Watch Moving Animated Video for Bruce Cockburn’s MLK-Inspired “April in Memphis”
Photo credit: Daniel Keebler
Back in 2005, Bruce Cockburn released Speechless, an album of all-instrumentals that focused on his acoustic guitar playing. That record not only gained him further renown for his picking but earned him a Canadian Folk Music Award for Best Instrumentalist. On September 20 True North Records will issue Crowing Ignites, which presents Cockburn in a similar setting once again. Unlike Speechless, which drew on previously-recorded compositions, Crowing Ignites presents 11 new songs.
This is Cockburn’s 34th record and once again, he deftly blends folk, blues, jazz and world sounds. Today we premiere a new animated video for “April in Memphis,” which Cockburn explains he wrote in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated outside The Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Cockburn tells Relix, “The piece came into being on MLK Day 2019. It pretty much formed itself in the course of a practice session. It took the shape of a lament, more than a celebration, which set me to thinking of King’s murder, and the loss of a voice of wisdom, compassion and respect that we could really use about now. Hence, the title. I think the video conveys the right sense of the poignant beauty, of the dignity, of the man and the spirituality that fueled him.”
Cockburn will support Crowing Ignites, which is now available for pre-order, on a U.S. tour, with the dates listed below. You can also click here for our conversation with him, following the release of his autobiography, Rumours of Glory.
Bruce Cockburn US Tour Dates
SEPT 7 Sisters, OR Sisters Folk Festival
SEPT 20 Nashville, TN City Winery
SEPT 21 Ferdinand, IN Ferdinand Folk Fest
SEPT 23 Nelsonville, OH Stuart Opera House
SEPT 24 Goshen, IN John S Umble Center
SEPT 25 Grand Rapids, MI Covenant Arts Center
SEPT 27 Chicago, IL Old Town School
SEPT 28 Chicago, IL Old Town School
SEPT 29 Minneapolis, MN Cedar Cultural Center
SEPT 30 Fargo, ND Fargo Theatre
OCT 24 Brooklyn, NY Murmur Theatre
OCT 25 Albany, NY The Egg
OCT 26 Collingswood, NJ Scottish Rite Theatre
OCT 27 Alexandria, VA The Birchmere
NOV 10 Seattle, WA Neptune Theatre
NOV 11 Missoula, MT Wilma Theatre
NOV 12 Boise, ID Vac Theatre
NOV 14 Salt Lake City, UT State Room
NOV 15 Grand Junction, CO Avalon Theatre
NOV 16 Durango, CO Henry Strater Theatre
NOV 17 Boulder, CO Boulder Theatre
NOV 19 Phoenix, AZ MIM
NOV 20 Los Angeles, CA McCabe’s Guitar Shop
NOV 21 Berkeley, CA Freight & Salvage
NOV 22 Berkeley, CA Freight & Salvage
