BRUCE COCKBURN

One of Canada’s finest artists, Bruce Cockburn, has enjoyed an illustrious career for 40 years shaped by politics, spirituality, and musical diversity. His remarkable journey has seen him embrace folk, jazz, rock, and worldbeat styles while travelling to such far-flung places as Guatemala, Mali, Mozambique, and Nepal, and writing memorable songs about his ever-expanding world of wonders. “My job,” he explains, “is to try and trap the spirit of things in the scratches of pen on paper and the pulling of notes out of metal.”
For his many achievements, the Ottawa-born artist has been honoured with 12 Juno Awards, released 31 albums in the past four decades, an induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, and has been made an Officer of the Order of Canada. But he never rests on his laurels. “I’d rather think about what I’m going to do next,” says Cockburn. “My models for graceful aging are guys like John Lee Hooker and Mississippi John Hurt, who never stop working till they drop, as I fully expect to be doing, and just getting better as musicians and as human beings.”

Bruce Cockburn (pronounced Co-burn) got started in 1969 when Neil Young cancelled his headliner slot at Canada's Mariposa Folk Festival to appear at Woodstock. His knotty, fascinating blend of folk, jazz, and rock, blending progressive and Christian themes, quickly gained a following in Canada, and he had hits stateside with Wondering Where the Lions Are, If I Had a Rocket Launcher, and Waiting for a Miracle. The diverse list of artists who have recorded Cockburn's songs also includes Barenaked Ladies (Lovers in a Dangerous Time), Jimmy Buffett (no fewer than four times), the Jerry Garcia Band, and Ani DiFranco.
Bruce will be hitting the road in September with his band, consisting of Gary Craig (drummer), John Dymond (bassist), and John Aaron Cockburn (accordionist). All three or them are featured on Bruce’s new True North album, Bone On Bone, slated for release September 8th. And for the record, John Aaron is Bruce’s nephew.