INTO THE FIRE

ONCE THE LUCKY accident of finding an interesting riff happens, then I’ll get down to the more deliberate work of figuring out what’s going to happen next,” Bruce Cockburn explains. The national treasure from the Great White North won the 2018 Canadian Folk Music Awards Solo Artist of the Year honor for his 33rd album, Bone on Bone, and now the outrageously prolific fingerpicker has a deep new album of acoustic instrumentals on his hands called Crowing Ignites (True North).

Cockburn, who relocated to San Francisco five years ago, is a consummate singer-songwriter, as renowned for his lyrical poignancy as for his exceptional electric and acoustic guitar skills. His albums usually contain an instrumental gem or three, and his last all instrumental affair, 2005’s , was a compilation of mostly previously recorded material. , on the other hand, is a full batch of recently written glory showcasing Cockburn’s fingerpicking prowess, knack for texture and masterful sense of melody. The album’s enigmatic title is, which appears on his family crest. The guitarist says he appreciates the qualities it conveys, calling it “energetic, blunt, Scottish as can be.”