Bruce Douglas Cockburn was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on May 27, 1945. He is the oldest of three children, having two younger brothers. In elementary school and junior high he took lessons in clarinet and trumpet, and switched to guitar when he was fourteen. As a teen he studied guitar, piano, and music theory and played in bands while doing folk gigs in local coffeehouses. Through high school his interest and involvement in music grew. After leaving high school in 1963, Bruce headed to Europe where he ended up performing on the streets of Paris, among other places. After three months in Europe, he returned to Canada. In the fall of 1964 Bruce shipped off to Boston to attend the Berklee College of Music. During the three semesters he was there he joined a jug band called Walker Thompson and His Boys. 

By the end of 1965, realizing that his destiny was not to become a composer of big-band jazz, Bruce returned to Ottawa and joined The Children. It was during this time that Bruce was encouraged by Ottawa poet and mentor Bill Hawkins to write his own songs. While with The Children Bruce played harmonica with an after-hours blues band called Heavenly Blue at the legendary Ottawa folk venue Le Hibou. The Children folded in late '66 or early '67. Bruce was invited to join The Esquires and played with them for several months before leaving the band. 

Before the end of 1967, Bruce moved to Toronto to join a newly formed band called The Flying Circus, which later was known as Olivus. The band played such venues as Toronto's venerable Riverboat, located in the Yorkville District, as well as opening concerts for The Lovin’ Spoonful, Cream, Wilson Pickett, and Jimi Hendrix in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. In the spring of 1968 Olivus folded and Bruce decided to go solo but was approached by 3’s A Crowd with the offer of a TV series with them, which would tape throughout the summer and be worth actual money. 3's A Crowd had originally been formed in Vancouver in 1964. In joining the band, Bruce was reunited with David Wiffen and Richard Patterson from his days with The Children. He did solo gigs here and there as well through this period. In late 1967, prior to his joining 3's A Crowd, that band recorded several songs written by Bruce for their album, Christopher's Movie Matinee. These songs were penned while Bruce was with The Children.  

Bruce's first solo appearance at the influential Mariposa Folk Festival occurred on August 11, 1968, while still a member of 3's A Crowd. (While 3's A Crowd did appear at Mariposa in 1967, Bruce was not a member of the band at that time.)

Bruce performed solo in November 1968 at the Pornographic Onion, a well-known coffeehouse in Toronto. Though he was still with 3's A Crowd, the transition to a solo career was well on the way. Bruce remained with 3's A Crowd until the spring of 1969, when he left the band to begin his solo career. Later that year he teamed with Bernie Finkelstein and Eugene Martynec to record his first album, Bruce Cockburn, and thus True North Records was born. The album was recorded in Toronto in December 1969 and released in the spring of 1970. 

This would be the beginning of a long-lasting relationship between Bernie and Bruce... one that flourishes to this day. It is extremely rare to see a manager and a performer stick together for so many years. Bernie takes care of the business and Bruce takes care of the music. 

Eugene Martynec would go on to produce fourteen of Bruce's first fifteen albums, and would tour with him before and after the release of Salt, Sun & Time.


-Daniel Keebler, 2009

Biography continued: 1970 to Present