May 11, 2006 -

OTTAWA -- Bruce Cockburn, one of Canada’s preeminent musical and humanitarian ambassadors, returns to his native Ottawa to perform a concert at 20:00 in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre on Saturday October 21, 2006 – the same day as he receives the Peace Award.

Bruce Cockburn is a true Canadian music legend and national treasure. He got his start as a folk performer in the 1960s and has consistently produced albums that explore musical and socio-political boundaries. His decades of cross-genre musical innovation blended with a fierce devotion to issues such as environmentalism, human rights, and social justice have enlightened and entertained legions of fans of different ages and backgrounds.

Bruce Cockburn’s October appearance in Ottawa will come on the tails of the July 2006 release of his 29th album, entitled Life Short Call Now. This album follows up 2005’s Speechless – Cockburn’s first-ever instrumental record. Life Short Call Now includes 12 Cockburn originals and features guest appearances from Ani Difranco, Ron Sexsmith, Hawksley Workman, and Damhnait Doyle. Several of the songs were written during and after Bruce Cockburn’s 2004 fact-finding mission to Baghdad.

Bruce Cockburn has been honoured with multiple awards throughout his thirty-five year career, including the inaugural Humanitarian Award at the 2006 Juno Awards in Halifax, the Tenco Award for Lifetime Achievement in Italy, and twenty gold and platinum awards. He is also an Officer of the Order of Canada and inductee into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Cockburn’s “Lovers In A Dangerous Time” was voted by listeners as number one on the CBC radio show The National Playlist, where it stayed for three consecutive weeks during the month of March.

The Peace Award is given annually as part of Peace Prayer Day. Susan Walsh of the Unitarian Service Committee and Friends for Peace will bestow the award on Bruce Cockburn on October 21, 2006 at a ceremony at Ottawa City Hall.

Special Priority Purchase period for NAC Subscribers and Donors
Tickets for Bruce Cockburn’s October 21 concert are on sale to NAC Subscriber and Donors

Tickets are $43, $49, and $55 and will go on sale to the general public on May 15 through the NAC Box Office, 53 Elgin Street (open Monday-Saturday, 10:00 to 21:00), www.nac-cna.ca, by calling Ticketmaster at (613) 755-1111 or through www.ticketmaster.ca.

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For more information:
Gerald Morris
National Arts Centre
(613) 947-7000 ext. 249
gmorris@nac-cna.ca
www.brucecockburn.com
www.truenorthrecords.com

BRUCE COCKBURN
Cockburn was born in Ottawa and attended The Berklee College of Music in Boston. In the late 1960s, he was a member of the bands ‘The Children’, ‘The Esquires’, ‘The Flying Circus’ and ‘Olivus’, which opened for the Jimi Hendrix Experience in April 1968. Cockburn joined ‘3's a Crowd’ with David Wiffen before beginning a solo career. Bruce Cockburn had made his first solo appearance at the Mariposa Folk Festival in 1967, and in 1970, he released his first self-titled solo album. Cockburn's phenomenal guitar work and songwriting skills won him an enthusiastic following. His early work sparkles with a rural and often nautical image base, biblical metaphors, and delight that whatever happens here, heaven isn't far away: early in his career he became a devout Christian and many of his albums from the 1970s show evidence of his religious beliefs.

While Cockburn had been popular in Canada for years, he didn't make a splash in the United States until 1979, with the release of the album Dancing in the Dragon's Jaw, still a landmark of acoustic-based pop with intricate lyrics, great sonics, and startling guitar work. "Wondering Where The Lions Are," the first single from that album, became a minor hit in the USA, landing Cockburn on NBC’s hit TV show, Saturday Night Live.

Increasingly through the 1980s, Cockburn's songwriting became more urban, more global, and more politicized: he became heavily involved with socialist and other left-wing activist causes. This was evident on two astonishing discs, Humans and The Trouble With Normal, and in Cockburn's second radio hit in 1984, the song "If I Had A Rocket Launcher” from the album Stealing Fire. The tune had been written a year earlier after Cockburn had visited Guatemalan refugee camps in Mexico that were attacked before and after his visit by Guatemalan military helicopters. His political activism continues to the present: Bruce Cockburn has travelled to many countries, played benefits, and written many songs on a variety of political subjects ranging from the International Monetary Fund to landmines. His interest in international culture is reflected in the "world music" touches (reggae, Latin, etc.) found in his music.

In 1991, Intrepid Records released Kick at the Darkness, a tribute album to Cockburn. In the early 1990s, Cockburn teamed up with good friend T-Bone Burnett for two albums, Nothing But A Burning Light and Dart To The Heart. In 2002, Cockburn released his first "official" greatest hits collection, Anything, Anytime, Anywhere: Singles 1979-2002. Bruce Cockburn finished recording his 30th album in January of 2003: You've Never Seen Everything, which features contributions from Emmylou Harris, Jackson Browne, Sam Phillips, Sarah Harmer, Hugh Marsh, Jonell Mosser, Larry Taylor, and Steven Hodges. Cockburn performed a powerful set at the Live8 Concert in Barrie, Ontario on July 2, 2005. An instrumental compilation of both new and previously released material entitled "Speechless" was released October 24, 2005.

Bruce Cockburn's songs have been covered by artists ranging from The Barenaked Ladies, Jimmy Buffett, and Anne Murray to the Jerry Garcia Band. Cockburn wrote and performed the theme song to the children's television series Franklin. He also composed and performed, with Hugh Marsh, the music for the National Film Board of Canada documentary feature Waterwalker (1984), directed by Bill Mason. Awards and honours

• In 1982, Cockburn was made a Member of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Officer in 2002
• On March 5, 2001 (during the 30th Annual Juno Awards ceremony), Cockburn was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame
• The Canadian Association of Broadcasters honoured Cockburn by inducting him into the Canadian Broadcast hall of Fame on October 22, 2002
• On November 27, 2002, the CBC’s Life and Times series aired a special feature on Cockburn, entitled "The Life and Times of Bruce Cockburn"

• Bruce Cockburn, 1970
• High Winds, White Sky*, 1971
• Sunwheel Dance, 1971
• Night Vision, 1973
• Salt, Sun, and Time, 1974
• Joy Will Find a Way, 1975
• In the Falling Dark*, 1976
• Circles in the Stream, 1977
• Further Adventures Of*, 1978
• Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws*, 1979
• Humans*, 1980
• Resume, 1981
• Mummy Dust, 1981
• Inner City Front*, 1981
• The Trouble With Normal*, 1983
• Stealing Fire*, 1984
• World of Wonders, 1985
• Waiting for a Miracle, 1987
• Big Circumstance, 1988
• Bruce Cockburn Live*, 1990
• Nothing But a Burning Light, 1991
• Christmas, 1993
• Dart to the Heart, 1994
• Strong Hand of Love, tribute to Mark Heard, 1994
• The Charity of Night, 1996
• Orphans of God, tribute to Mark Heard, 1996
• You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chance (live), 1997
• Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu (1999)
• Anything, Anytime, Anywhere: Singles 1979-2002 (2002)
• You've Never Seen Everything, 2003
• Speechless, 2005
• Life Short Call Now, 2006

* = Reissued with additional tracks 2002-2003