Editing Bruce Cockburn (section)

==Early life and education==
Cockburn was born in 1945 in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], and spent some time at his grandfather's farm outside of [[Chelsea, Quebec]], but he grew up in [[Westboro, Ottawa|Westboro]], which was a suburb of Ottawa when he was a teenager. His father, Doug Cockburn, was a [[radiologist]], eventually becoming head of diagnostic X-ray at the [[Ottawa Civic Hospital]].<ref>Cockburn, pp. 5,8 & 12</ref> He found his first guitar in his grandmother's attic around 1959, adorned it with gold stars, and used it to play along to radio hits.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://canada.aol.com/webcentres/community/chats/archive.adp?guest=Bruce_Cockburn |title=AOL.ca – Canada's Breaking News, Entertainment, Music, Life & Style and Email |website=canada.aol.com |date=September 29, 2009 |access-date=April 17, 2014 |archive-date=June 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606175609/http://canada.aol.com/webcentres/community/chats/archive.adp?guest=Bruce_Cockburn |url-status=dead }}</ref> When his first guitar teacher, Hank Sims, declared this instrument unplayable, his parents bought him a [[Kay Musical Instrument Company|Kay]] [[archtop guitar|archtop]] with flat wound strings and a [[DeArmond]] pickup.<ref>Cockburn, p. 24</ref>

Later he was taught piano and music theory by Peter Hall, the organist at Westboro United Church which Cockburn and his family attended. Cockburn had been listening to jazz and wanted to learn musical composition. Hall encouraged him and, along with his friend Bob Lamble, a lot of time was spent at Hall's house listening to and discussing jazz.<ref>Cockburn, p. 36</ref>

Cockburn attended [[Nepean High School (Ottawa)|Nepean High School]], where his 1964 yearbook photo states his desire "to become a musician".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cockburnproject.net/bio.html |title=Bruce Cockburn – Bio |publisher=Cockburnproject.net |access-date=April 17, 2014}}</ref> After graduating, he took a boat to Europe and [[street performance|busked]] in Paris.<ref>Zwerin, Mike. "Bruce Cockburn, a Canadian Secret." ''International Herald Tribune'', September 1, 1999, p. 11. ''Gale Power Search''. Accessed June 5, 2018.</ref>

Cockburn attended [[Berklee College of Music|Berklee School of Music]] in Boston, where his studies included jazz composition, for three semesters between 1964 and 1966. That year he dropped out and joined an Ottawa band called The Children, which lasted for about a year.