Bruce Cockburn, one of Canada’s most revered and respected songwriters and musicians, is returning to Peterborough this fall as part of a North American tour supporting his new record.
The September 25th concert at Showplace Performance Centre (290 George St. N., Peterborough, 705-742-7469) also features Hamilton’s Terra Lightfoot, who will be opening with a solo performance.
Tickets for the show, the debut concert in Folk Under The Clock’s 31st season, are $58 (includes HST and a $3 service fee) and go on sale Friday, April 7th, at the Showplace Box Office or online at www.showplace.org.
The 71-year-old Cockburn is releasing his new record, Bone On Bone, on September 8th. His first release since 2011’s Small Source of Comfort, Cockburn says “there’s a lot of rhythm on this album”, with blues, Latin folk, and a “touch of jazz”.
Produced by Colin Linden, Bone On Bone also features bassist John Dymond (Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, k.d. lang, Wilkinsons), drummer Gary Craig (Blackie and the Rodeo Kings), and Cockburn’s nephew and accordionist John Aaron Cockburn. All three musicians will be backing Cockburn during his tour.
Born in 1945 in Ottawa, Cockburn started playing guitar as a child, playing along to the music of Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry. After leaving high school, he travelled around Europe busking (he was arrested in Paris for performing without a license). When he returned to Canada, he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston for two years before dropping out. Back in Ottawa, he met local poet and musician Bill Hawkins, who encouraged Cockburn to write his own songs.
In 1969, after years of playing in area bands and honing his chops, Cockburn decided to pursue a solo career.
Then living in Toronto, he met Bernie Finkelstein. who helped Cockburn create his first solo record in 1970 — the self-titled Bruce Cockburn. Finkelstein eventually became his manager and Cockburn was the first artist he signed to his True North record label (where Cockburn remains to this day, although Finkelstein sold the label in 2007).
The year 1969 was also when Cockburn encountered musician David “Fox” Watson, who would become a major influence on Cockburn’s guitar-playing style. Cockburn was performing with Colleen Peterson at a coffeehouse at the University of North Carolina where he met Watson, who performed fiddle tunes on guitar using a fingerstyle technique. Cockburn was already playing fingerstyle, but he also absorbed Watson’s technique; he named “Foxglove”, his most well-known fingerstyle tune, after Watson.
Over the next four years, Cockburn released an additional four records: High Winds White Sky, Sunwheel Dance, Night Vision, and Salt, Sun And Time. He also scored music for the iconic Canadian film Goin’ Down the Road .
In 1974, Cockburn converted to Christianity — although he was more spiritual than evangelical, his religious beliefs would prove to be a major influence on his future lyrics as well as his social conscience.
VIDEO: “Wondering Where The Lions Are” – Bruce Cockburn
In 1979, Cockburn had his first hit with “Wondering Where The Lions Are” from Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws. When he performed the song on Saturday Night Live in 1980, he found a wide U.S. audience.
This was also when he divorced from his wife of 21 years, and Cockburn’s sound moved away from folk towards electrified rock.
After a 1983 trip to Central America as a representative for Oxfam, where he witnessed Guatemalan refugee camps in Mexico being attacked by Guatemalan military helicopters, he wrote “If I Had A Rocket Launcher” on Stealing Fire. It became his second hit, receiving heavy radio play throughout the U.S. and Canada. It has since become a staple of activist music.
In the 1990s, Cockburn returned to his folk roots, writing more introspective and roots-rock music, recording another hit with “Last Night of the World” from 1999’s Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu.
VIDEO: “If I Had A Rocket Launcher” – Bruce Cockburn
VIDEO: “Last Night of the World” – Bruce Cockburn
In all, Cockburn has written more than 310 songs on 31 albums, selling more than seven million records worldwide. He’s won 13 Juno Awards, the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award, nine honorary doctorates, the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
In 2011, Canada Post issued a Bruce Cockburn stamp. Pacing the Cage, a documentary film about his life, music, and politics was released in 2013. His memoir, Rumours of Glory, was published by Harper Collins in 2014.
Cockburn has been an influence for many musicians, and his songs have been covered by artists such as Barenaked Ladies, Jimmy Buffett, Anne Murray, Ani DiFranco, k.d. lang, and many more.
Acoustic guitarists like the late Michael Hedges and Canada’s own Don Ross were inspired by Cockburn’s fingerstyle playing, particularly by instrumental tunes from earlier in his career like “Foxglove”, “Sunwheel Dance”, “Cader Idris”, and “Islands In A Black Sky.”
The Ottawa Folklore Centre even published a much-sought-after collection of Cockburn guitar tablature in 1986, called All The Diamonds – Selected Songs from 1967-1979, reprinting it again in 2013. Unfortunately, the book is out of print again as The Ottawa Folklore Centre went bankrupt and closed its doors in 2015.
VIDEO: Acoustic Guitar Sessions Presents Bruce Cockburn
Most recently, Cockburn hosted the 2017 Juno Songwriters’ Circle at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on April 2nd — where the audience greeted him with a standing ovation — before joining Juno nominees Chantal Kreviazuk, Colin Linden, Daniel Caesar, Donovan Woods, Lisa LeBlanc, and Paul Murphy for a series of performances. The sets from this concert are being broadcast on CBC Radio this week.
Cockburn, who currently lives in San Francisco, is also well known as a social activist. He has visited Mozambique, Nepal, Vietnam, Baghdad, Nicaragua, and Guatemala to protest refugee camps, landmines, and Third World debt. He has been tirelessly vocal in support of native rights, the environment, the promotion of peace, and has highlighted the work of Oxfam, the UN Summit for Climate Control, Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, and Friends of the Earth.
In February 2017, singer Kris Kristofferson presented Cockburn with the Folk Alliance International conference’s inaugural People’s Voice Award, in recognition of Cockburn’s role in social and political commentary. While accepting the honour, Cockburn took the opportunity to encourage other musicians to protect free speech under the Donald Trump administration.
“It seems evident that the current administration is not much interested in democracy … they are trying to stifle opposition across the board by a range of means. Looks to me like they’re just getting started. Who will end up being the last line in the defence of truth? Maybe you and me. It doesn’t mean we can’t sing love songs, but if you think you can keep your head down and ignore the political side of things, it’s liable to be waiting for you with a blackjack in the alley when you come out the stage door.”
“We could be in for a rough couple of years. We may get tired, but we have to keep singing, keep sharing.”
Terra Lightfoot
Opening for Cockburn at the September 25th show in Peterborough is Hamilton singer-songwriter Terra Lightfoot (no relation to Gordon) in a solo performance.
Previously a member of the alt-country band Dinner Belles, Lightfoot’s solo career took off with the release of her acclaimed sophomore record Every Time My Mind Runs Wild in 2015. Her soulful roots-rock sound is evident in that record’s hit, “Never Will”, which was shortlisted for the 2016 SOCAN Songwriting Prize.
VIDEO: “Never Will” – Terra Lightfoot
Since the release of that album, Lightfoot has toured relentlessly across North America, the UK, and Europe, playing hundreds of live dates. She’s performed alongside Emmylou Harris, Gordon Lightfoot (again, no relation), Ron Sexsmith, Built to Spill, Guided by Voices, The Both, Albert Lee, James Burton, Grace Potter, Bettye Lavette, Blue Rodeo, Randy Bachman, The Sadies, The Wood Brothers. and Daniel Lanois.
She received a Road Gold certification from the Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA), an honour reserved for artists who sell at least 25,000 concert tickets within a 12-month period.
VIDEO: “Lily’s Fair” – Terra Lightfoot
In February, Lightfoot released her new album Live In Concert, which features orchestral arrangements of her original songs, through collaborations with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada. Those collaborations were staged and recorded in two hour-long shows on one night at McMaster University’s LIVELab, where Lightfoot was joined by special guest John-Angus MacDonald of The Trews.
As for supporting Bruce Cockburn on his current tour, that opportunity likely arose from the Vancouver Folk Music Fest in July 2016, when she performed just before he did.
“Bruce is an incredible talent and an amazing force live,” Lightfoot writes on her Facebook page. “I’m thrilled to now be joining him on tour.”
VIDEO: “No Hurry” – Terra Lightfoot
