Bruce Cockburn - March 2019 - Firehouse SF - keebler
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MUSIC IN DANGEROUS TIMES

Singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn talks about Christianity and what he’s dropping from his setlist

by Bill Forman May 11, 2022

When it comes to live shows, Bruce Cockburn has no shortage of songs to draw upon. There are the ‘80s hits like “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” and “Wondering Where the Lions Are,” the steady stream of albums that have followed in their wake (which have earned him ten Juno Awards in his native Canada), and a few unreleased songs he’ll be debuting on his current tour.

Bruce Cockburn 13May22   MIM Theatre Phoenix - photo Joe Mead
Bruce Cockburn 13May 2022 MIM Theatre Phoenix – photo Joe Mead

But one hit that Cockburn won’t be playing is “If I Had a Rocket Launcher,” a song he wrote after visiting Guatemalan refugee camps back in 1984. It was Cockburn’s best-known hit in America, as well as his most controversial, with an accompanying video that depicted the genocide carried out against Indian villagers by the Guatemalan army, with whom the CIA happened to have close ties.

While MTV aired the music video frequently, radio programmers were less inclined to add the single to their playlists, not least because of its closing line: “If I had a rocket launcher, some son of a bitch would die.”

The song has long been a staple of Cockburn’s live shows, but that changed back in March when Russia fired more than 30 cruise missiles at a Ukrainian military base.

“I’d been playing it on all the U.S. dates, but stopped during the Canadian shows, because I just felt like it’s gone too far that way,” says Cockburn. “It’s always made me uncomfortable when people cheer for that song. And I don’t mean applause at the end of it because it was a good performance or something. But just when I sing the various lines — like even at the end of the first verse, ‘If I have a rocket launcher, I’d make somebody pay’ — and there’s invariably somebody — some male — in the audience that hollers out, ‘YEAAHHH!’ And I hate that, because that’s not what it’s about. And if they were thinking about what they were hearing, they would not do that. And I just didn’t want to play into that kind of sentiment in the current situation.”

I think my relationship with God is the most important thing in my life.
— Bruce Cockburn

This isn’t the first time that Cockburn felt the need to give the song a rest. “The same thing happened after 9/11,” he says. “I didn’t sing it for a long time after that, because, you know, people were just looking for motivation to go out and do really bad things. Not that anybody in my immediate audience is likely to go do that, but it just was playing into the wrong part of the heart.”

While Cockburn has written numerous songs about human rights violations and third-world exploitation, he’s always done so with a poetic sensibility, and a depth of emotion, that sets him apart from more didactic political songwriters. He’s also a phenomenal guitarist, which is particularly evident on a pair of instrumental albums that prompted Acoustic Guitar magazine to place him on the same level as Django Reinhardt, Bill Frisell, and Mississippi John Hurt.

“When I was learning to fingerpick, I did my best to emulate Mississippi John Hurt and Mance Lipscomb, and some other guys like that,” says Cockburn. “Brownie McGhee was also an influence. I saw Brownie and Sonny [Terry] play dozens of times at this club in Ottawa that I hung out at on a regular basis. Well, probably it wasn’t dozens of times, but it might have been, because they’d come a couple of times a year. I love that music, and it’s still part of what I do.”

Cockburn was 14 years old when he found the dusty old guitar in his grandmother’s attic that would put him on the path to a life in music. Another pivotal moment, he says, was dropping out of Berklee College of Music.

“I was headed toward a bachelor’s degree in music, which would have entitled me to teach music in high schools, which I had no interest whatsoever in doing,” he says. “I was interested in the content of what was being taught, but not in terms of using it as a teaching career. And then I reached the point where I had this realization, ‘I gotta get out of here, this is not where I’m supposed to be.’ And I listened to that, and I acted on it.”

The other primary influence on Cockburn’s life has been his spiritual beliefs, which find their way into his lyrics without hitting you over the head with them.

“I think my relationship with God is the most important thing in my life, and the one I sort of struggle with the most probably too,” he says. “I wasn’t plugged into a community for a very long time, but through a combination of circumstances in San Francisco, I started going to church again after having not done it for maybe 30 years, 40 years. It was a small, non-denominational church with all these really accepting and loving people. The congregation was racially mixed — you know, people from all sorts of Asian extraction, African-Americans, white Texans, and Samoans — all kinds of different cultures mixed there. And it was accepting of gays and, you know, whatever else — people that feel, as I do, that their relationship with God is of paramount importance.

“When I showed up, they didn’t know who I was. I was just the old guy with an attractive wife, who’d discovered the church before I did, and eventually persuaded me to go. Then they found out I played guitar, and I ended up sitting in with the band and becoming more or less their guitarist. But then COVID, of course, killed that. So new things have happened since, but there was definitely a sense of community.”

All of which is a far cry from the divisive preachings — or, as Cockburn puts it, the vile bullshit — that comes out of the religious right.

“If you start using the Christian faith as a reason to hate people, it’s completely antithetical to what it’s about,” he says. ”And yet, historically, of course, it has been used for that over and over again.

“But, you know, I don’t think anybody who pays attention to what I have to say is gonna confuse me with that other stuff. The challenge, of course, is will they listen to what I have to say, or just write me off? Either way, I’m not gonna stop calling myself a Christian. And if you can’t deal with it, well, that’s your problem.”

Credit: Colorado Springs Indy

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Hometown Star Award Celebration – Canada’s Walk of Fame

April 25, 2022 7:16 p.m. PDT

Bruce Cockburn honoured in his hometown.

For more than five decades, Ottawa’s Bruce Cockburn has been writing and performing hit songs, and now, he’s been honoured in the capital.
Cockburn was awarded with a Hometown Star following his recent induction into Canada’s Walk of Fame. He says this award is special.

“This was comfortingly informal and casual, and yet substantial too,” says Cockburn. “So I guess, of the two, I prefer this thing, if we had to take one or the other.”

Dozens of friends, family and fans were in attendance at the National Arts Centre to celebrate Cockburn’s achievements.

“We have transformed Canada’s Walk of Fame to mean more, to more people, more often,” says Canada’s Walk of Fame CEO Jeffrey Latimer. “And our hometown visits also include a placement of a permanent plaque displayed in a location of our inductees’ choice. Something that was significant to them.”

Cockburn’s songs truly represent the voice of his generation. Songs like Lovers in a Dangerous Time, which was covered by fellow Canadian band, The Barenaked Ladies.
He’s won 13 Juno awards and is an Officer of the Order of Canada.

“You know, it’s great to see Bruce in his hometown, just getting close again. I like that,” says Cockburn’s manager and long-time friend, Bernie Finkelstein. “Not that it was apart, but just, it’s nice. I just think on a human level it’s nice.”

The plaque will most likely be placed on the wall outside what used to be Le Hibou Coffee House on Sussex Drive, where Cockburn, as well as many famous Canadian musicians frequently played in the 1960’s and 70’s.

“One of the things that is great about Canada in my mind, is our willingness to celebrate each other,” says Cockburn. “And it feels really good to be part of that.”

This honour comes with $10,000 charitable donation. Cockburn, the humanitarian, is glad to help. Giving half to Seeds of Change and the other half to the Unison Fund.

“One of the greatest things about it is the ten thousand dollars that I get to divert to a charity of my choice,” says Cockburn.

The world knows about Bruce Cockburn, his music and his compassion. Now his hometown can recognize his impact forever. ~ by Dave Charbonneau CTV


WeSeedChange

Bruce Cockburn & Ama Amponsah Seedchange donation

On April 25, 2022 a number of SeedChange staff, alumni and supporters had the honour of celebrating with Canadian legend and longtime SeedChange champion Bruce Cockburn, as he received his Hometown Star from Canada’s Walk of Fame in Ottawa. During his acceptance speech, Bruce spent a few minutes explaining why he selected SeedChange as one of the two charities to receive a $5,000 cheque from Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Bruce has been a generous supporter and Champion for SeedChange for more than five decades, thanks to the impression that our founder, Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova, first left on him as a boy.

Throughout his special day, Bruce’s commitment to social justice and global solidarity continued to shine as bright as ever. Congratulations Bruce on receiving this well-deserved recognition for your music, and thank you for growing a better world with us all these years!
Photo credit: Patrick Michel
weseedchange.org FB
weseedchange.org

The Unison Fund

Unison was formed in 2010 with one simple but important goal in mind: to ensure that the people who make up the Canadian music business never face times of crisis alone. Created by the industry, for the industry, we deliver life-saving emergency financial services and professional counselling that offer much-needed hope to those in need.
Unison Fund – Twitter
unisonfund.ca


Taming Sari – Mary Bryton Nahwegahbow & Joe Fraser

Mary Bryton Nahwegahbow - Bruce Cockburn - Joe Fraser - Taming Sari - 25apr22 - Hometown Star Walk of Fame

Mary Bryton Nahwegahbow & Joe Fraser who had the extreme honour and pleasure to perform ‘Lovers in a Dangerous Time’ at the NAC – National Arts Centre for the Canadian icon Bruce Cockburn himself.


Unveiling the Hometown Star plaque — a video from Governor Generals Performing Arts Award


Bruce Cockburn 25April22 NAC Hometown Star WoF

Bruce Cockburn 25Apr22 NAC Hometown Star photo Michael Cole

Bruce Cockburn 25Apr22 NAC Hometown Star photo Michael Cole

Photos: CBC Michael Cole


Bruce Cockburn reflects on career ahead of Peterborough show

by Brendan Burke – Peterborough Examiner

17 April 2022 – Acclaimed singer-songwriter and Canadian music icon Bruce Cockburn is many things. A skilled guitarist. A natural wordsmith and prolific lyricist. An experimenter of folk, rock, pop and jazz. A spiritually minded creative.

But if you ask the Ottawa-raised performer, he’ll likely tell you he’s merely a vessel: a man with a guitar trying his best to convey the human experience one melody at a time.

“An artist’s job is to distill what you can grasp from life into some communicable form and then share it with people; and life includes all of these different things: sex and politics and violence and love and the divine,” Cockburn said in a recent interview.

“I mean, it’s all in there, so why not sing about it?”

Now marking 50-plus years in the industry with an anniversary tour in Canada and the U.S. — including a stop at Peterborough’s Showplace Performance Centre on Tuesday — Cockburn is reflecting on his decades of work and his celebrated catalogue.

It all started with an old guitar. At the age of 14, Cockburn discovered the stringed instrument in his grandmother’s attic. He was transfixed. Already enamoured with early rock and roll, the avid sci-fi reader and lover of poetry put down his clarinet and picked up the guitar.

“I understood that whatever my life was going to be about, it was going to revolve heavily around the guitar,” Cockburn said. His parents supported his dreams — with a few conditions: take lessons and don’t grow sideburns or wear a leather jacket.

“I didn’t know if I had a knack for it or not. I just knew I wanted to do it and, in taking lessons, I progressed. By the end of high school, there was nothing else I wanted to do with my life except play guitar,” Cockburn recalled.

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Bruce Cockburn: A Songwriter in Dangerous Times

The Agenda with with Nam Kiwanuka

The Canadian music icon has been making music for most of his life, and there’s no sign of his slowing down. In fact, Cockburn is about to embark on the Ontario leg of his cross Canada and the U.S. tour. This feature interview touches on his music, and activism – both in the climate crisis and anti-war movements.

Credit: by Nam Kiwanuka on The Agenda with Steve Paikin – tvo.org

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2nd Attempt 50th Anniversary tour in photos

It’s a second attempt at the 50th anniversary tour for Bruce, who recently released a 34th album, Greatest Hits (1970-2020), because his first tour attempt in late 2020 was derailed by the pandemic.

At age 76, he just completed 27 concerts in 13 states on his 50th Anniversary Concert Tour 2nd Attempt and is scheduled to resume the tour with 19 concerts in the next two months in various western states and Canada.

Here are just a few photo highlights from the first part of the tour.

  • Bruce Cockburn 8dec2021 Santa Cruz - photo Tom Skeele
    Stage Santa Cruz 8dec21- photo Tom Skeele
Bruce Cockburn 17dec21 Portland - photo Lisa Morrison
Bruce Cockburn 17dec21 Portland – photo Lisa Morrison
  • Bruce Cockburn 12dec21 Eugene - photo Daniel Keebler
    Bruce Cockburn 12dec21 Eugene - photo Daniel Keebler

The shows have been fantastic with a wide spread of songs through the years.
Get your tickets now for the spring-summer shows – Tour Dates.


Bruce Cockburn: Kicking at the Darkness for 50 Years (and counting!)

by John Joseph Thompson
February 6, 2022

True Tunes Podcast 6Feb2022

We are beyond thrilled to welcome one of the most essential artists of the last half-century to the True Tunes Podcast. Bruce Cockburn has written over 350 songs and released 30 studio or live albums since 1970, and four different compilations. 22 of his albums have been certified either Gold or Platinum in Canada. He has received 13 Juno Awards, is in the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2001 he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony that included testimonials by Midnight Oil’s Peter Garrett, Margo Timmins of Cowboy Junkies, and Bono. He holds multiple honorary Doctorate degrees – and continues to write and record. He recently released a 30-song collection of his singles called – simply – Bruce Cockburn’s Greatest Hits 1970 – 2020.

Give it a listen https://truetunes.com/Cockburn50/



Choices of rhetoric and choices of action – An interview with Bruce Cockburn about art and activism and a lifetime of kicking at the darkness

by Róisín West – Monitor Magazine

1 January 2022 – On the evening of June 26, 2002, activists and organizers from around the world settled into worn velvet seats of Calgary’s Uptown Cinema. This was the seventh day of non-violent protests against the G8 Kananaskis meetings, the first meetings of their kind to be held after 9/11. As the lights lowered, the concert organizer, Bourbon Tabernacle Choir’s Chris Brown, took to the stage. He was soon joined by the Brothers Creeggan of Barenaked Ladies fame and Bruce Cockburn. The Monitor recently reached out to Cockburn to discuss that concert and his lifetime of activism, catching up with him as he prepared to head out for his 2nd Attempt 50th anniversary Tour across the United States and Canada.

The Monitor: Music has always played a vital role in social justice movements. There are, of course, protest singers, like Pete Seeger and Joan Baez, whose craft is centred around activism. But other artists like yourself and Tracy Chapman tend to weave social justice issues in as part of a broader tapestry. I’m wondering if you agree with that assessment and how you situate social justice within the landscape of your work?

Bruce Cockburn: Yeah, I do agree with that. I have not felt obliged to present myself or to try to create songs or a body of work that is focused on any one particular issue. I’ve always seen what I do as being about life in the broadest sense, whatever that means. And life in the broadest sense for me includes a moral consideration. I was raised to care about what happens to people around me, and the world in general, and to pay attention to it. And on top of that, adding the spiritual values that I have, including the notion of loving my neighbour. Well, you know, you can’t love your neighbour and ignore your own complicity in your neighbour’s pain. So that’s the starting point for my approach to those things, to songs that might be said to be about issues.

After that it’s circumstantial. I wrote the songs about Central America, which are the most blatant statements of that aspect of what I do, because I was there. I experienced the things I experienced and heard from other people about the things they were experiencing firsthand. Those things had an impact.

You only write your own feelings like that. I feel like that’s my job—to translate what I’ve experienced of life into something that’s communicable to everybody and can be shared by everybody. I’m always going to be writing from my perspective. And I think that in the case of the instances of injustice that I’ve mentioned in songs, those feelings would have been shared by any thinking person or feeling person in those circumstances.

So I feel like there’s something to share there [with people who] have not been in those circumstances or haven’t been exposed to those things. The songs are a way of kind of exposing and pointing a finger: there’s something you should look at.

I don’t feel like it’s my job to sell an idea to people, but I do feel that it’s appropriate to try to be persuasive. And in suggesting that people would probably feel the way I do it, if they were confronted with these things.

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