The Go-Go's to play Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Tuesday, May 31st at 8PM; release 30th Anniversary Edition of Beauty & The Beat

Last year, the Go-Go's were all set to do their farewell tour.  Now, they've decided they're not splitting up after all, and are getting ready to hit the road for a summer tour they've dubbed Ladies Gone Wild.  They'll also perform on ABC's Good Morning America summer concert series on June 3rd. Some new music from the Go-Go's may follow, but the important thing, according to guitarist Jane Wiedlin, is that the band "hasn't definitively decided to stop working together after this summer," and, as she tells ABC News Radio, "That's really good news."

To get fans in the mood for the summer of the Go-Go's, a 30th Anniversary Edition of their landmark debut album Beauty & The Beat arrived in stores this past Tuesday, May 17th.  The remastered version of the album -- which was the first album entirely written and performed by an all-female band to reach #1 in the U.S. -- comes with a previously-unreleased recording of a show the Go-Go's did at the Metro club in Boston in 1981.  Jane says of that bonus disc, "God, we sound so young!  It's so cute!  Thirty years have gone by so fast, it's hard for me to believe it's been that long." If you want to go old-school, in addition to CD and digital formats, the reissue is also available on pink vinyl.

Jane says she's "thrilled" about the re-release, adding, "I never dreamed in a million years that would happen, and it was so flattering and kind of them [the label] to do that. And the fact that anyone's even interested is super-great."  Jane feels that even after 30 years, Beauty & The Beat -- which features "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got the Beat" -- still holds up.  She tells ABC News Radio, "I stand behind the record. I still love all the songs.  If we could re-do that album today...I think the sound would be a lot better...but I still love the record."  

The Go-Go's will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in August. Tickets for The Go-Go’s plus The Dollyrots at the Calvin Theatre are available at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686, and online at IHEG.com.

Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit , a whirlwind of Brit-folk whimsy and foot-stomping, come to the Iron Horse on Tuesday, May 31st. Nashville "pistol" Caitlin Rose opens.

Like pals in Mumford & Sons, Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit are a whirlwind of Brit-folk whimsy and foot-stomping. His latest record, Been Listening, is charmingly literary, from the delicately funky opener, “Kentucky Pill,” to the horn-tinged closer, “The Prizefighter And The Heiress.” Flynn duets with singer-songwriter Laura Marling on “The Water,” a modern murder ballad done with absolute heartbreaking precision. It’s worth noting, maybe, that Flynn’s not all that hard on the eyes, either. He’s the new face of Burberry’s spring ad campaign and has the starring role in a hazily filmed and mumbly acted British coming-of-age film Lotus Eaters, which just premièred at the Tribeca Film Festival.  

Caitlin Rose (above) has a fresh and gentle face, but her sweet demeanor seems deceiving when you listen to her fearless and energetic Nashville country style. The 23 year old hides no controversial topic in her songs, a brashness that gives her wry country-blues that added bump in character. With a vocal style that is compared to Loretta Lynn, Rose's popularity in Europe exploded very early in her career. And before she even had the chance to release a full debut album in the states, she was listed on NME's "Cool List" in 2010. Since the release of her Dead Flowers EP in 2008, Rose has performed alongside a number of top artists. Her debut LP, Own Side Now, was released in August 2010 in Europe and this past March here in the states.

James Mathe who plays keys and sings in The Sussex Wit will open the show. He's been around for a few years under the moniker 'Barabrossa' but recently he's broken free from that to record under his own name.

Tickets for  Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit, Caitlin Rose, and James Mathe at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Tuesday, May 31st at 7PM are available at Northampton Box Office, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

Pull together paddlers! Canadian Quebecois trio Genticorum to play the Iron Horse on June 15th

Quebecois trio Genticorum will tour the United States and Canada to present their new album tiled Nagez Rameurs (“Pull Together, Paddlers!”). 

Band members include Yann Falquet on guitar, jew’s harps, vocal; Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand on wooden flute, bass, fiddle, Vocal; and Pascal Gemme on foot percussion, fiddle, vocal.

Genticorum’s second album, Malins Plaisirs, released in Canada in 2005, won in the Best Ensemble category at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. The trio’s third album, La Bibournoise, was released in Canada in April 2008 to critical acclaim. This work builds on Genticorum’s trademark sound, combining rollicking interpretations of Quebec folk songs with original instrumentals written in the traditional style. 

Tickets for  Genticorum at the Iron Horse in Northampton on June 15th at 7PM are available at NBO, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com

Guitar great Joe Louis Walker brings his blues rock legacy to the Iron Horse on Friday, May 27th at 7PM. Local teen blues prodigy Eli Catlin opens.

 Considered one of the last of the great blues guitar heroes, alongside B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Otis Rush, Joe Louis Walker's career is unique. While other blues legends grew up in the pre-war South, Walker was raised in the Fillmore district of San Francisco in the late fifties and early sixties, at a time when blues and rock lived hand in hand. While honing his skills locally with the likes of Lightnin' Hopkins, Fred McDowell, Magic Sam and Earl "Zebedee" Hooker, he was also very much part of the local psychedelic scene. "I knew them all. Carlos Santana and the guys from the Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead as well as Sly Stone and Larry Graham. My roommate at the time was Mike Bloomfield, fresh from introducing Bob Dylan to the electric guitar."

In the ‘80s, as the head of his Bosstalkers, Joe rapidly worked his way to the top of the profession with a series of stellar albums, produced by such luminaries as Steve Cropper  (of the M.G.’s) and Scotty Moore (Elvis's original guitar player) that radically changed the blues landscape of the late 20th Century.

"Glowing like a blue beacon" — in the words of noted blues critic Bill Dahl —, Walker is certainly the most brilliantly innovative guitarist on the contemporary blues scene today. A fact that owes him the unbridled admiration of certified fans like Mick Jagger, B.B. King, The Edge, Bono, and Herbie Hancock, who show up at his concerts whenever the occasion arises.

 Heating up the stage to start the night, Eli Catlin is a budding blues musician, a serious one, who devotes much of his time these days to working on his burgeoning career. He is home-schooled by his mother and attends North Star: Self-Directed Learning for Teens, a community-based education center in Hadley - which offers optimal time, he says, to devote to his "music stuff." At 15, Eli is off to a good start with a CD, "Eli Catlin Plays the Blues," under his belt.

Tickets for Joe Louis Walker plus Eli Catlin on Friday, May 27^th at 7PM at the Iron Horse in are available at Northampton Box Office, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com

A softer side of Sully. Godsmack wildman chills out with new sound on Avalon; plays Calvin Theatre in Northampton with band on Saturday, June 11th

When you hear the name Sully Erna, it's not a surprise if you picture the Godsmack frontman jumping on bars, acting like a maniac and living up to the image of a heavy metal rocker. Erna himself admits that in the early days of the band, that's what his life was. But now 42 and raising a daughter, the prolific songwriter wanted to try something new and reflect more of who he is today. "It was important for me to show who I am now. When I am home, I'm not a guy who is banging shots and drinking beers all night and standing on the bar and being a maniac," Erna said. "I have those moments, but I also have moments where I want to lie on the couch with a comforter and eat chicken soup and watch movies and just be in my sweat pants all day and be mellow. I wanted to reflect that in my music." With that in mind, Erna created an eclectic composition called "Avalon" that combines hypnotic sounds of tribal rhythms, melodic instruments and haunting vocals. Erna describes his new sound as earthly and eclectic, where you can go sit down, have a glass of wine and be moved through the music. "The goal is to try and touch people on an emotional level," he said. "It's built off seven other world-class musicians. I have a classically trained cello player from Bulgaria, one of the original guys from Dead Can Dance, who came over from Ireland; and Lisa Guyer, who has a four-octave bluesy background voice. It's very cool and different." Godsmack is known for being a big powerful rock band, but his new venture offers almost an entire 180-degree pivot. "I was a very young, angry boy at the time as I was writing a lot of that stuff but I've grown so much over the last 15 years," Erna said. "This big machine like Godsmack really built my career, but through that birthed this beautiful side of me that I knew was always there but I just had to tap into at some point." Although he won't go as far as comparing "Avalon" to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of The Moon," Erna does want to convey the same gift of music. "Back in the day, when Pink Floyd did 'Dark Side of the Moon' and those sort of records, it was an experience," he said. "You put the record on, and you would never put the needle in the middle of the album. You would start at the beginning and play the whole record. That's what I feel like 'Avalon' is -- a musical journey down the rabbit hole and it really touches you on an emotional level." Those wanting to see Erna's new musical journey can go to the Klein Memorial Auditorium on May 18. But don't go expecting his Godsmack alter-ego to be present. "It's going to be a very distinct departure from Godsmack," Erna said. "This is not about pyro and all the bells and whistles and who can jump higher off the drum rise and things like that. This is a very kind of seductive, beautiful, scenic, cinematic kind of show." Not that fans of his band won't appreciate this music. Erna has already seen a great deal of Godsmack followers embrace the album. "Of course there will always be the knuckleheads who can't accept any type of music but metal. ... but for sure, it's drawing a different demographic of people, but also the fan base I had," he said. "If history has taught up anything, it's that sometimes very beautiful things come out of something very dark." Erna knows a thing or two about being dark. In 2007, the singer released the memoir "The Paths We Choose," which chronicled his troublemaking ways up until he started with Godsmack 15 years ago. "Avalon" took more than a year to record and spent another year on the shelves as Erna tried to find the right time to put it out. "It kind of piggybacked on the back of Godsmack's latest record and that's really what I didn't want because it's very different and I don't want people to misunderstand that this isn't me doing a rock record on the side," he said. "So, I'm not really sure if, strategically, we did this right." Godsmack's "The Oracle" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, becoming the band's third straight album to do so. The band has been very supportive of Erna's solo effort. "They all wished me luck and we have gotten through a lot of difficult times with much difficult problems through the years," Erna said. "They may wonder if this thing goes, will Godsmack be done, but I have reassured them that I have no reason to kill Godsmack. That would be stupid for me to do. It's not only my bread and butter, but it's the other side that I need. I would only be half a man if I didn't have both."  By KEITH LORIA/Stamford Times Tickets for Sully Erna at the Calvin Theatre, Northampton on Saturday, June 11th at 8PM are available at Northampton Box Office, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

A little bit country. Mindy Smith comes to the Iron Horse Thursday, May 19th. Peter Bradley Adams opens.

 Entertainment Weekly says that Mindy Smith has "a lovely girl-woman soprano that feels like cotton sheeting after a bath." But is that any way to talk about a lady whose biggest hit was a song called "Come to Jesus"? In fact, the Long Island-bred, Nashville-based singer has deftly managed to carry her vocal and songwriting talents beyond the confines of the Christian country label with which she was initially tagged. Following the early high-profile endorsement from Dolly Parton that first brought her into the public eye, she's straddled folk, country and pop throughout a series of albums and songs (the best of which "sound like little miracles" - USA Today) and gained an eclectic audience via the authenticity of her musical exploration of what she calls "heartbreak, healing, all that stuff." 

Smith has been featured on NPR and has appeared on "The Tonight Show" and Conan O'Brien, and her songs have been played on such television shows as "Grey's Anatomy," "Smallville" and "Six Feet Under. "Her most recent CD is "Stupid Love." On Thursday 5/19 she comes to the Iron Horse in Northampton for a 7 p.m. show. Peter Bradley Adams opens. $20/$25. 586-8686, iheg.com

 Peter Bradley Adams was formerly one half of the duo, Eastmountainsouth, signed by Robbie Robertson (of The Band) to DreamWorks Records in 2002. Since then, Adams has released three solo records: "Gather Up", "Leavetaking", and "Traces"; and is set to release his fourth "Between Us", on Mishara Music on June 14th.

 

by Dan DeNicola of the Daily Hampshire Gazette

Bon Iver to play at Mountain Park in Holyoke on Saturday, August 6th at 7PM. Tickets on sale this Friday, May 13th.

Justin Vernon, on the heels of a show-stopping performance with Kanye West at this year’s Coachella Music Festival, will release his band Bon Iver’s highly anticipated self-titled sophomore effort on June 21^st.

Frozen cabins in the woods of northern Wisconsin aren't normally places where legendary music is born. But in the winter of 2007, the spirits of folk-rock somehow came together to help Justin Vernon — better known as Bon Iver — record a masterpiece of a debut, For Emma, Forever Ago. The follow-up EP Blood Bank was equally stunning but fans of his story and his style have been clamoring for new music, and Vernon is ready to oblige with a new album and a tour that will bring him to Mountain Park in Holyoke on Saturday, August 6th.

Anyone who had even a single listen to For Emma Forever Ago, will peg Justin Vernon's vocals immediately on the long awaited follow-up Bon Iver, due out on June 21^st  on Jagjaguwar (and on 4AD in the UK).  Bon Iver‘s 10 tracks are said to feature “silky electric guitars, beautifully intricate keys, and subtle horn and string sections.”

The album was recorded in a remodeled veterinarian clinic in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, which was bought by Vernon and his brother in 2008. It was converted into April Base Studios, built mainly over the defunct swimming pool attached to the clinic. Vernon's reason for recording in the location was that “It’s been a wonderful freedom, working in a place we built. It's also only three miles from the house I grew up in, and just ten minutes from the bar where my parents met.”

“Bon Iver is often equated with just me," says Vernon, "but you are who surrounds you, and for Bon Iver, Bon Iver I wanted to invite those voices as musical catalysts."

For the shows, Justin Vernon will perform with an eight-piece band that includes many musicians who contributed to Bon Iver. The touring band will consist of regular Bon Iver contributors Sean Carey (drums, piano), Mike Noyce (guitar) and Matt McCaughan (drums), Rob Moose on violin and guitar (Antony and the Johnsons, The National), Mike Lewis on bass (Andrew Bird, Happy Apple), and a horn section including Reginald Pace, Colin Stetson (Tom Waits, Arcade Fire), and C.J. Camerieri (Rufus Wainwright, Sufjan Stevens).

Opening the show will be The Rosebuds of Raleigh, North Carolina whose fifth album Loud Planes Fly Low, out June 7^th on Merge,  is their most inventive to date. Justin Vernon and the Rosebuds have been personal and musical friends for years.

Hearing Bon Iver’s music in a live setting should prove a transcendent experience outdoors on the lush grass nestled in the trees on the mountainside at Mountain Park in Holyoke on Saturday, August 6^th at 7PM.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, May 13^th at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com. 

The painting above is the Bon Iver album cover and the image for the tour.

Nashville comes to Northampton as Laura Cantrell pays tribute to Country Music Hall of Famer Kitty Wells on her new album and at the Iron Horse on Saturday, May 21st at 7PM. Vermont’s J.P. Harris & The Tough Choices open.

 With a voice that reminds us of a bygone era, it’s perhaps fitting that Laura Cantrell should choose to release a tribute album to the Queen of Country, Kitty Wells. Kitty Wells Dresses: Songs of the Queen of Country Music took shape a few years ago after Laura performed in a showcase honoring the iconic country star. Alt-country bible No Depression says “this is Laura Cantrell’s finest album to date and will win her a legion of new fans when the traditionalists actually listen to it and the young kids on the block will no doubt seek out Kitty Wells’ original recordings and possibly move on to other forgotten artistes of that generation too.”


Kitty Wells was the first female country singer to top the charts, and at the age of 91, is the oldest living member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Her songs, including the 1952 hit It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels, helped pave the way for the likes of Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette.


Cantrell explained “I’ve been a Kitty Wells fan since childhood, inheriting my regard for her music from my father’s family from West Tennessee. Her music is great and it's wrong it seems that it is not better remembered today. I always responded to the fundamental feeling in Wells’ singing, her way of sounding both emotional and restrained at once, a really affecting combination.” 

 The album, due out Tuesday, May 17^th, was recorded in Nashville with producer Mark Nevers (Lambchop) and features musicians Chris Scruggs (M Ward), Fats Kaplin (Kane Welch Kaplin), Paul Niehaus (Calexico).

Nashville-born and New York City-based singer Laura Cantrell shines as one of the sweetest hearts at the rodeo. Her warm, precise country-folk style has brought her comparisons to (of course) Kitty Wells, Neko Case, Nanci Griffith, and Emmylou Harris, but she herself seems bound to be one of those singers that folks get compared to. Late legendary UK DJ John Peel called her Tremblin' Kind "my favorite record of the last 10 years and possibly my life." Cantrell hosted an award-winning old-school-meets-new radio program on New Jersey's WFMU for many years called the Radio Thrift Shop.

Opening the show at the Iron Horse for what’s guaranteed to be an amazing Saturday night of Country music is Vermont’s J.P. Harris and The Tough Choices who play Old-School Honky Tonk, set squarley between 1950 & 1975. Featuring the classic lineup of rhythm and lead guitar, electric bass, drums, and pedal steel, The Tough Choices embody an all-but vanished style of Country music that is rarely found on the barroom stage today. High-energy, danceable beats and tear-jerking ballads are sure to please the seasoned country fan or young initiate alike.

Tickets for Laura Cantrell plus J.P. Harris & The Tough Choices at the Iron Horse on Saturday, May 21^st at 7PM are available at Northampton Box Office, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

Great Live Jazz in Northampton at the Iron Horse and Calvin Theatre

Paul Lieberman Tuesday, May 10th 7PM Iron Horse 

Paul's new CD looks at Brazilian music and Jazz as twin children of Mother Africa sent off to grow up in distant parts of the world and in addition to tonight's illustrious band also features Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jaimoe (drummer/co-founder of The Allman Brothers) and Guggenheim Fellow & legendary bassist Rufus Reid. Paul toured with Airto & Flora Purim for two years, lived in Brazil for four, and has performed/recorded with Pat Metheny, David Sanborn, Jaco Pastorius and many others. Duduka & Nilson (drums and bass) are two of NY's greatest Brazilian musicians, and Northampton’s own Joel Martin (piano), creator of Jazzical®, has done everything from performing with the NY Phil to musical direction of the Cab Calloway Orchestra and the Boys Choir of Harlem. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Northampton Arts Council, Inc.

Karrin Allyson- Sunday May 22^nd 7PM Iron Horse

May 2011 marks a milestone for multiple Grammy nominated singer and pianist Karrin Allyson and Concord Jazz — the release of Round Midnight, the thirteenth album in a series dating back to her 1992 debut album “I Didn’t Know About You.” THIRTEEN ALBUMS!!! — That’s worth shouting about. And that’s just what music lovers and critics around the world have been doing — shouting Allyson’s name from the rooftops, marveling at the range of this extraordinary musician, who moves with such ease and authority from the Great American Songbook of Gershwin and Porter to the Great American Jazz Songbook of Duke and Thelonius and Miles and Dizzy, jet-setting to Rio and Paris and swinging back home to pick up Bonnie Raitt and Joni Mitchell and Jimmy Webb. 

Gretchen Parlato- Thursday, June 2^nd 7PM Iron Horse

Gretchen Parlato has been turning heads ever since she won the 2004 Thelonious Monk Institute International Vocal Competition. Her sultry, intriguing voice and unique, rhythmically agile phrasing came with inescapable centripetal force; the more intimate and understated she sang, the more she drew listeners in. Since then she has toured worldwide to sold out audiences with BBC Radio proclaiming, "Star over London...A star is born!" Her originality captivates musicians as well, prompting invitations to appear on over 50 recordings with the likes of Terence Blanchard, Kenny Barron, Terri Lynn Carrington and Esperanza Spalding. Her breathtaking performances have been captured on television in Europe and Japan and she has become a sought after clinician on vocal styling. This show features Taylor Eigsti, piano, Harish Raghavan, bass, and Justin Brown, drums.

Mahavishnu Project- Saturday, June 11^th 10PM Iron Horse

In 2001, this incendiary unit from New York City began performing their unique renditions of classic Mahavishnu Orchestra while remaining true to the cutting edge improvs of the original band, and to John McLaughlin’s stunning compositions. They have received the seal of approval from Maestro McLaughlin himself and all of Mahavishnu's original members.

Bill Frisell’s Beautiful Dreamers Sunday, June 19^th 7PM Iron Horse

Heralded as a sonic innovator since his seminal work for ECM Records in the mid-eighties, Grammy winning, perennial Best Jazz Guitarist award recipient Bill Frisell has developed a rich body of work over the past two decades, guaranteeing him a place in the history books alongside his heroes Jim Hall and Jimi Hendrix.Since the turn of the Millennium, Bill Frisell has become renowned for his cinematically eclectic interpretations of blues, country and folk forms, having long gravitated away from the uncompromising eighties-era Downtown scene led by composer John Zorn. A departure of sorts, the album Beautiful Dreamers features Frisell's two year old working trio of violist Eyvind Kang and drummer Rudy Royston. Far more dynamic on stage, Frisell's meticulously crafted studio albums often sound overly reserved in comparison with his live shows.

Return To Forever IV Friday, June 24^th 8PM Calvin Theatre

Expect to be thrilled. Return to Forever, jazz-rock’s venerable pioneering outfit, has a dynamic new lineup that is quite possibly the most spectacular incarnation of one of the most influential bands of all time. The quintet arrangement is an unprecedented and energizing new venture for Return to Forever, which had a seismic impact on jazz in the 1970s, selling out arenas with high-energy electric music. Chick Corea (keyboards), Stanley Clarke (bass) and Lenny White (drums) add guitar legend Frank Gambale and former Mahavishnu Orchestra member Jean-Luc Ponty (violin). The twin elements of Gambale’s sweep-picking melodic inventiveness and Ponty’s relentless explorations will add unanticipated new dimensions to RTF’s signature sound.

Jane Bunnett & Hilario Dunn Friday, July 15th 7 PM Iron Horse

Both Duran and Bunnett are famed for their innovative take on contemporary Latin jazz and Cuban style. On their debut duet album Rhapsody Cubana they go back to the roots with an exploration of Cuban classical music, a style little known in North America and Europe but deeply appreciated in Cuba and Latin America. With Hilario's ever-fluent and dazzlingly accomplished piano playing and Jane's melodic contributions on soprano saxophone and flute, they are full of passion and melody, and that's the essence of Cuban music.

Bad Plus Saturday, June 25^th 7PM Iron Horse

For the past 10 years The Bad Plus have created an uncompromising body of work by shattering musical convention. Rolling Stone called their amalgam of jazz, pop, rock and avant garde "about as badass as highbrow gets," while The New York Times said the band is "better than anyone at mixing the sensibilities of post-'60s jazz and indie rock." Few jazz groups in recent memory have amassed such acclaim, and few have generated as much controversy while audaciously bucking musical trends. While the bulk of their output has been originals, they have famously deconstructed covers in the pop, rock, electronic and classical idioms. Their belief in a band ethos and "avant-garde populism" has placed them at the forefront of a new instrumental music movement, resulting in ever-growing audiences throughout the world.

Tickets for all shows are available at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686, and online at IHEG.com.

Veteran Canadian songwriter, humanitarian Bruce Cockburn and his band plus Jenny Scheinman perform at 8PM on Friday, May 13th at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton

Bruce Cockburn has always been a restless spirit. Over the course of four decades, the celebrated Canadian artist has traveled to the corners of the earth out of humanitarian concerns—often to trouble spots experiencing events that have led to some of his most memorable songs. Going up against chaos, even if it involves grave risks, can be necessary to get closer to the truth.

Small Source of Comfort, Cockburn’s 31st album, is his latest adventurous collection of songs of romance, protest and spiritual discovery. The album, primarily acoustic yet rhythmically savvy, is rich in Cockburn’s characteristic blend of folk, blues, jazz and rock. As usual, many of the new compositions come from his travels and spending time in places like San Francisco and Brooklyn to the Canadian Forces base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, jotting down his typically detailed observations about the human experience.

Brooklyn-based violinist Jenny Scheinman, who opens the Calvin show and also plays in Cockburn’s band, is one of Bruce’s two female collaborators on Small Source of Comfort. Scheinman, best known for her work with Bill Frisell and Norah Jones, provides some thrilling flourishes to instrumentals like “Lois on the Autobahn” and the bluesy, gypsy-like swing of “Comets of Kandahar,” a track that Cockburn describes as “Django meets John Lee Hooker.”

His music, along with his humanitarian work, have brought Cockburn a long list of honours, including 13 Juno Awards, an induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award and several international awards. In 1982, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Officer in 2002. 

Never content to rest on his laurels, Cockburn keeps looking ahead. “I’d rather think about what I’m going to do next,” he once said. “My models for graceful aging are guys like John Lee Hooker and Mississippi John Hurt, who never stopped working till they dropped, as I fully expect to be doing, and just getting better as musicians and as human beings.” Small Source of Comfort, a reflection of Cockburn’s ever-expanding world of wonders, is the latest step in his creative evolution.

Tickets for Bruce Cockburn (with band) plus Jenny Scheinman at 8PM on Friday, May 13^th at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton are available at Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686, and online at IHEG.com.