Bruce Douglas Cockburn was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on May 27, 1945. He is the oldest of three children, having two younger brothers. As a teenager he took lessons in clarinet, trumpet, piano, and picked up the guitar when he was 14. Through high school his interest and involvement in music grew. After leaving high school in 1963, Bruce headed to Europe where, among other places, he ended up performing on the streets of Paris. After spending three months in Europe he returned to Canada, and by the fall of 1964  shipped off to Boston to attend the Berklee College of Music. During the three semesters he was there he joined a jug band called WALKER THOMPSON AND HIS BOYS.

By the end of 1965, having had enough of the Berklee scene, Bruce returned to Ottawa and joined THE CHILDREN. It was during this time that Bruce was encouraged by Ottawa poet and  mentor, Bill Hawkins, to write his own songs. While with The Children Bruce also sat in regularly with HEAVENLY BLUE at the legendary Ottawa folk venue, Le Hibou. In the summer of 1967, after having left The Children, he joined the ESQUIRES... but he soon departed.

Before year's end Bruce moved to Toronto where he formed a band called THE FLYING CIRCUS, which later was known as OLIVUS. The band played such venues as Toronto's venerable Riverboat, located in the Yorkville District. In mid-1968 the band folded and Bruce joined 3's A CROWD, which had originally been formed in Vancouver in 1964. He was reunited with David Wiffen and Richard Patterson from The Children. In late 1967, prior to his having joined 3's A Crowd, the band recorded several songs written by Bruce for their album, Christopher's Movie Matinee. These songs were penned while with The Children.

Contrary to other published reports, Bruce's first solo appearance at the influential Mariposa Folk Festival occurred on August 11, 1968, while still a member of 3's A Crowd, not in 1967. While 3's A Crowd did appear at Mariposa in 1967, Bruce was not a member of the band at that time. 

Bruce performed solo in November 1968 at the Pornographic Onion, a well-known coffeehouse in Toronto. Though he was still with 3's A Crowd, the transition to a solo career was well on the way. Bruce remained with 3's A Crowd until, in the spring of 1969, he left the band to begin his solo career. Later that year he teamed with Bernie Finkelstein and Eugene Martynec to record his first album, Bruce Cockburn, and thus True North Records was born. The album was recorded in Toronto in December 1969 and released in the spring of 1970.

This would be the beginning of a long-lasting relationship between Bernie and Bruce... one that flourishes to this day. It is extremely rare to see a manager and a performer stick together for so many years. Bernie takes care of the business and Bruce takes care of the music.

Eugene Martynec would go on to produce fourteen of Bruce's first fifteen albums, and would tour with him in 1971, behind High Winds White Sky, then again in 1974 after the release of Salt, Sun & Time.

Biography continued: 1970 to Present