November 13, 2024
The Daily Progress
Charlottesville, VA
An evening with Bruce Cockburn offers “a moment or two of peace” in a hectic world
by Jane Dunlap Sathe
The 79-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter says he intends to keep going “as long as I can keep playing.” So far, he’s getting away with it.
If you’ve been running on fumes for the past few weeks, put the endless to-do list down and give live music a chance to fill you again. In an increasingly fragmented society, songwriter and guitarist Bruce Cockburn said, music offers people “a moment or two of peace.”
“It can do a few things. It can take our minds off the issues at hand,” Cockburn told The Daily Progress. “It bonds people; at least, it creates an opportunity for people to feel bonded.”
Five decades into a celebrated performing and recording career, the 79-year-old Cockburn said he intends to keep going “as long as I can keep playing. So far, I’m getting away with it.”
Wednesday’s show at the Jefferson Theater will give listeners time to dive into both Cockburn’s most recent album, 2023’s “O Sun O Moon,” and previous compositions filled with guitar work that has left audiences breathless and calls to action that have prompted them to think more closely about what activism can look like in real time.
Solo shows, including the one planned for Wednesday, give the Canadian fluent in rock, folk, jazz and world beat a chance to connect more directly with his audience members.
“If you have a band, the audience’s attention is spread over the band,” Cockburn said. “The communication is deeper when it’s solo. It’s really about the content of the song. You’re kind of invited to reciprocate, even if you aren’t saying anything.”
Cockburn said he intentionally writes songs that will work well either with a band or in solo settings.
“It’s the same content; I’m singing the same stuff regardless,” he said. “Some people want to hear drums and want to hear the energy from a band. What you trade off is a kind of intensity.”
The Ottawa native behind “If I Had a Rocket Launcher” has spent more than half a century exploring issues of spirituality, politics and day-to-day reality, winning loyal fans and taking home armloads of honors in the process. The winner of 13 Juno Awards also has received two different Hall of Fame inductions, a space on Canada’s Walk of Fame and a growing collection of honorary doctorates.
Along the way, Cockburn has witnessed his share of changes. “I’ve made a lot of albums, and any one of them could be the last one,” he said.
“The rest of travel isn’t so bad,” Cockburn said from San Francisco. “I’ll fly from here to Maine to Boston. In between, we’re on a bus, and that’s not so bad. You go to sleep after the show and wake up in the next town.”
The main drawback to the more direct style of heading from place to place is “you don’t really get to be a tourist,” Cockburn said. “When I was younger, I’d travel with a bicycle on the tour bus. The downside is you don’t really get to see the town you’re in. If you’re able to explore like that, you can return to those places.”
When Cockburn is the listener, he mostly reaches for jazz and classical. “The rewards are greater when there’s more to offer,” he said.
Music has lost none of its power to push listeners out of complacency. Cockburn does not shy away in his songwriting from drawing attention to issues in the world and to the importance of protecting both people and planet. But there’s something to be said for pure listening enjoyment.
“People don’t always want to be entertained by things that make them think,” Cockburn said.
Cockburn said his daughter, who’s about to turn 13, enjoys listening to Taylor Swift. The proud father said that her recent music lessons have been focusing on the demands of singing and playing keyboard at the same time, and his daughter relishes playing piano versions of Swift’s songs.
“She likes it because she gets to play the songs she likes,” Cockburn said, adding that he loves to listen to her play. “All the stuff she listens to is at the better end of that pop music. I started out the same way. I started out being a huge fan of Buddy Holly and the old rock ‘n’ roll.”
Performing older songs from his own repertoire gives Cockburn an opportunity to reflect on the growth that has taken place over time.
“In a sense, the more spiritually focused ones have deepened,” he said. “I’ll look at it and go, ‘Oh, there’s something in there that I didn’t see before.’ I feel like I know something better than when I wrote that.”
Credit:
