About Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to folk- and jazz-influenced rock to soundscapes accompanying spoken stories. His lyrics reflect interests in spirituality, human rights, environmental issues, and relationships, and describe his experiences in Central America and Africa.
Cockburn has written more than 350 songs on 34 albums over a career spanning five decades, of which 22 have received a Canadian gold or platinum certification as of 2018, and he has sold more than one million albums in Canada alone. In 2014, Cockburn released his memoirs, Rumours of Glory.
Cockburn was born in 1945 in Ottawa, Ontario, and spent some time at his grandfather's farm outside of Chelsea, Quebec, but he grew up in Westboro, which was a suburb of Ottawa when he was a teenager. His father, Doug Cockburn, was a radiologist, eventually becoming head of diagnostic x-ray at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. He found his first guitar in his grandmother's attic around 1959, adorned it with gold stars, and used it to play along to radio hits. When his first guitar teacher, Hank Sims, declared this instrument unplayable, his parents bought him a Kay archtop with flat wound strings and a DeArmond pickup.
Later he was taught piano and music theory by Peter Hall, the organist at Westboro United Church which Cockburn and his family attended. Cockburn had been listening to jazz and wanted to learn musical composition. Hall encouraged him and, along with his friend Bob Lamble, a lot of time was spent at Hall's house listening to and discussing jazz.
Cockburn attended Nepean High School, where his 1964 yearbook photo states his desire "to become a musician". After graduating, he took a boat to Europe and busked in Paris.
Cockburn attended Berklee School of Music in Boston, where his studies included jazz composition, for three semesters between 1964 and 1966. That year he dropped out and joined an Ottawa band called The Children, which lasted for about a year.
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