Canadian legend Bruce Cockburn coming to Kelowna this weekend
Sitting down for a morning chat with Canadian music legend and member of the Order of Canada, Bruce Cockburn, it felt like meeting Canadian Royalty. I sensed a gentle smile and silent chuckle as I clumsily admitted I lost track of time due to the fact I had prepared myself for our interview far too early, then decided to read another chapter of Prince Harry’s book SPARE. We took a moment to chat about that. Cockburn admitted he was not one to read celebrity sensationalism or even want to, but in the circumstance of the moment, said he felt empathy for the prince, surmising that “he seems like a nice guy who fell in love with a pretty girl and now getting a raw deal because he wants to tell his side of the story.”
Cockburn expressed relief that his own tabloid experiences were gentle waves compared to the tsunami of invasive gossip this royal couple is having to endure.
As we moved through conversational topics and his own current affairs, I got the sense that this 77-year-old Canadian multi-platinum recording artist does not rest on his laurels but continues to create new music and is excited to start a 20-date concert tour of the U.S. and Canada, stopping at the Kelowna Community Theatre to perform on Sunday, Feb. 5.
This tour was supposed to happen in 2020 with 100 dates, celebrating 50 years as a recording artist and coinciding with the release of a greatest hits album curated from his 34 recordstrong discography. But, due to a world-wide pandemic, that tour was cancelled, until now.
The greatest hits double album has a total of 30 songs that takes listeners on a chronological journey from his first single, “Going to the Country” (1970) to the last song on the disc 2, “States I’m In” (2017), showcasing his range of musical styles – from folk, blues, gospel, jazz, and echoes of funk, reggae, pop and rock.
Each song has a liner note written by Cockburn himself. We spoke about those memories that surfaced while penning the paragraphs of memorable anecdotes pertaining to each song. He also confided that a brand new album will be released in May with fresh music and lyrics – which proves the point that Cockburn continues to be a tour de force in the record music business with no warning of slowing down.
Bruce Douglas Cockburn was born in Ottawa, Ont. on May 27, 1945. Interested in music as a young boy, he learned to play clarinet and trumpet in school, but it wasn’t until he was 14 years old that he concentrated his
musical efforts on guitar, piano, and music theory. While at Berklee College of Music in Boston, studying jazz composition with guitar as the instrument, Cockburn realized that music was his future but the path he was on was the wrong one.
After two and a half years at school, he moved back to his hometown, and “fell in” with a few musicians; one being Peter Hodgson (best known today as Sneezy Waters). “Sneezy opened me up to a whole new world of folk guitar playing that I was not aware of and we did a lot of playing together,” says Cockburn.
“Playing music with these guys, listening to Dylan, The Beatles and other writers of the era, and my love for writing poetry was the intuitive realization that this was the road I needed to take,” said Cockburn.
By the end of ’60’s Cockburn had enough songs to make his first record and needed to relieve himself of this music so he could “empty his vessel and fill it with more,” thinking naively that was how the creative process worked.
As luck would have it, he bumped into his friend Gene Martynec, at a coffeeshop in Yorkville and confessed he was itching to make a record. Martynec’s band, Kensington Market, had recently broken up and he was looking to get into the production side of music, so they hatched a plot to work together, and knowing that ex manager Bernard Finkelstein wanted to start a record label, aka; True North – the timing was perfect, and the stars aligned.
The budget was obtainable because Bruce didn’t want a huge production and costly extras, he just wanted his
art on vinyl.
Cockburn’s debut album of the same name was released in 1970 through True North Records and is still the only label Cockburn has ever released music through.
A career that continues with accolades to include Inductee into the Canada’s Walk Of Fame (2021), Canadian Songwriter and Canadian Music Hall of Fame (2017), Winner of Folk Alliance’s People’s Voice Award, as well 13 Juno awards from more than 30 nominations. Labelled as “the voice for our conscience,” Cockburn consistently highlights environmental, social, and indigenous issues and puts his lyrics where his heart is by supporting various causes, highlighting the work of Oxfam, the UN Summit for climate control, and the international campaign to ban landmines, among others.
He has toured and conducted factfinding trips in Mozambique, Nepal, Vietnam, Baghdad, and Guatemala. He holds nine honourary doctorates and is a member of the Order of Canada. I asked him about these accolades and honours and as a reply he says “they are humbling and pleasing but they are not the essence of why I create … but the affirmation feels good!”
Bruce tells me that he has been to Kelowna numerous times and the Okanagan was always a favoured destination, adding “its such a beautiful route, I love it there.”
Bruce Cockburn will be at the Kelowna Community Theatre, Sunday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased by calling the KCT box-office at 250-469-8940 or in person at the theatre, located at 1375 Water St., Kelowna.