For Immediate Release September 1, 2009
Brantford, ON? SINGER / SONGWRITER / AWARD WINNER / PRODUCER / ACTIVIST /
CANADIAN ICON Tom Cochrane will be performing in Brantford, ON at the
Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts on Thursday October 1, 2009, 8:00
p.m.
A long and fascinating career characterized by creative adventurousness,
musical and personal integrity made Tom Cochrane a highly deserving
inductee into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2003. This year Tom will
be inducted in to the Canada?s Walk of Fame cementing his place in the
cultural fabric that makes Canada.
Cochrane was born in Lynn Lake, Manitoba, the son of a bush pilot. The
family soon relocated to Ontario, and Tom set the stage for his future
when, at age 11, he swapped a toy train set for his first guitar.
By the early ’70s, he was performing folk-oriented material in
coffeehouses in Yorkville. In 1973, a single on Daffodil Records, “You’re
Driving Me Crazy,” marked his recording debut, followed by an album, Hang
On To Your Resistance, issued under the name Cochrane.
A few years of struggle, travel, dues paid (and cab driving) followed, but
a turning point came when Toronto band Red Rider took Tom on as lead
singer/songwriter. From 1980-84, Red Rider released four acclaimed studio
albums that married imaginative musicianship and lyrical eloquence. Songs
like “Lunatic Fringe” and “White Hot” are still relevant today, and they
brought Red Rider significant sales and rock radio play in Canada and the
U.S. ?Lunatic Fringe? went on to become one of the most played songs in
history on American Rock radio.
After some personnel changes, the group resurfaced as Tom Cochrane & Red
Rider in 1986. The album of that name produced major hits such as “Boy
Inside The Man” and “Untouchable One,” it was followed by the hit albums
“The Symphony Sessions” and 1988’s Victory Day an album which included one
of Tom’s signature songs the haunting Canadian tune “Big League.” For
which Tom earned a JUNO Award (one of many) as Songwriter of the Year in
1989 which confirmed the respect Tom now enjoyed within the industry.
Red Rider then folded, but Cochrane’s solo career quickly took him to new
heights. His 1991 tour ?de Force? in support of the album Mad Mad World,
became one of the highest-selling Canadian records of all time, scoring
diamond status (for a million sales) in Canada. Its heartland rock sound
traveled well, thanks to smash hit single “Life Is A Highway,” and the
album notched two million in international sales. In 2006 ?Life Is A
Highway? was covered by Rascal Flatts where it became a hit on the US Hot
100 chart, where it peaked at #7 and #18 on the country chart. Proving
Tom?s songwriting knows no genre.
Subsequent albums such as Ragged Ass Road off of which the poignant single
“I Wish You Well” was released to become the first song in Canadian radio
history to enter both the singles sales chart and air play chart at # 1
simultaneously and X-Ray Sierra continued to please Cochrane’s large fan
base here and abroad, while the recently released career retrospective,
Trapeze, reminds us of his formidable talents and how well even some of
the earlier songs stand the test of time.
Tickets to see Tom Cochrane are available by visiting the Sanderson Centre
box office located at 88 Dalhousie Street, Brantford. Tickets can be
ordered with a major credit card by calling (519) 758-8090 or
1-800-265-0710 or on-line at www.sandersoncentre.ca Visit Tom Cochrane?s
website at www.tomcochrane.com