Paul Tessier
For The Morning Star
Roots-music troubadour and multiple Juno Award-winner Bill Bourne grew up with music.
91裸聊视频淚 remember so many times falling asleep upstairs in our farmhouse,91裸聊视频� Bourne said. 91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檇 be in my bed in and I could hear the music downstairs. That memory is still very comforting to me. That91裸聊视频檚 something I91裸聊视频檒l always remember.91裸聊视频�
He91裸聊视频檒l be playing some of that down-home, roots-based music live for the Vernon Folk-Roots Music Society Saturday, Nov. 18 at the Spitfire Lounge of the Army, Navy and Airforce Club.
Bourne grew up in a very musical family on a farm near Red Deer, Alta, and fondly remembers lots of music in the house.
91裸聊视频淢y mom and dad had a band when I was a little kid. They were pretty busy of course with the farming, but they91裸聊视频檇 always somehow find time to play music. Weekends would come along 91裸聊视频� especially in the winter months 91裸聊视频� people would come over and pretty soon there91裸聊视频檇 be all this music. As kids, it was kind of cool because we got to do stuff they wouldn91裸聊视频檛 let us do normally, because they were busy playing music,91裸聊视频� Bourne said with a hearty laugh.
At the age of 11, his uncle dropped off his clarinet.
91裸聊视频淚 put that thing together and started playing it immediately. I loved it but then a couple of years later, I started hanging out with some guys at school who wanted to start a band. The clarinet didn91裸聊视频檛 work with guitars. They said, 91裸聊视频楾hat91裸聊视频檚 crazy. What91裸聊视频檚 with this clarinet? Get that thing out of here.91裸聊视频� That sort of put a damper on the clarinet playing so I started playing guitar.91裸聊视频�
He then naturally gravitated the songwriters like Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon. He played in bands throughout high school and got his ticket as a licensed diesel mechanic. He was working as a mechanic for about a year when he got into the music business.
91裸聊视频淚 quit my job, took my guitar and went to see a booking agent and auditioned,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淭hey put me to work right away, playing in bars in northern Alberta.91裸聊视频�
It proved to be a quick learning experience.
91裸聊视频淲hen all of a sudden your living depends on your music 91裸聊视频� you learn a lot in a hurry,91裸聊视频� Bourne said. 91裸聊视频淚t ends up being really good for your playing.91裸聊视频�
The booking agent wanted him to know 50 top 40 country songs and get a Rhythm Ace or electronic drummer.
91裸聊视频淚 never did get a Rhythm Ace,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淚 made a pact with myself when I quit my job as a mechanic that I was only going to play music that I really wanted to play. I wasn91裸聊视频檛 going to let anybody tell me what to play. I91裸聊视频檓 glad I made that pact with myself because that way I was able to pursue the music that I liked best. I sort of understood from the very beginning that the greatest asset you have as an artist is your own uniqueness.91裸聊视频�
It was around then that he started writing songs 91裸聊视频� a process he finds to be both an art and spiritual in nature.
91裸聊视频淎s a songwriter, I can sit down and write lyrics all day,91裸聊视频� Bourne said. 91裸聊视频淏ut every once in a while, all of a sudden, something seems to take over my body and a song will come up that blows everything else away. That to me is art. You can premeditate to a certain degree what you91裸聊视频檙e going to write about but when this phenomenon 91裸聊视频� this sort of inspired moment occurs 91裸聊视频� that91裸聊视频檚 what really gets my attention.
91裸聊视频淪o, as an artist, if you91裸聊视频檙e fortunate enough to have those inspired moments occur and you manage to capture them, what happens is that there91裸聊视频檚 a uniqueness that comes out 91裸聊视频� a unique perspective. There91裸聊视频檚 a real potency to those moments,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淲ithout those songs, it91裸聊视频檚 much more difficult to be unique. But to me, sometimes I feel like I can91裸聊视频檛 really claim authorship to those songs because it91裸聊视频檚 like it came from another place.91裸聊视频�
Over the years, he91裸聊视频檚 been nominated for eight Juno Awards and has won three Junos, including Best Roots Recording in 1991 for Dance and Celebrate.
He91裸聊视频檚 collaborated with all sorts of folks, including the Tannahill Weavers and Alan McLeod, Shannon Johnson, Wykham Porteous, Madagascar Slim and others. Along the way, he91裸聊视频檚 noticed a common thread running through the themes of most great songwriters.
91裸聊视频淭he message is consistently about universal love,91裸聊视频� Bourne said. 91裸聊视频淭hose inspired moments, which give life to those inspired songs, almost always have that underlying, powerful message.91裸聊视频�
Although the message on Saturday, Nov. 18 might be about universal love and other themes, expect his show to be joyous and even raucous.
91裸聊视频淢y music is essentially based on dance rhythms. Lately, I91裸聊视频檝e taken to playing some blues on banjo, which I91裸聊视频檓 really getting into. I also play the stomp-box a lot because I like to play music that91裸聊视频檚 uptempo and very danceable. If people want to get up, shake a leg and sing along, that91裸聊视频檚 definitely fine by me.91裸聊视频�
Bill Bourne will be performing many of his inspired songs for the Vernon Folk-Roots Music Society Saturday, Nov. 18 at the Spitfire Lounge of the Army, Navy and Airforce Club. Show time is 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are $25 and are available through The Ticket Seller, 250-549-7469, , the Bean Scene Coffee House and at the door if available.
