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For a guy whose latest album in an instrumental collection, Bruce Cockburn sure has a lot to say. Ask the folk legend about almost any topic chances are he's got a story to tell or an opinion to share. So why would one of Canada's most prolific, poetic and respected singer-songwriters release a disc called Speechless when he's anything but?
"It's just seemed like a good idea," says the 60-year-old artist, who visits the city this week to accept an award from the Winnipeg Folk Festival. "We've been asked for (an instrumental album) for a long time and had requests to put all those old ones together. We got to have our cake and eat it -- with enough new pieces to make it interesting."
Speechless compiles Cockburn instrumentals -- solo cuts and band numbers -- dating back to 1970, along with three new songs. Even though it's mostly oldies, it might come as a surprise to people know Cockburn from songs like If I Had a Rocket Launcher but don't realize he's just as talented a guitarist as he is a lyricist.
"It's a totally different thing playing an instrumental, because a song starts with lyrics for me. If I have the lyrics, then there's a conscious search to find the music to fit them," he says.
He's been doing plenty of searching lately. Recent events have given him plenty of material for his next album. Besides the expected reflections on spirituality, politics and relationships, Cockburn has penned an account of a trip to Baghdad this year.
"I've been in other war zones, but this was different in that it was an occupied city -- a first for me. Iraqi society is in a state of chaos, with an overlay of American military presence that had nothing to do with the Iraqis. And not one person in Iraq had illusions about the U.S. They said, 'This is about American domestic policy and oil,' which everyone else in the world knows except the Americans."
Cockburn had no official status during his trip to the Middle East but met with women's groups, Kurds, scientists, doctors and homeless squatters living in bombed-out buildings. He witnessed a myriad of problems, from traffic signals that don't work to a lack of emergency supplies created by more than a decade of economic sanctions.
"We're hearing so much about it but we're hearing nothing about it. There's a lot of blather about the tragedy and what's going on, but we got a different angle on it," says Cockburn, who has visited war-torn areas around the world as an observer and ambassador.
His humanitarian efforts have gone hand-in-hand with his musical achievements. He has 20 gold and platinum albums, is a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Tomorrow, he will receive the 2005 Winnipeg Folk Festival Artistic Achievement Award during the Winter Wassail fundraiser at the Convention Centre. He'll play three songs. Cockburn played the Folk Fest five times, including the first two events in 1974 and 1975.
"I have good memories of the festival and good images of the festival but I don't have a ready anecdote for you," he says. Cockburn speechless? Now that's a first.
Tickets for the Winter Wassail are $125 at the Folk Festival office. If that's a tad rich for your blood, you can meet him for free. He'll be chatting with fans and signing autographs at the Folk Festival Music store today from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.