Last year, Canadian folk artist Bruce Cockburn belated launched a tour celebrating 50 years in music. When we ran an excerpt from this interview last Christmas season, we started off talking about the tour. Since he's not on tour now, I cut some of that material but did start with a conversation on how someone with 50-plus years in the business relates to the music he wrote decades ago.
We focused our attention on Christmas, his 1993 album of Christmas music. We talk about its humble origins and the versions that inspired some of his takes. To let you in on the conversation, I also included Sam Phillips' version of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon's "Christ was Born on Christmas Morn," which Cockburn recorded as "Early on One Christmas Morn." He also talks about why he chose to sing the Huron Christmas carol "Jesus Ahtonnia" in its native language.
It's a good conversation that fits the album into conversations about faith and life, and what can happen over the course of more than 50 years.
On November 25, he will have three new releases—the digital album Rarities, which features songs previously on the Rumors of Glory box set along with tracks recorded for tribute albums to Gordon Lightfoot, Pete Seeger, Mississippi Sheiks and Mississippi John Hurt. He will also release vinyl versions of 1997’s The Charity of the Night and 1999’s Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu. You pre-order all of them now from his label, True North Records.
Letters to Cleo
Kishi Bashi and The Carpenters' "Merry Christmas Darling"
Debbie Davis
Josh Rouse
An Encore Presentation of The Minus 5
Isaac Hanson of Hanson
Christmas Compilations with Joe Adragna of The Junior League
The 12 Songs of Christmas with Nelson
"A Charlie Brown Christmas" with The Ornaments and Joel Dinerstein
Erin McKeown
An Encore Presentation with Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini
JD McPherson
The All-Christmas Radio Format
Los Lobos' Steve Berlin
Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime"
An Encore Presentation with Jimbo Mathus of the Squrrel Nut Zippers
Can Christmas Songs Be Cool?
Jon Langford
Chuck Mead
Tav Falco of Panther Burns
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