Music manifests itself in many powerful ways.

It’s all about the Song! A career songwriter and recording artist residing in British Columbia, Bruce Coughlan is a vocalist, multi instrumentalist and composer with over four decades of professional experience.

An expressive singer and rock-solid guitarist (flat-pick & fingerstyle), Bruce sports an extensive repertoire spanning an array of Roots music genres including Celtic, Bluegrass, Americana, Folk, Maritime, Blues & more. Performing solo or in an ensemble, Bruce delivers great songs & stories expertly.

He has written hundreds of songs and performed at thousands of venues, ranging from theatres and folk clubs around the globe to a Canada Day performance on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Bruce is regularly a featured artist at festivals, concerts, arts presentations, community and corporate events. He has performed in eight provinces and one territory, 38 states and has toured the United Kingdom on a dozen occasions. Since recording his first LP in 1984, he’s recorded 14 albums of his original and adapted traditional music across a broad range of the Roots Music genre. Bruce might be best recognized for his historically based ballads, written on Pacific Canadian themes. He has been the composer and lead singer of Tiller’s Folly for over two decades.

Bruce is sought after as a producer and songwriter. He is constantly pushing his artistic envelope to share new songs and grows collaborations with artists. In 2017 Bruce released a solo album, Waiting for Rain that was broadcast at Onstage TV at Hubcast Studios; and to celebrate Canada’s 150th Anniversary Bruce toured with The Great Canadian Songbook with Tiller’s Folly, Ken Lavigne and Diyet and in 2018 he produced Voices for the Salish Sea with The Wilds. Throughout 2020, Bruce has honed his skills as a solo guitarist, creating an entirely new host of arrangements in DADGAD guitar tuning and embracing his Celtic Music Roots with programs Address to Robbie Burns and The Humours of Ireland.

In his half-century as a performing artist, Bruce Coughlan has discovered that music manifests itself in many powerful ways.

"At some of the lowest points in my life, she has revealed herself to me as a healer, a confidant, and a keeper of memories, for both myself, and those souls to whom I have been exposed. It’s empowering, and yet humbling at the same time to acknowledge that I am only a vessel, and that music is a timeless force, in and of itself."

Music has introduced Bruce to the most amazing people, some, at their final stages of life. I am often reminded of a culture of people, who once thrived within their community, through their strength, caring, sharing and kindness. Good neighbours who were there to help you through the “Lean Times.”

BIG Records is excited for the first worldwide radio release with Bruce Coughlan. "Lean Times" will be debuting all over the world on June 16th. If you are new to the music of Bruce Coughlan you are going to be amazed with his repertoire. If you are already a fan, you know you are going to hear an incredible single with a story that will captivate tour soul.

LEAN TIMES

music & lyrics by Bruce Coughlan (SOCAN)

It seems such a long time, I hope everything is well

Me, I guess I'm doing fine, some days it's hard to tell

Some days I feel my life is passing me by

I feel like letting go, and I don't know why

But in the lean times you can lean on me

And when your world is troubled

I'll be as near as I can be

When times get so hard, I'll be as strong as an oak tree

When the lean times come, you can lean on me

Do you ever feel like you're losing your mind?

To some long-remembered sorrow that you can't leave behind?

Living in memories of lost and lonely days

Times when it feels like life is slipping away

But in the lean times you can lean on me

And when your world is troubled

I'll be as near as I can be

When times gets so hard, I'll be as strong as an oak tree

When the lean times come, you can lean on me

In the lean times….

It's sure been good to see you, I wish you all the best

How I’ll keep on keeping on, well it's anybody's guess

These days I feel like I've got nothing left to say

I'm just turning over pages and counting down days

But in the lean times you can lean on me

And when your world is troubled

I'll be as near as I can be

When times gets so hard, I'll be as strong as an oak tree

When the lean times come, you can lean on me

When the lean times come, you can lean on me

When the lean times come, you can lean on me

When the lean times come

In the lean times, you can lean on me

In the lean times

In the lean times, you can lean on me

When the lean times come.

Bruce Coughlan: lead vocals & classical guitar

Simon Kendall: Wurlitzer, Hammond

Joby Baker: drums

Rob Becker: upright bass

The Sojourners (Marcus Mosley, Will Sanders & Khari McClelland): support vocals.

Recorded, mixed & mastered by Joby Baker at Baker Studios, Victoria, BC

Additional direction & recording by Simon Kendall at Hammond St Studio, Vancouver, BC

Cover photography and design by Fred Armstrong.

Enjoy the trailer for "Lean Times" and get your copy June 16th for your summer playlist.

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Bruce Coughlan – BIG Records