[1] He is a member of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings with Stephen Fearing and Tom Wilson, and has worked with Bruce Cockburn, Lucinda Williams, T-Bone Burnett, Kevin Gordon, Colin James, Emmylou Harris, Leon Redbone, Rita Chiarelli, Chris Thomas King, The Band, Keb' Mo', Charles Esten and Bob Dylan.

The ten-year-old Linden heard rock performers in New York venues, such as Van Morrison, the Flying Burrito Brothers, James Taylor, John Mayall, Johnny Winter and Taj Mahal.

[citation needed] When the family moved back to Toronto, Linden became interested in performers such as Taj Mahal, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Howlin' Wolf.

[citation needed] Paul Mills, the producer of Sylvia Tyson's Touch the Earth show, at the Winnipeg Folk Festival and an outlet on CBC Radio for acoustic roots music, booked Linden in 1975 .

[2] At the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Colin met Mississippi bluesman Sam Chatmon, and later that year made a pilgrimage to the U.S. to meet South Detroit's Sippie Wallace.

Members of the Band contributed to Linden's recordings, and songs like "When the Spirit Comes" got radio airplay and "Miles Away from You" made the rock charts.

Linden signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell and did producing for Mendelson Joe, Morgan Davis, Jackson Delta and Hans Thessink.

[1] As Linden got more interested in gospel records, he began taking vocal lessons from Bourbon Tabernacle Choir singer Dave Wall, such as breathing and warm-up exercises.

[citation needed] In 1996, Linden won a Juno in the blues and gospel category for his producing Lennie Gallant's The Open Window.

[2] In 2003, he had a minor role in the film "Intolerable Cruelty" as a singing, guitar playing minister and was featured performing Paul Simon's "The Boxer" during the closing credits.

[citation needed] Following the end of Nashville, Linden has been a member of star Charles Esten's band and has toured both the US and the UK with him.