HOME     |     ALBUMS    |     LINKS     |     BIO     |     STUFF     |     CURRENT MEDIA     |    ARCHIVES

 

Gavin's Woodpile- The Bruce Cockburn Newsletter Online

2010 MEDIA

2004-2009 media are in the ARCHIVES section

 

Earth Day Canada
Posted February 17, 2010

Earth Day Canada is pleased to honour Bruce Cockburn with this year’s Outstanding Commitment to the Environment Award. For three decades, Canadian singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn has been an outspoken voice on issues relating to the environment. He has performed benefit concerts in support of the Haida Nation and the Stein River Valley and their fights against logging; spoke out against the destruction of tropical rain forests and the Exxon oil spill off the Alaskan coast; narrated a television documentary on the Mali desert; acted as honorary chairperson of Friends of the Earth; and of course wrote the anthemic “If A Tree Falls.”

“The whole point of writing songs is to share experiences with people,” says Bruce, looking back on a career that includes 26 albums, numerous international awards, including the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Tenco Award for Lifetime Achievement in Italy, 20 gold and platinum records in Canada, and countless concert performances since he released his first solo work in 1970.

Born in Ottawa in 1945, Bruce set his sights on a career in music after growing up listening to Elvis records. He landed at Berklee College of Music in Boston in the early ’60s before moving back to Ottawa in 1965 to play in a series of rock bands. He eventually found his voice as a songwriter and developed a highly personal finger-picking guitar style that merged Mississippi John Hurt blues with modal jazz harmony, melodic lyricism and cycling rhythms.

Bruce was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1982 and was promoted to Officer in 2002. The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) inducted him into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame. He has also received numerous honorary doctorates for his contributions to music, culture and social activism.



Email from Bernie Finkelstein
February 12, 2010

 

Bruce is doing a TV show there [in Winnipeg] with one of Quebec's greatest stars, Michel Rivard. You might remember many years ago Bruce performed with Michel during a benefit concert in Montreal which also featured Crosby, Stills and Nash.
 
The TV show is being taped February 17 during the Festival you're referring to [Festival du Voyageur]. I don't have much more detail for you other than it's for the French CBC in Quebec and the French national network in english Canada. I don't have the air date.
 
Bruce will most likely do three of his songs with Michel (expected to be Pacing The Cage, Lovers In A Dangerous Time and Homme Brulant) and then do three French songs of Michel's. All six songs will be done with Michel in some form or another. This will all be worked out in rehearsal in Winnipeg.
 
When I have the air date I'll get it posted to you.

-Bernie


Posted: February 3, 2010

From Bruce's management...

Finkelstein Management is running a contest to launch the Official Bruce Cockburn Facebook Fan Page, just launched today.

Everyone who joins the official Bruce Cockburn Facebook fan page between now and March 14, 2010 at 11:59pm EST will be entered into a draw. On March 15, 2010 we will give away three Bruce Cockburn prizes:

1st Prize: 1 signed Poster & 2 signed CDs
2nd Prize: 1 signed Poster & 1 signed CD
3rd Prize: 1 signed CD


MP3s for a Cause: Paste Mag Launches ‘Songs for Haiti’
Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Bruce has donated "Waiting for a Miracle" from Anything Anytime Anywhere. Go here.)

When you have the ears and the hearts of some of the leading musicians in the world, that is what you use to get people to give. Paste magazine today launched its creative response to the tragedy in Haiti with a “Songs for Haiti” Web site that offers access to MP3 tracks to those who donate. Tracks come from artists like Ludacris, Of Montreal, Andrew Bird, Hanson and Bruce Cockburn among 200 artists who contributed their work to the effort. Visitors can donate to the charities with whom Paste is partnered - Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross and Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund - or they can declare where else they have donated in order to access the Paste vault of 250 songs. It is on the honor system, the company says. As of this morning, the site reported over $45,000 in donations.

Paste says it is passing 100% of donations to the partnered organizations. Artists are being asked by the magazine to contribute songs to be held in the vault.

“We obviously don’t think people would need incentive to donate in this effort, but perhaps the campaign will inspire more music fans to get involved, or to encourage people who have already donated, to donate again,” said Josh Jackson, Paste magazine editor-in-chief in a statement. “Music has always been a force that brings people together, and to have so many fantastic artists drop everything to contribute to this effort was very touching.”

The site is also making the banners and badges advertising “Songs for Haiti” available for reporting.

 


January 7, 2010

The Killing Floor - Notes from the Editor of the Boston Blues Society

Comments on Things About Comin' My Way: "Honey Babe Let The Deal Go Down"

by Michael Mellor


WHAT STEVE DAWSON SAYS:

I released a few records with a group called Zubot and Dawson a few years ago, and we were signed to True North Records, home of Bruce Cockburn. I asked Bernie Finkelstein, Bruce's manager, about contributing and he seemed interested. Bruce was into the idea, so we discussed some song choices. We got it down to two, and finally picked this song. I think Bruce really wanted to find something he could dig into, but really make it his own.

This song was the last in an epic day of recording in Seattle. We ran through the tune a couple of times and laid it down fairly easily - I think we did about three takes. This was the second take, I believe.

We did go back in to work on Bruce's solo part a little bit, and got some great results. After we were done, Bruce said "this would sound cool with a room full of drunks singing on the last verse". So we did... sing that is... and had a few beers to celebrate. Luckily there's lots of photos of that session. It was a fun one!

I added the trombone later on as an overdub. Everything else is done live.


WHAT MIKE SAYS:

Fine work, Steve and Bruce. When this song gets stuck in my head (which is fairly regularly), it's the "room full of drunks" and the trombone that do it.

Cockburn is one of those artists, much like Richard Thompson or his friend T-Bone Burnett, who have had a considerable impact on popular music while remaining largely anonymous themselves (at least in the United Stats, anyway).  It's strange how some people can shift the mainstream toward them (as opposed to shifting toward the mainstream) and still go unnoticed.