Singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn took up the guitar as a young boy, setting out to explore different music genres-chiefly rock, jazz and blues. In the middle of the 1960s, the budding musician played with a variety of local bands before going solo. A subtle folk effort, his first eponymous album arrived in 1970. The following decade saw the poet refining his musical palette, while his lyrics reflected his spiritual quest. At the start of the 1980s, Cockburn adopted a more robust sound and turned his attention to political topics (If I Had a Rocket Launcher). His interest in social concerns would inform many of his subsequent efforts. Released in 2009, his live double solo set Slice O Life offered new arrangements of some well-known self-penned classics. Small Source of Comfort came out in 2011.