NEWS ARCHIVE:
Canadian icon Cockburn to perform at benefit concert for jailed Algonquin activist Bob Lovelace


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Bob Lovelace, Algonquin negotiator - Photo by hoto by Darlington Mediaworks/Garth Gullekson

6 April 2008 - Canadian folk-rock icon Bruce Cockburn will perform at a June benefit concert for jailed Algonquin activist Bob Lovelace.

Cockburn, who has a home in the area, will be the headline act at the Artists for Bob concert June 14 at Sydenham Street United Church.

Co-organizer Ellen Hamilton, who runs Kingston's Leopard Frog music- recording studio, said she and a handful of others in the local music industry asked Cockburn to perform because they thought it was a cause he might support.

"He has consistently spoken up for what's right and just and he seems quite interested in social justice," she said. "We also know he lives in the area."

Tickets, which will cost $30, will begin selling Monday through the Grand Theatre, Brian's Record Option, Novel Idea and other retailers.

Also playing Artists for Bob will be three-time Juno Award-winning Aboriginal recording artist Susan Aglukark, legendary Sharbot Lake-area guitarist Joey Wright, and Unity and the Algonquin Drummers.

"We're also close to getting two other famous artists in Canada, but can't release [names] yet because we're still negotiating with them," Hamilton said.

The organizers came together after Lovelace was imprisoned Feb. 15 for six months for refusing to obey a judge's order to stop blocking uranium exploration north of Sharbot Lake.

Lovelace, a father of two adopted young children and a Queen's University lecturer, was also fined $25,000.

Like many others, Hamilton said she was watching the story about the uranium protest from the sidelines until Lovelace was jailed for protesting peacefully.

"This sentencing of Bob Lovelace, it was a wake-up call for some of us," she said.

~ from The Whig, Posted By Frank Armstrong.

Related Links:
  • photos on Flickr
  • http://sumoud.tao.ca


  • ~ bobbi wisby






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    This page is part of The Cockburn Project, a unique website that exists to document the work of Canadian singer-songwriter and musician Bruce Cockburn. The Project archives self-commentary by Cockburn on his songs and music, and supplements this core part of the website with news, tour dates, and other current information.