Lewes Guitar Festival - Round-up

Prolific is the word most used to describe Bruce Cockburn who will be playing the 8pm slot at the All Saints Centre today as part of Lewes Guitar Festival. The Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer/songwriter released his 29th album in 2006, and has written songs for a vast array of TV and film soundtracks. His music is due to appear this year on a forthcoming TV adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel, Ecstasy. Bruce’s first guitar was one he found in his grandmother's attic, when he was fifteen. He decorated it with golden stars and used to play along to hits on the radio. After growing up to play with several bands, Bruce made his first solo appearance at the Mariposa Folk Festival in 1967, as the headliner when Neil Young cancelled in order to appear at Woodstock. Raised as an agnostic, he became a devout Christian early in his career and many of his albums from the 1970s show evidence of his religious beliefs. It doesn’t seem to have put off the fans though. ‘I'm certainly not a Christian, but if I were, I'd want to be one like Bruce’ is ‘a not uncommon refrain among his listeners’, apparently (according to Wikipedia).

John Doan has been described by critics as ‘perfectly evoking the Celtic spirit’ despite his American origins. He brings his rare twenty-string harp guitar to Pelham House at 5.15pm. ER