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Your all-access pass to the people and events shaping Canada’s democracy

00:25:45

Rockburn Presents

Albert Lee

Grammy Award winning guitarist Albert Lee grew up in Blackheath, southeast London, where his father, who played piano and accordion, began teaching Lee when he was only seven. He became enraptured with the sound of American rock-a-billy after listening to people such as Buddy Holly, Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis and switched from piano to guitar. By the time he was 16, he had dropped out of school and was working fulltime as a guitarist for a number of British artists, eventually playing lead guitar for Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds. When visiting American country stars such as George Hamilton IV and Skeeter Davis came to tour in England, Lee was often hired as their guitarist. At the beginning of the 1970's, Albert Lee headed for America and there began a relationship with the Everly Brothers that was to last decades. His work as a session guitarist led to offers to play for all a variety of performers and musical styles from Jackson Browne to Bo Diddley to Herbie Mann. Lee has toured with people such as Eric Clapton, Rodney Crowell, Ricky Skaggs and Emmylou Harris. The winner of Guitar Magazine's Best Country Guitarist for five years in a row, Albert Lee continues to tour regularly. Ken Rockburn caught up with Albert Lee in Santa Monica, California.
00:25:30

Rockburn Presents

James Ellroy

American crime writer James Ellroy is best known for having penned such mystery thrillers as L.A. Confidential, The Black Dahlia and Blood's a Rover. Born in Los Angeles, Ellroy lost his mother when he 10 years old. Her death, an unsolved murder, led to confusion and depression that had profound effects on the ten year old boy. While he was in his teens his father suffered a stroke and Elroy became the main care-giver. After a short stint in the army, his father passed away and Elroy was left to fend for himself. He lived on the streets and began a life of petty crime, shoplifting and burglary. He became addicted to alcohol and the barbiturate Benzedrex and his health began to suffer. Elroy joined AA, cleaned up his life and took a job caddying at a golf course and began to write. At the age of 30, he published his first book. Nine of his novels have been made into films and in 2014 James Ellroy published his latest crime thriller Perfidia. Ken Rockburn spoke to James Ellroy in Toronto.
00:29:00

Rockburn Presents

Ben Sidran

As a musician, producer and composer Ben Sidran has recorded over 30 solo numbers and produced recordings for such noted artists as Van Morrison, Diana Ross and Jon Hendricks. As a session musician he has played with the likes of The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Boz Scaggs. He composed the soundtrack for the film Hoop Dreams and Vietnam: Long Time Coming. He received a Peabody Award for his work as the NPR's series Jazz Alive and an Ace Award for the VH-1 television series New Visions. Sidran is also the author of three books on the subject of music and jazz, Black Talk, Talking Jazz and There Was a Fire .. Ken Rockburn spoke to Ben Sidran in Madison, Wisconsin at the landmark jazz club The Cardinal.
00:28:30

Rockburn Presents

Thomas King

When Thomas King was awarded the 2014 Governor General's Award for Fiction for his novel, The Back of the Turtle, it came only months after being awarded the RBC Taylor Prize for non-fiction for his book The Inconvenient Indian. The son of a Cherokee father and Greek mother, Thomas King was born and raised in Sacramento, California. After dropping out of university, King took a number of jobs including being a croupier at a Tahoe casino and a photojournalist in Australia. King made his back to the United States and returned to school and went into teaching at Humboldt State and the University of Utah. In 1980 King took a teaching position at the University of Lethbridge and it was in Alberta where King began to write serious fiction. His first novel Medicine River was made into a film starring Graham Greene and Tom Jackson. His next two books, A Coyote Columbus Story and Green Grass, Running Water were both nominated for the Governor General's Award. From 1997 -2000 King wrote and starred in the CBC radio comedy drama Dead Dog Café. In the 2008 federal election King was nominated to run for the NDP in the riding of Guelph, but finished fourth. King is professor emeritus at the University of Guelph.
Ken Rockburn spoke to Thomas King in Toronto.
00:28:45

Rockburn Presents

Kate Lines

In 1990 Kate Lines became the first woman and only the second Canadian to enter the FBI's Criminal Profiling Program in Quantico, Virginia. Upon her return to the OPP Kate Lines worked on high profile cases such as the murder of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, the abduction and murder of 8 year-old Tori Stafford and the disappearance of Michael Dunahee. Born and raised in the community of Ennismore just north of Peterborough in Ontario's Kawartha Lakes region, Lines joined the OPP shortly after graduating from the University of Toronto. For the first few years Lines was behind the wheel of a cruiser patrolling Ontario's highways but when the opportunity came to work undercover she took it, becoming one of the force's first female undercover officers. In 2010, after almost twenty years as a criminal profiler, Lines retired from the OPP and now works as a private investigator and acts as a consultant on such TV shows as Rookie Blue and Flashpoint. In 2014, Kate Lines published her memoir entitled Crime Seen. Ken Rockburn spoke to Kate Lines in Toronto.
00:29:30

Rockburn Presents

Chip Taylor

Chip Taylor is best known for having written such classic songs as Wild Thing, Angel of the Morning and Try, Just a Little Bit Harder. He was born in Yonkers, New York as Wes Voight. His brother Jon is an Academy Award winning actor and his other brother Barry is a noted volcanologist. Their father was a professional golfer and Wes changed his name to Chip Taylor after a record producer suggested his records would sell better under a different name. His records didn't sell any better, but as Chip Taylor his song writing earned the notice of record labels in both Nashville and New York. Working out of the famous Brill Building on Broadway, Taylor's songs were covered by such performers as Janis Joplin, Frank Sinatra, Jim Hendrix, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash , Emmylou Harris and Ike and Tina Turner. At the same time that Taylor was writing songs, he was also gambling, to the point that his winnings made the casinos take notice and eventually Taylor was banned from almost every gambling establishment in the United States and Europe. Taylor returned to music in the 1990's and has released almost a dozen albums. He continues to tour regularly and this past spring was invited to perform at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Ken Rockburn spoke to Chip Taylor in New York City.
00:29:30

Rockburn Presents

Martha Henry

She is often described as Canada's First Lady of the Stage. Martha Henry was in fact born in the United States, but came to Canada in her 20's. Born Martha Buhs in Detroit, Michigan, Henry studied acting at Carnegie Tech, in Pittsburgh, and at the National Theatre School, in Montreal. Henry moved to Stratford in 1962 and made her stage debut as Miranda in The Tempest. Under director John Hirsch, she starred in A Midsummer Night's Dream and, with director Robin Phillips, she gave a highly praised performance of Isabella in Measure for Measure. In 1980, she won her first Genie for her role as Antonia opposite Bruno Gerussi in the CBC series The Newcomers. She was also awarded several Gemini Awards for her roles in the TV series Mount Royal, Glory Enough For All and Emily of New Moon. As a director at Stratford, she gave her guidance to several plays including Timothy Findley's Elizabeth Rex, Of Mice and Men starring Graham Greene and The Three Sisters. In 1996, she was awarded the Governor General's Award for Performing Arts. Martha Henry is now director of the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre, in Stratford, Ontario. Ken Rockburn spoke to Martha Henry in downtown Stratford.
00:29:50

Rockburn Presents

John Sebastian

During the 1960's The Lovin' Spoonful had a series of hits including "Do You Believe in Magic", "Daydream" and "Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?". The band was led by John Sebastian, the son of an accomplished harp player, his father John, and a radio script writer, his mother Jane. His parents had an eclectic group of friends constantly dropping by the house; Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie and Vivian Vance to name a few. Sebastian grew up on Bank Street , in New York's Greenwich Village and attended New York University for a year before deciding to strike out on his own. By this time John could play the piano, guitar and harp and was a prolific songwriter. He formed the group The Lovin' Spoonful and met great success putting their first seven singles into the Top Ten, a remarkable achievement, but the group's road to superstardom was abbreviated after the arrest of band member Zal Yanovsky on marijuana possession charges. Yanovsky, faced with a deportation order (he was Canadian) gave up the drug dealer's name and as a result the band suffered a public backlash. The Lovin' Spoonful eventually broke up and Sebastian pursued a solo career that included writing and performing the song 'Welcome Back" for the TV series "Welcome Back Kotter" Sebastian continues to tour regularly and compose for film and TV. Ken Rockburn spoke to John Sebastian at his home in Woodstock, New York.
00:29:30

Rockburn Presents

J.C. MacKenzie

Anyone who has been near a television or movie screen the last 20 years will recognize him immediately. J.C. MacKenzie has appeared in such films as The Aviator, The Wolf of Wall Street, What Planet Are You From and The Departed and television series such as House Of Cards, The Good Wife, Law & Order and Desperate Housewives. MacKenzie grew up in Ottawa and had no interest in acting until he saw Jack Lemmon on Broadway performing in Bernard Slade's Tribute. Subsequently he enrolled in Concordia University's Theatre Program and then went on to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Playwright Neil Simon picked MacKenzie to perform in the national tour of his play Biloxi Blues. His first television success was Stephen Bochco's Emmy Award winning series Murder One on ABC. Currently MacKenzie plays the role of Dr. Spivak on HBO's Hemlock Grove. He is shooting another project for HBO that is yet untitled but is being directed by Martin Scorcese and produced by Mick Jagger. Ken Rockburn spoke to J.C. MacKenzie in Santa Monica, California.
00:28:50

Rockburn Presents

David Feherty

The Golf Channel's David Feherty has been hosting the Emmy-nominated talk show Feherty since 2011. Born in Bangor, County Down in Northern Ireland, Feherty dropped out of high school at 17 to become a golf pro. He went on to win 10 European Tour and world events including a Ryder Cup victory in 1991, dubbed The War by The Shore.
Feherty retired from professional golf and began work as an analyst and reporter for CBS Sports in 1996. Feherty has written six books including the bestsellers, A Nasty Bit of Rough and Somewhere in Ireland a Village is Missing an Idiot. In 2006 Feherty publicly admitted that he had a long struggle with depression and alcohol. Now a U.S. citizen, the father of 5, established the Feherty's Troops First Foundation , an organization devoted to the care of wounded U.S. soldiers.
Ken Rockburn spoke to David Feherty in Orlando, Florida.
00:29:30

Rockburn Presents

Kathleen Edwards

Kathleen Edwards' music has been described as something between Suzanne Vega and Neil Young. The 37 year old alt-country singer songwriter from Ottawa broke onto the scene in 2003 with her album Failer that included the songs Six O'Clock News and Hockey Skates. The daughter of a diplomat, Edwards travelled the world in her youth with stops in Korea and Switzerland. Both parents loved to listen to music and shared their enthusiasm with their children. Edwards studied violin as a child and when it came time to go to university she opted to take her guitar and her compositions and try to make her living playing music. By the time she was 21 she was managing her own tour across Canada and in 2003 she released the album Failer to critical acclaim. Edwards has since released three more albums, Back to Me, Asking for Flowers and Voyageur. She has toured extensively across North America and appeared on Late Night with David Letterman several times. Edwards continues to perform but has become much more selective since opening a café, Quitters, in the Ottawa suburb of Stittsville. Ken Rockburn spoke to Kathleen Edwards in Ottawa.
00:29:50

Rockburn Presents

Atom Egoyan

In June of 2015, film director Atom Egoyan was presented with the Governor -General's Performing Arts Award for his contribution to Canada's film culture. At 54 years of age, Egoyan isn't quite ready to fold away his director's chair yet. Egoyan was born in Cairo, Egypt to Armenian parents, both aspiring painters who came to Canada and ran a furniture store in Victoria, BC. Egoyan picked up a degree in International Relations from the University of Toronto before attempting to pursue a career in his first passion, the theatre. Miffed at not being accepted at the University of Toronto's theatre school, Egoyan decided to make a film, and it was from that experience that led him on to a remarkable career that included such films as Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter, Ararat, Chloe and The Captive. His films have received two Academy Award nominations and 25 Genie Awards. He has also directed the Canadian Opera Company's productions of Salome and The Ring. His next feature film, Remember , is scheduled for release in 2016. Ken Rockburn spoke to Atom Egoyan in Ottawa
00:29:00

Rockburn Presents

Steven Page

Steven Page is best known to Canadians as the former lead singer of the popular music group Barenaked Ladies. With hits like If I had $1000000, One Week, Enid and Be My Yoko Ono, the Barenaked Ladies became one of the most successful musical acts in Canada during the period of 1989 -2009. Born in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Page grew up in a musical family, his father was a drummer and for a number of years was one of the organizers of the Mariposa Folk Festival. As a child Page took up the piano and sang with the Toronto Mendelssohn Youth Choir and worked as a counsellor at the Scarborough Schools Music Camp. It was while he was at the camp when he met Ed Robertson and discovered that the two of them together enjoyed a very special musical relationship and within the year were performing on stage as the Barenaked Ladies. Their first hit, a cover of the Bruce Cockburn's Lovers in a Dangerous Time, became a hit and soon the band was earning airplay on Much Music and countless radio stations. A string of hits soon followed and the Barenaked Ladies found themselves much in demand, helped in good measure by political controversy, when June Rowlands, the Mayor of Toronto at the time, banned the group from performing at a New year's Eve concert citing the band's name was offensive to women. In 2009, Page announced he was leaving the group to pursue a solo career that has allowed Page to score three productions at the Stratford Festival, tour with the Art of Time Ensemble and hosting a television show on the Esquire Network. Ken Rockburn spoke to Steven Page in Banff, Alberta.
00:29:49

Rockburn Presents

Dave Thomas

Dave Thomas is one of Canada's most celebrated cultural exports. He has written, directed, produced and co-starred in television shows for all the major networks and is currently working on a series for Fox. Thomas' television career began in Toronto at Global with the hit sketch comedy program SCTV that eventually won a slot on NBC and later an Emmy Award for best writing. One of the skits on the show, The Great White North, featuring the comedy duo of Bob and Doug Mackenzie was created by Thomas and Rick Moranis and was spun off to make the movie, Strange Brew which Thomas wrote and directed. Following the success of SCTV, Thomas began to appear in a number of other television series: The Simpsons, Weeds, Bones, How I Met Your Mother and spent five years as head writer and actor on Grace Under Fire. Thomas also worked in film as both actor and/or director in a number of features inlcuding Stripes, Home To Stay, Rat Race and Boris and Natasha. Thomas is also founding partner and co-owner of Animax Entertainment, an animation studio in Los Angeles that has a substantial roster of clients including Warner Brothers, National Geographic and MGM. Ken Rockburn spoke to Dave Thomas in Los Angeles
00:28:30

Rockburn Presents

Freeman Patterson

Freeman Patterson is one of Canada's pre-eminent nature photographers, his work having been recognized by such esteemed authorities as the National Association of Photographic Art and the Photographic Society of America. Born and raised in the tiny community of Shamper's Bluff on the Saint John River in New Brunswick, Patterson didn't study photography until he took a course with the eminent photographer Dr. Helen Manzer. At the time Patterson was in his twenties taking courses towards his Master of Divinity degree from Columbia University in New York. Patterson finished his degree and taught for three years at Alberta College in Edmonton before deciding to pursue photography full time. He spent one year at the United Church's Berkeley Studio In Toronto and then moved on to the National Film Board's Still Photography Division. During the 1970's he published several text books on photography, Photography for the Joy of It and Photography and the Art of Seeing, are but two that have been reprinted as late as 2006. Freeman's collections have been shown at such galleries as the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton and his work has been published in several volumes, the latest being Embracing Creation in 2013 by GooseLane Press. Ken Rockburn spoke to Freeman Patterson at his home in Shamper's Bluff, New Brunswick.
00:29:30

Rockburn Presents

Chuck Klosterman

Chuck Klosterman is a 42 year old writer living in Brooklyn whose writing has captivated a generation with wry observations on celebrity, mass culture and sports. An author of eight books including Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, Klosterman is also The Ethicist writer for the New York Times Sunday Magazine and a regular contributor to the website Grantland. The youngest of seven children, Klosterman was born in Breckenridge, Minnesota and grew up on a farm outside of Wyndmere, North Dakota, a thirty minute drive from Breckenridge. His first job as a journalist was with The Forum in Fargo, North Dakota, he later moved to the Akron Beacon Journal where he was the arts critic and where he wrote his first book Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota. It was on the success of his book about pop culture and glam metal that he moved to New York and began to write for publications such as GQ, Spin, The Washington Post and Esquire. Klosterman also began contributing to ESPN.com as a blogger and now writes regularly for the sports and pop culture website Grantland. Klosterman published his first novel, Downtown Owl in 2005. His latest book, I Wear The Black Hat, a collection of essays was published in 2013. Ken Rockburn spoke to Chuck Klosterman in New York.
00:59:00

Rockburn Presents

Don Francks

Don Francks is one of Canada's most prolific actors and at 82 years of age is still very much in demand, appearing most recently on Netflix's Hemlock Grove. Like many Canadian actors his career began on the CBC where he starred on a musical variety show produced out of Vancouver called the Burns Chuckwagon From The Stampede Corral. He quickly began appearing on other Canadian shows such as The Forest Rangers and as Constable Billy Mitchell in the drama R.C.M.P. He became noticed in the United Sates after he was discovered in New York by the late great Jackie Gleason who saw him performing one night and described him as 'no one in this world is like Don Francks'. Gleason's account became the title of a future recording by Don Francks. After he appeared on Gleason's Variety Show, Francks was soon in demand on Broadway where he appeared in the musical On A Clear Day You Can See Forever and in the title role of Kelly. In Hollywood, he starred opposite Petula Clark and Fred Astaire in Fracis Ford Coppola's Finian's Rainbow and shared the screen with Warren Beatty and Julie Christie in Robert Altman's McCabe and Mrs Miller. But it was in television where Francks seemed to be most in demand. He appeared on programs as diverse as Mannix and How The West Was Won to Mr Roger's' Neighbourhood and had the lead role in NBC's Jericho only to have it cancelled when it was up against ABC's Batman series. In later years he played the role of Walter in Nikita and in Todd Haynes' I'm Not There. As a voice actor, he worked on Tim Burton's classic Beetlejuice and in animated television shows Inspector Gadget and My Dad The Rock Star.
00:28:29

Rockburn Presents

Patricia Pearson

Journalist and author Patricia Pearson has seen her articles published around the world for such journals as The Guardian, the New Yorker, the National Post and the New York Times. One of five children born to the late former ambassador Geoffrey Pearson and retired Senator Landon Pearson, she is also the granddaughter to former prime minister Lester B. Pearson. The finalist for the Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour for her novel Playing House, Pearson has published one other novel ("Believe Me") and four non-fiction books, the latest being a study of near-death and related spiritual experiences entitled "Opening Heaven's Door." Ken Rockburn spoke to Patricia Pearson in Toronto.
00:29:30

Rockburn Presents

D.A. Pennebaker

D A Pennebaker is one of the most important documentary filmmakers of his generation. Awarded an honorary Oscar in 2012 for his collection of work that include such landmark films such as The War Room, Dont Look and Back and Monterey Pop, Pennebaker actually began shooting documentaries in New York back in the 1950's. Pennebaker was born in Evanston, Illinois, where his father was a commercial photographer. Pennebaker moved to New York after a short stint in the Navy and worked as a carpenter making furniture before making his first movie, Daybreak Express. In 1959, he joined a film making coop and began producing films for ABC News and Time-Life. A feature on the 1960 Democratic Primary in Wisconsin between John F Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey was included in the Library of Congress' National Film registry. His documentary on Bob Dylan's last acoustic concert tour of England Don't Look Back continues to regarded as a watershed moment in music filmmaking. Pennebaker continues to make films with his partner and spouse Chris Hegedus, the latest effort Unlocking the Cage documents the work of animal rights attorney Steven Wise. Ken Rockburn spoke to D A Pennebaker in New York.
00:29:00

Rockburn Presents

David Crosby

David Crosby is one of Rock music's icons, a hero to the counter-culture movement of the sixties. As a founding member of the Byrds, Crosby helped popularize folk rock and as a founding member of Crosby, Stills and Nash he became one of the Woodstock generation's most strident voices. Born in Los Angeles to an Oscar winning cinematographer Floyd Crosby and Aliph Van Cortlandt, Crosby studied drama at Santa Barbara City College but dropped out to pursue a music career in New York. With The Byrds, Crosby enjoyed success when the Dylan cover Mr Tambourine Man made the top of the charts in both the U.S. and the U.K.. Never shy to share his political opinions, Crosby's outspoken views on Vietnam and chiefly the Warren Report led to his leaving The Byrds and forming another band with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash called simply, Crosby Stills and Nash later renamed to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young after Neil Young joined the band. Crosby's off stage exploits, a 9 month stint in a Texas jail on drug possession charges back in 1982 almost eclipsed his musical career, but he soon settled down and continued to do what he loved doing, making music and speaking out for justice and equality. He has authored three books, two of which, Long Time Gone and Since Then: How I Survived Everything and Lived to tell About it are autobiographical. Recently Crosby released a new solo effort entitled Croz. Ken Rockburn spoke to David Crosby while on tour with CSN at the Embassy Theatre in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. www.fwembassythaetre.com