Happy 60th Birthday Bruce Cockburn!

[MarcO]

The guy is a living legend, imo. I couldn't possibly say enough good things about him except to say, if you don't know, learn.

I have been listening to his music since I was in Grade 7 and I imagine I always will.

[timouse]

happy birthday bruce! what can you say that bruce hasn't already put in to lyrics? way to make 60!

[TimmyB]

Happy Birthday Bruce,

May you have many more in health and happiness.

BTW I can't believe that Bruce Cockburn is sixty years old! He looks great for his age, it must be all that bike riding.

[hamilton]

Hooray for Bruce!

[timouse]

Happy Birthday Bruce,

May you have many more in health and happiness.

BTW I can't believe that Bruce Cockburn is sixty years old! He looks great for his age, it must be all that bike riding.

he claimed in an interview that his secret to stayin young was to continually turn band members over and keep bringing young guys in to back him up...seems to have worked!

[c-towns]

How come no one pronounces his name the way its spelled?

[timouse]

How come no one pronounces his name the way its spelled?

i think canadians are just too polite.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

he claimed in an interview that his secret to stayin young was to continually turn band members over and keep bringing young guys in to back him up...seems to have worked!

I recall him saying something about a "vampiric" attraction to youth....

Bruce is for me the finest guitarist and lyricist that this country has ever produced. Must help to have travelled so much of the world, playing and writing all the way. Yay Bruce! May you live another sixty!

[MarcO]

http://www.truenorthrecords.com/fullstory.php?news_id=85

BRUCE COCKBURN SET TO RECORD HIS FIRST INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM TITLED SPEECHLESS

Jun 02, 2005 - By True North

BRUCE COCKBURN CELEBRITY INTERVIEW AT THE NORTH BY NORTHEAST MUSIC & FILM FESTIVAL JUNE 10, 2005

JUNE 2, 2005 – TORONTO – World-renowned guitar master Bruce Cockburn is getting ready to record his 28th collection of songs for his first ever instrumental recording. The album will be produced by Colin Linden and Bruce Cockburn and is scheduled for a world-wide September/October release.

Pieces are being chosen now, some gems coming from previous albums. SPEECHLESS (The Instrumental Bruce Cockburn) will also include several new songs and recordings.

Instrumental pieces chosen for SPEECHLESS include: Sunwheel Dance, the title track from Sunwheel Dance, (1971) Fox Glove from 1973’s Night Vision, Mistress of Storms from The Charity of Night (1996) and Salt, Sun and Time from Salt, Sun and Time (1974).

On Friday, June 10 at 4PM Bruce will take a different stage when journalist Nick Jennings interviews him for The North by Northeast Music & Film Festival (NXNE) at the Holiday Inn on King Street. The NXNE Festival takes pride in 2005 by celebrating independent success stories. Besides recording 27 albums, writing hundreds of songs, receiving numerous prestigious awards, Bruce is also known as a compassionate ambassador for humanitarian causes world-wide. He has traveled extensively on many fact-finding trips to Cambodia, Vietnam, Guatemala, Kosovo, Nepal, Nicaragua, Mozambique and in January 2004 war-torn Baghdad.

Musicians today aspire to be able to record their music how and when they want to, and hope they can make a long-standing respectable career out of it. Bruce Cockburn does just that and has done so for over 35 years. He has always remained true to himself, his music, his values and his views.

Bruce will be presenting Alanis Morrisette with her Walk of Fame Award on June 5th and is taking part in the White Ribbon Concert (Ending Men’s Violence Against Women) at The Phoenix Concert Hall in Toronto on Tuesday, June 7.

---------------------------------------------

tour dates:

12 November 2005

Heritage Theatre

Brampton, Ontario. Canada.

18 November 2005

London Covention Centre

London, Ontario. Canada.

21 November 2005

Markham Theatre

Markham, Ontario. Canada.

23 November 2005

Brock U ­ Centre for the Arts

St. Catharines, Ontario. Canada.

25 November 2005

Sanderson Centre

Brantford, Ontario. Canada.

26 November 2005

Oakville Centre

Oakville, Ontario. Canada.

27 November 2005

Kiwanis Theatre

Chatham, Ontario. Canada.

28 November 2005

Centre in the Square

Kitchener, Ontario. Canada.

[AdamH]

He is great, absolutely fantastic and that's all there is to say about that.

Before people start making fun of the earring period, best be checkin out his first two albums!

[c-towns]

wow, chatham ontario, I hope Mr.Cockburn is ready to party.

[Calamity Jane]

oh yeah -- I missed this post first time around, so I'm glad to see it back. Cockburn has always held a magical place in my heart for 2 reasons: I absolutely love him as a superb storyteller-lyricist (can anyone top him? I'm open to suggestions. We've seen him *almost* as much as the GD and he never fails to impress & inspire!)

Also, I love him as a fellow "world-traveller" and particularly his songs about places Dave & I have actually been (like "Tibetan Side of Town" about Katmandu. Nepal.)

When travelling, Dave & I always had a wide selection of music and Cockburn never failed to bring other Canadians 'out of the woodwork' whenever we'd play him in Guest House common areas.... what a great way to bond with fellow travellers!!!

Even though I gush about his lyrics, I'm really excited about "Speechless." I hope he had a spectacular 60th, full of joy and happy relfection!!!

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Am I reading it right that the old tunes are to be re-recorded? If that's the case, I'll hijack the truck off the highway.

I remember one time a couple of years back when he played at the Phoenix (at least I think it was the Phoenix) that he did a long instrumental bit in 12/8 that was very evocative, clearly, of GD's The Other One. He made a point of saying it was a work in progress and that it had no title. I hope that's on the album too. But it doesn't matter. I'm sure I'll eat it all up.

[MarcO]

LIVE: Bruce Cockburn Shines At White Ribbon Fundraiser

Wednesday June 08, 2005 @ 05:00 PM

By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Phoenix Concert Theatre Tuesday June 7, 2005

Toronto, ON

By David McPherson

http://www.chartattack.com/DAMN/2005/06/0812.cfm

As his powerful performances at last night's White Ribbon Campaign concert confirmed, veteran singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn shows no signs of slowing down.

Despite equally electric performances by the likes of Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy and the Barenaked Ladies, no one could match the 60-year-old's stage presence and collaborations at this annual benefit to raise awareness and money to stop violence against women.

Early in the evening, the Canadian icon was spotted hanging out with Hawksley Workman in the VIP area. Not surprisingly, Workman was the first artist Cockburn shared the stage with around 10:30 p.m. Workman said that he got into singing because of Cockburn, and playing electric guitar to Cockburn's acoustic, the two harmonized and played a rousing version of "Tokyo."

Later, Cockburn shone on his own, with a display of fine finger picking on the bluesy Blind Willie Johnson number "Soul Of A Man" and the folksy Pete Seeger cover "Turn, Turn, Turn." The latter received a standing ovation. Finally, the Barenaked Ladies joined Cockburn near the end of the evening for "Lovers In A Dangerous Time."

The eighth annual event has only one rule: all artists must sing cover songs (except for warm-up act Shawn Hewitt who kicked off the night around 8:40 p.m. with a short set of originals). The 2004 NXNE Fan Choice Award winner mixed a variety of styles, from psychedelic rock to jazz and soul and showed why he won over audiences last year. The highlight was "Firefly," a soulful song he dedicated to "the beauty of women."

Royal Canadian Air Farce newcomer Jessica Holmes hosted the event. While she tried to get laughs from the audience, most of her delivery fell flat. This wasn't an issue though, since people didn't come to the Phoenix to see an improv sketch — they came for the music. And, there was plenty of that with more than three hours of tunes by some of Canada's best-loved musicians.

One of the many highlights on this night of surprises was Matt Mays' two-song acoustic set. Sporting a Cincinnati Reds baseball cap, the East Coast surf bum and rocker mellowed the minds of those in attendance. Sitting centre stage, cross-legged on a stool, armed with only his guitar and harmonica, Mays showed that while he's currently in loud mode with his bandmates in El Torpedo, the songwriter has a softer side. Mays paid homage to JJ Cale, admirably covering his "13 Days." A little later, Sarah Slean, alone at the keyboard, sang an ethereal version of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock."

Next to Cockburn's covers, the other major highlight was Cuddy, who was joined by Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson and ex-Doughboy John Kastner for a hometown homage to Neil Young. "Alex suggested that we play this acoustic, but I said no way," said Cuddy before the trio scorched through the Zuma classic "Don't Cry No Tears."

Once again, the White Ribbon show was a memorable night of music with the added bonus that even more money was raised for a great fundraiser that started here in Toronto and is now put on in more than 40 countries around the world.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Thanks, MarcO - wish we could have taken that in. Guess there's a fall tour for Bruce, at least, to look forward to. Cheers to the White Ribbon campaign, though - sounds like they're doing things well, given that governments are still perennially too lame to deal with where funding needs to go. At least we're not still under Harris et al., where the chokehold on women's organisations hit absurd levels (and, by all accounts, theatrically[i/] absurd levels...).