Early years Linden was born in
Toronto,
Ontario, Canada. For the album
Big Mouth, a more acoustic recording, Linden recruited
Keb' Mo', Bruce Cockburn, and other musicians. In 2002,
Big Mouth won a Juno for Best Blues Album. That same year, an album Linden worked on,
Timeless, won the Grammy for Country Album of the Year. He also co-produced Stephen Fearing's ''That's How I Walk'' and Bruce Cockburn's ''
You've Never Seen Everything. In 2003, a third Blackie and the Rodeo Kings album, BARK
, was released, and in 2006 they released Let's Frolic
and Let's Frolic Again''. 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.
2010s On 15 July 2013, Linden joined
Bob Dylan's band for eleven dates until 3 August 2013 [when
Charlie Sexton rejoined Dylan's band], playing the first show in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was featured on Diana Krall's album
Glad Rag Doll in 2012 and Rhiannon Giddens's
Tomorrow Is My Turn in 2014. Linden has been a main musician, music producer, music director and songwriter for the ABC television show "
Nashville" since its inception in 2012. He has performed electric, acoustic and slide guitar on most of the show's recorded musical numbers and appears regularly on screen in many of the live performance scenes. His primary residence has been in Nashville since the late 1990s. Linden performed as part of the house band for a
T Bone Burnett–produced gospel music concert at the White House on 14 April 2015. 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. ==Personal life==