Voodoo King has been nominated for a Juno Award by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences for Best Roots & Traditional Album...
"It's an eerily beautiful recording that conjures up the beat aesthetic of the 1950s and '60s without
sounding dated. It is a recording of significant and compelling performances rather than a mere collection
of unusual songs."
- Greg Quill, The Toronto Star
"Bill Bourne's delivery is as much performance art as it is musical. Stellar."
- Douglas Sloan, Metronome Magazine
"...Bourne proves to be a true mystic...he is prolific in his ability to bewitch
across a diverse range of styles."
-Eric Thom, Exclaim!
"Voodoo King...offers a mix of edgy blues, uplifting cajun and traditional folk that grooves and inspires.
There's wisdom in this album, carried both in Bourne's raw voice and his lyrics."
- Kelly Leydier - Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal
"A truly great recording...voodoo in the grooves..."
-Holger Petersen, CBC Radio
"Voodoo King...exquisite...Bourne has continued to
evolve into one of the most creative and distinctive song writers in
all of Canada."
-Roddy Campbell, Penguin Eggs
Voodoo King has been nominated for Best Roots Recording by The Western Canada Music Association.
"Canadian roots rocker Bill Bourne has the voice of a soul that's lived
life at its toughest and survived to tell about it. With the same bent
as Tom Waits under the influence of a strong bourbon, Bill Bourne's
delivery is as much performance art as it is musical. His vocals
are expressive and resonant as he accompanies himself with sparse, raw,
in-your-face acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric slide guitar,
walking bass and percussive drumming.
Bourne is seemingly comfortable with any genre he attacks. Whether it
be gutbucket blues like "Hilfiger Heaven" or "Which Way?," the African
rhythms of "Holy, Holy," the storytelling of "The Ballad of Moses
Jane," the Celtic strut of "Whadiddydo," or the Cat Stevens infected
"Burning Candles," Bourne wraps it up tight and sells it in convincing
style.
He's a veteran storyteller and his new album Voodoo King is proof
positive that he's got some tales he'd like to share in his own
inimitable way.
Stellar."
-Douglas Sloan, Metronome Magazine
Acoustic Guitar Magazine - San Rafael, CA
Bill Bourne - Voodoo King
Veteran Canadian folk artist Bill Bourne has the whiskey soaked, smoke cured voice of a barroom poet who has been around
the block more times than he can remember. He opens Voodoo King with a loping, spoken-word introduction to
"Hilfiger Heaven", then his lonesome strummed acoustic guitar is joined by a plaintive saxophone before he begins to sing,
'Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, where's the water all gone down.' This powerful CD's 11 masterful songs are full of broken
hearts and reflective regrets balanced by a streetwise philosophy of acceptance. "Portland", for example, reminds one
of Tom Waits crying over a warm beer. Bourne's backing crew includes vocalists and instrumentalists on electric and
slide guitars, cello, saxophones, percussion and bass, adding to the bittersweet moods that draw you back again and again.
(Second Storey, secondstorey.com)
- Gary Joyner
For more info about Voodoo King
visit Second Storey Records
Bill Bourne bookings for U.S.A. & Canada - contact:
The Beach House Arts Co-op,
Box 40029, 10025-106 St.,
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5J 1G0
Telephone (780) 426-2054
Fax (780) 429-0551 ATT: Beach House 426-2054
E-mail (thebeachhouse at telus dot net)
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