in Whitehorse, on tour with the The Odds in 1996.

'I love it up here. Why wouldn't you want to come?' he asked rhetorically. 'It's an adventure; it's that kind of place, fascinating and beautiful.'

The pair is also sponsoring an international aid group, World Vision, said Northey.

'We're getting kids sponsored too for World Vision, which is fantastic makes you feel good. Whitehorse is one of the record-setting towns. The generosity of the people here has been great.'

Founded in 1950, World Vision is an international Christian relief and development organization whose stated goal is 'working for the well-being of all people, especially children.'

Working on six continents, World Vision is one of the largest Christian relief and development organizations in the world, with a $2.6-billion budget (2007).

Though billed as an acoustic and unplugged show, the performance was anything but. Every song was amplified and much of the performance was deafeningly loud, with both James and Northey, at times, switching to electric guitars.

James also played mandolin on a few songs and occasionally, Gibney sat in with an acoustic guitar to add a backing rhythm.

As the name suggests, though, the shows were personal and up close, with James and Northey seemingly in reach of the audience.

Between songs, the pair would tell stories and jokes, making the evening flow with an even more casual nature.