nov 10 | bruce cockburn | writers fest + autobiography + box set

In the early days of Pacific Theatre, when I was a Bruce Cockburn devotee and people didn't yet know what PT was, I'd tell them that what Bruce Cockburn was in the world of music, we wanted to be in live theatre. 

Thirty years later, the man has written his autobiography. Release date is November 5, preceded a week earlier with an 8 cd (+1 dvd) box set retrospective October 28.  You can order the book ($24.99), the music ($129.99) or both ($149.99) from the True North website.  And he'll be in Vancouver November 10 to talk about the book with Writers Festival artistic director Hal Wake ($25) - buy a ticket for that and you get a promo code to save 15% on the book and music bundle. 

Vancouver Writers Festival Event 
Rumours Of Glory 
Monday, November 10th at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Burrard at Nelson Street

Legendary Canadian singer and songwriter Bruce Cockburn talks to Vancouver Writers Fest Artistic Director Hal Wake about his long-awaited memoir, Rumours of Glory—a chronicle of faith, fear, and activism that is also a lively cultural and musical tour through the late twentieth century.

With 30 albums and numerous awards to his credit, Cockburn has earned high praise as an exceptional songwriter and pioneering guitarist, whose career has been shaped by politics, protest, romance, and spiritual discovery. His remarkable journey has seen him embrace folk, jazz, blues, rock, and worldbeat styles while travelling to such far-flung places as Guatemala, Mali, Mozambique, Afghanistan, and Nepal, and writing memorable songs about his ever-expanding world of wonders.

Tickets: $25 adults / $23 Students & Seniors /$21 Bookclubs*
Online: vancouvertix.com
Phone: VancouverTix, 604-629-8849

Plus service charges
*5 tickets minimum; phone sales only

Bruce Cockburn Announces 'Rumours of Glory' Autobiography and Box Set
Exclaim
by Gregory Adams

If the miracle you were waiting for was Bruce Cockburn to finally issue his long-in-the-works autobiography, than your prayers have been answered. His tome, titled Rumours of Glory, hits bookshelves November 4 through HarperCollins Canada, with a career-spanning box set of the same name arriving October 28 via True North.

A press release explains that the book finds the singer-songwriter providing an intimate look at both Cockburn's life and the stories behind his eclectic and prolific songbook. It adds that Cockburn "shares his family life, personal relationships, Christian convictions, and the social and political activism that has defined him and his music."

Rumours of Glory weighs in on a variety of topics the artist has supported over the years, from First Nations rights, to environmental issues, to war atrocities, with his songs presenting those themes on musical landscapes encompassing traces of jazz, folk, rock, world beat and more.

"Over the years, the notion that there should be a book about me has popped up now and then, along with offers to write it," Cockburn said in a statement. "It always seemed too soon and I've felt all along that such a book should be mine to author."

The Rumours of Glory box set, meanwhile, is a nine-disc affair. It contains eight audio discs covering much of his career, with hits amongst the 117-song tracklisting including "Lovers in a Dangerous Time," "If a Tree," "Waiting for a Miracle" and "Wondering Where the Lions Are." Though a few previously unreleased tracks are scattered throughout the set, there is an entire disc's worth of unheard material.

In addition to the audio portion of the box, a DVD concert film is also included. Directed by Joel Goldberg, Bruce Cockburn Live - The Slice O Life Tour contains footage filmed between May 15 and 17, 1988.