For legendary musician Tom Cochrane, life is a highway leading to this year’s all-Canadian Thunder Bay Blues Fest.
Cochrane will headline the first night of the three day festival on Friday, scheduled to take the stage at 9:30 p.m., at Marina Park and he admits he couldn’t be happier to be sharing the stage with his fellow Canadian counterparts.
“Tell Larry (Lawrence Gowan) I say hi,” Cochrane says excitedly. “I haven’t seen him in a bit, and it’s been a while since I’ve played with Serena (Ryder) too.
“I love Thunder Bay. Some of our best gigs have been there, we’ve had some stand-out shows. We have often started and finished tours there, it’s a poignant city … It’ll be nice to play a festival this time.”
Cochrane has a love for all things Northern Ontario. He enjoys saunas and has “spent a lot of time in Kenora and Dryden for pickerel fishin.”
Cochrane has a difficult task ahead. Planning his up-coming epic set list for Bluesfest could prove harder than you would think; having a colourful catalogue of decade-spanning hits to pull from.
With more than 15 songs that have been Top 10 on Canadian radio and more than 250 published songs, putting together the set list is a series of tough calls.
“We like to keep it consistent,” he says. “It’s hard, we can’t always accommodate all those songs, but you want to play the hits, those are the staples and are recognized as concert songs.”
Cochrane is an ideal patriotic ambassador to the all-Canuck Blues Fest lineup. When first starting out, Cochrane says met many bands that falsely claimed to be British or American. It wasn’t cool to admit you were from Canada.
“I always talked it up and enjoyed it. Bands like Blue Rodeo and The Tragically Hip, we all embraced being Canadian. We were proud of it, it’s a big part of our identity.”
Red Rider and Tom Cochrane have separately contributed to the Canadian music landscape and paved the way with quality musicianship and solid song writing for decades.
“Music as an art form is the most important tone we have. Songs are snapshots of life, they have soul and personality. Being able to travel and play music has allowed me to get to know Canadians and get across the country hundreds of times. It’s tattooed on my soul. I feel blessed that I can do it as a career. It started out as a hobby.”
Cochrane’s voice drops as he discusses Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip and his recent terminal cancer diagnosis.
“Gord gets to go out and swing for the fences one more time, and I’m just humbled by his courage to go out and do that. He’s an exceptional poet and they’re a cultural band who have touched so many people spanning generations. He’s a courageous sun of a gun.”
Cochrane has stood the test of time, armed with original songs that define our country. He is one of our most treasured artists, and with his body of work, it’s easy to see why.
“When I feel the live energy come back at me and see the smiles on people’s faces, it’s an incredible high. I’m trying to work stuff out through my songs and hope it resonates, I feel privileged to be the conduit that touches so many people.”
Tom Cochrane headlines Bluesfest on Friday, July 8 at Marina Park.
