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Crowing Ignites receives Juno nomination

12 March 2021 – Bruce’s 2019 all instrumental release Crowing Ignites has been nominated for a Juno award in the Instrumental Album of the Year category.

Bruce Cockburn - Crowing Ignites cd jacket

The other nominees are:
Movements III – Blitz//Berlin
Eleven Words – David Foster
Volume 1 – Flore Laurentienne
Prior Street – Gordon Grdina

The 2021 Juno Awards will be broadcast nationwide Sunday, May 16, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBC Music, CBC-TV, CBC Gem and CBC Radio One, and globally on CBCMusic.ca/junos. While Toronto is the official Juno host for the awards’ 50th anniversary, the broadcast will be presented to an at-home only audience, with filming taking place at several locations across the country.


Bruce Cockburn won his 13th Juno for Bone On Bone

Bone On Bone JUNO Award

Hi, Really excited to tell you that Bruce Cockburn won his 13th Juno last night for “Bone On Bone”. It won for Top Contemporary Folk Album of the Year. A little backstory for you. Bruce won his first Juno in 1971 and his latest in 2018. That’s a span of 47 years. To put it in perspective, someone like Beaches (great band,) who just won their first Juno in 2018 will have to win again in 2065 to do what Bruce has just done. Now I know I’m biased and love Bruce, but I also like baseball and it’s love of stats, and let me tell you that’s a pretty amazing stat. Congratulations Bruce and everyone who worked on the album. So well deserved. ~Bernie Finkelstein


“Bone On Bone” has been nominated for a JUNO award

Hi, I’m happy to announce that Bruce’s album “Bone On Bone” has been nominated for a JUNO award in the “Contemporary Roots Album of the Year” category. It’s Bruce’s 33rd nomination. He’s won 12 to date. Here’s a stat to contemplate and is fun to think about. Bruce got his first JUNO nomination in 1971 (he also won that year). So getting a nomination in 2018 means he’s been getting nominated over a period of 47 years now. Wow.

To put that in some perspective, for an artist who is getting their first nomination now in 2018, to do what Bruce has done, it would mean that they would have to get nominated again in 2065. Think about that. I hope I’m around to see it happen. ~ Bernie Finkelstein


5 things you missed at the 2017 Junos Songwriters’ Circle – audio

April 6, 2017 – The JUNO Songwriters’ Circle has been recorded. You can listen to the audio.

The Junos Songwriters’ Circle is always a lot of fun, with big-name and newer artists sharing the stage to tell the stories behind their songs before playing them.

At this year’s Junos, Bruce Cockburn hosted the Sunday afternoon event at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre in two sessions: first up was Colin Linden, Lisa LeBlanc and Wintersleep’s Paul Murphy; then Chantal Kreviazuk, Daniel Caesar and Donovan Woods took over.

The show was a delight, and if you couldn’t attend, fear not: you can listen to both sets here.

Below, read on for five things you missed at the songwriters’ circle — aside from the music.

1. Everyone’s love for Bruce Cockburn

“Many of the greatest times of my life have been standing two or three feet away, to Bruce Cockburn’s right,” joked Colin Linden after Cockburn kicked off the set with “Lovers in a Dangerous Time.”

By the end of the afternoon, Cockburn had made both Linden and Kreviazuk cry with his performances — “Is there a tissue?” Kreviazuk asked — and invited LeBlanc to teach his five-year-old daughter to play “You Look Like Trouble (But I Guess I do Too)”.

“I’ve had nightmare dreams about Bruce Cockburn singing that [‘Wondering Where the Lions Are’], Chantal Kreviazuk singing that [‘Surrounded’], and then having to go after that, it’s like literally terrifying,” confessed Woods before his first song. The whole thing was just a big love fest.

To continue reading, visit this link.

Credit: CBCMusisc.ca

Related Links: Jewel of the Junos – Songwriters’ Circle


Songwriters' Circle - backstage view - photo Jack Ross
Songwriters’ Circle – backstage view – photo Jack Ross

‘Jewel of the Junos’ – Songwriters’ Circle

April 3, 2017 –

Bruce Cockburn takes part in Juno Songwriters' Circle - photo Patrick Doyle - The Ottawa Citizen
Bruce Cockburn takes part in the Juno Songwriters’ Circle at the NAC in Ottawa on Sunday, April 2, 2017. Patrick Doyle / The Ottawa Citizen

Every song has a story.

Singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn came home to Ottawa Sunday to host what’s dubbed the “jewel of the Junos” at the National Arts Centre, bringing together established stars and up-and-comers to explore what he called the “mystery” of the craft.

“Nice to have an excuse to be back in Ottawa,” the capital-born Cockburn, 71, told the sold-out crowd at Southam Hall, which greeted him with a standing ovation before he’d sung a note.

With him for the 2017 Juno Songwriters’ Circle were nominees including Chantal Kreviazuk, Colin Linden and Wintersleep’s Paul Murphy plus the powerful singer-songwriter Donovan Woods, Acadian newcomer Lisa LeBlanc and 21-year-old R&B phenom Daniel Caesar.

“I don’t get here often enough,” Cockburn said, adding that he’d decided to perform some “old ones.”

Cockburn reached back into his catalogue to play hits like Lovers in a Dangerous Time, inspired by the “innocent and lovely” fumblings towards romance of his then pre-teen daughter, now a mother of four, amid the Cold War, AIDS crisis and environmental degradation of the 1980s.

He launched into the beautiful, menacing first bars of If I Had a Rocket Launcher after explaining its inspiration was hearing the first-hand accounts of Guatemalan refugees who’d fled savage attacks, the song’s helpless rage amplified by Linden’s haunting slide guitar.

Bruce Cockburn takes part in the Juno Songwriters Circle-2-photo - Patrick Doyle The Ottawa Citizen
Bruce Cockburn takes part in the Juno Songwriters’ Circle at the NAC in Ottawa on Sunday, April 2, 2017. Patrick Doyle / The Ottawa Citizen

Another classic song and Cockburn hit was born in Ottawa. It was the late 1970s and Cockburn’s cousin, then a Canadian spy, told him over a dinner in Hull that amid the skirmishes of China and Russia, they could all wake up tomorrow to the end of the world.

“This is a guy who knew what he was talking about — it kind of spoiled dessert,” Cockburn said.

But the next day,”Ottawa was still here,” and as he drove along the Queensway, Cockburn began Wondering Where the Lions Are, which became a Top 40 hit in the U.S. and so familiar to his fans much of the NAC crowd sang along word for word.

Colin Linden and Bruce Cockburn take part in the Juno Songwriters Circle - photo Patrick Doyle The Ottawa Citizen
Colin Linden and Bruce Cockburn takes part in the Juno Songwriters’ Circle at the NAC in Ottawa on Sunday, April 2, 2017. Patrick Doyle / The Ottawa Citizen

Bruce introduces Buffy Sainte-Marie as the recipient of Humanitarian award – JUNO 2017

April 1, 2017 – Buffy Sainte-Marie was presented with the Alan Waters Humanitarian Award at the 2017 JUNO Awards by Bruce Cockburn.

Bruce Cockburn introduces Buffy Sainte-Marie - JUNO2017
Bruce Cockburn introduces Buffy Sainte-Marie – as Alan Waters Humanitarian Award winner – JUNO2017

Here is the video – presentation starts at 3:27:28-

Bruce Cockburn presenting Buffy Sainte-MarieHumanitarian award JUNO - photo Alan Neal
Bruce Cockburn presenting Buffy Sainte-Marie with Alan Waters Humanitarian Award – JUNO 2017- photo Alan Neal
Bruce Cockburn presenting Buffy Sainte-Marie Humanitarian award JUNO 2017 - photo Alan Neal
Bruce Cockburn presenting Buffy Sainte-Marie with Alan Waters Humanitarian Award – JUNO 2017 – photo Alan Neal
Colin Linden - Buffy Sainte-Marie - Bruce Cockburn - JUNO 2017 - photo -True North Records
Colin Linden – Buffy Sainte-Marie – Bruce Cockburn – JUNO 2017 – photo – True North Records


Bruce Cockburn to host 2017 JUNO Songwriters’ Circle at National Arts Centre in Ottawa

March 24, 2017 – The JUNO Songwriters’ Circle has been moved to Southam Hall and there are tickets available. Ticketmaster.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 22, 2016 –
Tickets to ‘Jewel of JUNO Week’ benefiting MusiCounts are ON SALE NOW!

TORONTO, ON – The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) announced today that Ottawa native, 12-time JUNO Award winner, Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee, and music legend Bruce Cockburn will host and perform at the 2017 JUNO Songwriters’ Circle, to be held in the NAC Theatre at the National Arts Centre on Sunday, April 2, 2017 from 12pm to 2pm EST.

Bruce Cockburn hosting 2017 JUNO SongWriters' Circle

Update March 13, 2017 – The rest of the lineup for the Juno Songwriters’ Circle has been announced.

Joining previously announced host Bruce Cockburn, the Ottawa-born songwriting icon, on stage at the National Arts Centre theatre on April 2 are six of this year’s nominees: Chantal Kreviazuk, who’s vying for the best adult contemporary album, blues nominee Colin Linden, Daniel Caesar, up for R&B/soul recording of the year, songwriter-of-the-year contender Donovan Woods, contemporary-roots hopeful Lisa LeBlanc and Wintersleep’s Paul Murphy, whose band is competing for adult alternative album of the year.

The Songwriters’ Circle has been moved to Southham Hall and you can buy tickets at – Ticketmaster. You can hear the concert on CBC radio in the coming weeks. The first set will be broadcast at 2 p.m. April 7 on CBC Radio 1 and 7 p.m. April 10 on CBC Radio 2. The second set airs at 2 p.m. April 14 on Radio 1 and at 7 p.m. April 17 on Radio 2.

Money raised goes to MusiCounts, the music education charity that supplies music students with instruments.

lsaxberg@postmedia.com

Credit: OttawaCitizen.com – Lynn Saxberg@postmedia.com.

JUNO Songwriters’ Circle is an intimate and interactive concert benefiting MusiCounts, Canada’s music education charity associated with CARAS that works to keep music alive in schools and communities across Canada. Co-presented by SOCAN (The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers) and Yamaha Canada Music, in association with the Canadian Music Publishers Association, this event is considered the “Jewel of JUNO Week,” and will feature some of Canada’s most talented songwriters, performing their songs and sharing the stories behind them.

Tickets to the 2017 JUNO Songwriters’ Circle go on sale on November 24 at 10am EST at www.ticketmaster.ca, the National Art Center Box Office or by phone at 1-888-991-2787. Tickets are available for $49.50 and $59.50 (plus taxes and service fees), with proceeds supporting MusiCounts.

“I’m honoured to have been asked to host the Songwriters’ Circle during JUNO Week 2017 in Ottawa. This one-of-a-kind showcase will offer people a unique look into the raw emotions and art of storytelling that come with songwriting,” said Cockburn. “I’m also pleased to participate in an event that supports MusiCounts and the work they do for school music programs across the country. These programs have a huge impact on fostering our future artists and developing a creative youth within Canada.”

JUNO Songwriters’ Circle will be available for streaming through CBCMusic.ca and will also be broadcast on CBC Radio One and CBC Radio 2. Dates to be announced in the new year.