Press for You Get Bigger as You Go: Bruce Cockburn's Influence and Evolution by M.D. Dunn, photographs by Daniel Keebler
Fringe North Podcast Series: August 11, 2024. A wide-ranging discussion about music, writing, literature, teaching, and Bruce Cockburn. The Bruce stuff begins about halfway in. A great conversation with artist Emelie Robertson: Fringe North Podcast Series - MD DUNN 2024 (youtube.com)
The Spill Magazine: A very generous review by Bryan Williston from the super Toronto-based music magazine The Spill. SPILL BOOK REVIEW: MARK D. DUNN - YOU GET BIGGER AS YOU GO - BRUCE COCKBURN’S INFLUENCE AND EVOLUTION - The Spill Magazine
WLRN, Folk and Acoustic Music, with Michael Stock. A good discussion about some of Bruce's political songs from WLRN in Florida. Mark Dunn - You Get Bigger as You Go: Bruce Cockburn's Influence and Evolution | WLRN
Sootoday: June 5, 2024. A nicely adapted press release announcing the book's bronze medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards (The IPPY).
Wilfrid Laurier University Alumni: On June 14, 2024, Bruce will receive an honorary doctorate in music. The Laurier Alumni Association asked me to comment on cultural legacy of Bruce's music and activism. People study for years to receive PhDs; all Bruce had to do to receive this honour was to change the world.
Literary Review of Canada: June, 2024. An overall positive critique by David Wilson of You Get Bigger as You Go: Bruce Cockburn's Influence and Evolution.
Liner Notes with Dan Hare: June 15, 2024. A thoughtful and humorous conversation about music, songwriting, Bruce Cockburn's early years, guitar, activism, spirituality, and wide-ranging silliness.
Stories of Northern Life with Mairi Morassut from The Sault Ste. Marie Museum: April 10, 2024. A lovely interview. It starts out with some background and talk about my music and teaching. The Bruce content begins about halfway in.
County Writes...County Reads, County FM99.3: March 24, 2024, 12pm. A pleasure to speak with Lynn Pickering from County99.3 FM about You Get Bigger as You Go: Bruce Cockburn's Influence and Evolution. Here is the link: County Writes...County Reads
International Times: The Magazine of Resistance, March 2, 2024: An interesting and thoughtful review by Rupert Loydell, Big It Up.
BETA, Wisconsin Public Radio, February 22, 2024: A discussion with producer Steve Gotcher about Bruce Cockburn's music and the book.
Cashbox Canada, February, 2024: An article, review, and interview with songwriter Lisa Hartt.
CTV Northern Ontario News, February 12, 2024: An article about the book launch for You Get Bigger as You Go: Bruce Cockburn's Influence and Evolution.
The Book Cover, The Borderline Radio, February 4, 2024: Host Lisa Tucker and I talk about books, Bruce Cockburn's music, and paired living kidney donor programs.
Across the Tracks, The Borderline Radio, February 6, 2024: Host Adrian Vilaca leads a discussion about six Bruce Cockburn songs: 1. "Wondering Where the Lions Are"; 2. "Strange Waters"; 3. "Beautiful Creatures"; 4. "Little Seahorse"; 5. "Gavin's Woodpile"; 6. "Push Come to Shove."
Backstage Pass, Canoe FM, Haliburton, Ontario: Season 1, Episode 30: A free-flowing and informal chat with a great gentleman Douglas McLean about Bruce Cockburn and the book You Get Bigger as You Go: Bruce Cockburn's Influence and Evolution.
The Globe and Mail, December 26, 2023: "Three Music Books on Max Webster, Bruce Cockburn and first guitars, that flew under the radar in 2023."
From the review: "The guitar tutorials – yes, there are two – are typical of You Get Bigger as You Go, an atypical book. It is written as a long, gracefully meandering essay, or as a biography that considers its subject from hundreds of feet above: Big picture, but with an elegant intimacy and, occasionally, unexpected instruction."
From the review: "The guitar tutorials – yes, there are two – are typical of You Get Bigger as You Go, an atypical book. It is written as a long, gracefully meandering essay, or as a biography that considers its subject from hundreds of feet above: Big picture, but with an elegant intimacy and, occasionally, unexpected instruction."
Sootoday, December 11, 2023: "Years in the Making, Local Author Pens Book on Canadian Music Icon" by Chris Belsito
[A] really beautiful book about Bruce Cockburn, or more accurately about the art and craft of writing songs that hold meaning and at times even ugly truths. I've been reading it over the past long while, because I take my time haha, but mostly because it's shifting me back into song writing mode at a time when the world doesn't seem to hold space for song writing. It's a real gem of a book, and the perfect gift for the birder on your list. (or song writer, or Bruce fan, or music fan in general)
-- Ansley Simpson, songwriter, musician, artist (albums: Breakwall, She Fell From the Sky)
“Dunn takes us on a fascinating journey through Cockburn’s entire career, providing erudite opinions, interesting facts, and a full understanding of what exactly makes Bruce Cockburn and his music so special and loved by such a devoted fanbase. This is a shining example of great music and culture writing.”
--Allister Thompson, musician and book editor
--Allister Thompson, musician and book editor
"With encyclopedic scope and musical depth, M.D. Dunn has written an indispensable introduction to the music of Bruce Cockburn. This beautifully written book is a model of a deep listening that results in an engaged conversation between the writer and the art. Indeed, the conversational tone of this book emerges out of numerous interviews that Dunn conducted with Bruce Cockburn and many of his collaborators. Dunn’s goal of writing about every album in the vast Cockburn catalogue was audacious, but he pulled it off with insightful eloquence. Whether you are a long-time Cockburn fan or brand new to this stellar artist, this book will be an indispensable guide."
Brian J. Walsh, author of Kicking at the Darkness: Bruce Cockburn and the Christian Imagination (Brazos Press)
Brian J. Walsh, author of Kicking at the Darkness: Bruce Cockburn and the Christian Imagination (Brazos Press)