Bruce Cockburn is a lot like the Montreal Canadiens teams of the 1970s.
They鈥檝e done it all, won it all and have every decoration and distinction imaginable, but have experienced a dormant period in recent years.
The Courier spoke to Cockburn in advance of his upcoming tour, which lands in 麻豆传媒映画at the Centre for Performing Arts on Jan. 27.
Speaking from his home in San Francisco, the 72-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter mused on his process, almost losing it and how he got it back.
But first, some hard numbers on a career that鈥檚 spanned almost five decades.
* 12 Juno Awards
* Roughly a million albums sold in Canada alone
* 9 honourary doctorates or degrees
* 33 albums, including his latest, 2017鈥檚 Bone on Bone
* Order of Canada recipient
* Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee
* Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee
* Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient
* SOCAN Lifetime Achievement Award for songwriting success
* Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement
And you thought the Habs鈥� six Cups in 10 years was impressive鈥�
You have dozens of albums and hundreds of songs. Two and three generations of fans are at your shows. How do you cater to all these different groups and different wants when you draw up your setlist?
I don鈥檛 know if you really try to cater to everyone, exactly. But I do pay attention to what I think people hope for when they come to a show. They put up money for tickets, you have to respect that and sympathize with it. Any given show of mine is going to be made up whatever鈥檚 new and current plus the songs that I feel people will really feel cheated if they don鈥檛 hear. And then I fill in the rest with whatever I feel like from the back repertoire. I like to change it up from time to time so I鈥檓 not always doing the same old songs.
Take me through your headspace 30 minutes before going on stage.
I get nervous. It鈥檚 not panic, but there鈥檚 definitely nerves involved. I have a whole routine that I go through to prep: gargling with warm salt water, inhaling steam and all these tricks I鈥檝e learned from various other singers. If it鈥檚 a band tour like this one is, it鈥檚 a bit of a different atmosphere backstage, so there鈥檚 more of a social atmosphere then there is when it鈥檚 just me solo.
What has to happen for you to walk off stage and say 鈥渢onight was awesome.鈥�
I have to not make any mistakes, and that almost never happens. When it does, I come off stage feeling pretty good. But the audience doesn鈥檛 always agree with my take on things and that happens whether it鈥檚 a collective effort or not. I鈥檝e come off stage with the band and we鈥檝e all felt it was a fantastic show, everyone got everything right and everything gelled. And then somebody else will say, 鈥淚 thought you better the night before.鈥� So it鈥檚 a pretty subjective judgment.
More and more performers 鈥� bands and comedians 鈥� are saying no to cell phones at live performances. What鈥檚 your take on cellphones at your gigs?
I don鈥檛 worry about it too much, but I used to. When it was more of a rarity it used to seem very intrusive, it seemed like it was disrupting the people around the guilty party. But after a while, it just became so ubiquitous. You can鈥檛 really take a position on it because no one cares what you think. They鈥檙e going to do what they do. I do think it鈥檚 changed the character of how audiences respond in a way, but I don鈥檛 notice any lack of enthusiasm on the part of the audience.
There was a six-year gap between albums, arguably the longest of your career. There was a memoir written and a birth in that timeframe. You alluded to perhaps being done as a songwriter, that you had nothing left to say. What was going through your mind as you reconciled potentially walking off into the sunset?
It was a wait and see. I was hoping that I would write more songs. I didn鈥檛 feel like it was over. But I also felt like maybe the universe was telling me that it was over. So you just have to wait and see how that plays out when you鈥檙e in a place like that. I鈥檝e been in situations like that in other issues lots of times in my life, where you say 鈥渨hat am I supposed to do now?" You wait until you do know, and then you do something. It was the same with the songs.
Given the length of your career, how do you stay hungry and driven to keep doing what you do?
I remain hopeful that I鈥檒l succeed. That鈥檚 all it takes for me. I don鈥檛 want to go up there slouching and not giving people what they came for. They鈥檝e done me the honour of coming out to the shows to listen to what I鈥檝e got to present to them. I want to present it in the best way that I can.
Tickets for Cockburn鈥檚 show are available at .
This interview has been edited and condensed.
@JohnKurucz
