Giving all the good stuff
Bob Bossin’s back with rich release Database of 6,000 fans finances CD
“ If you look directly at the trouble you’re in, it doesn’t mean you have to have a bad time,” says Canadian folk music veteran Bob Bossin by way of summarizing “ The Roses On Annie’s Table” — the title track of his first CD in 12 years.
“ The idea came to me when I went to hear David Suzuki speak, and he said: ‘ I’m 68 years old, and the question that haunts me is: what are we leaving our children?’
“ Well, I thought about it, and it seems to me there are some things worth leaving, not that our personal stuff diminishes Suzuki’s vision.” The Roses On Annie’s Table, a remarkably rich and insightful album dealing with personal and universal issues in a witty and gentle way, was produced by Vancouver avant-garde songwriter Veda Hille. The album was financed — as several of Bossin’s albums have been in the past — with $ 25,000 in contributions from the 6,000-name database of fans he’s been collecting since he and Toronto singer- songwriter Marie Lynn Hammond and fiddle/ mandolin star Ben Mink started the eternally popular folk outfit Stringband, in 1972.
“ I haven’t done a studio album in 12 years and I was feeling guilty,” says Bossin, who’s performing tonight at Hugh’s Room.
“ And everything has changed so much in that time. There’s no such thing as 3- inch audiotape any more. I have no idea of Protools and digital recording technology, and I’ve always needed the discipline of another voice, even if I decide to ignore it.”
Hille’s most recent album, The Return Of The Killdeer, is a Bossin favourite and though the two musicians had only met a couple of times, she agreed to take charge of Bossin’s sessions.
“ I wasn’t looking for someone who’d make the material commercial — I’m coming from a different place and so is Veda. This was a real collaboration.”
It was a payback, as well, for the $ 1,000 Bossin had lent fledgling artist Hille to press her first release a decade ago. A master at the independent music game, Bossin is often credited with inventing the template that the vast majority of Canadian roots musicians now use to finance, record and promote their work.
“ Music isn’t a business, it’s a relationship,” he says. “ If people like your music, they generally want to help out . . . it’s their way of making their own cultural expression. When I put out the call for money for this CD, the first response I got was from ( former Ontario NDP premier) Bob Rae, who offered a sizeable cheque.
“ I have no problem doing it this way. If someone offers $ 500, I let them know they’d paid for the barbershop quartet I need for one track. If someone gives me $ 100, I thank them for the tuba player.
“ I’ve learned to live very frugally. I’m a single dad with two kids, 6 and 12, and on the island there’s no place to spend money. I removed myself from the music business a few years ago and supported myself as a freelance writer,” he says.