Bard of B.C. talks his West Coast Canadian songbook, craft, career

Дата публикации: 13-04-2026 20:58:27

"Story songs about liquor makers, heartbreakers and the newcomer experience have been played around the world."

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For more than a quarter century, Pacific Northwest Celtic act Tiller’s Folly has been keeping it live and old school, bringing West Coast, Pacific Northwest Celtic tunes to audiences. Story songs about liquor makers, heartbreakers and the newcomer experience have been played to thousands across the world.

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The core of the band is Bruce Coughlan, Laurence Knight & Nolan Murray. Coughlan’s road runs 50-plus professional musical years, and it’s been an adventure all the way. He’s had many chapters in his life – from rock and roll work in the late ’70s into the 1980s with pop/new wave tunes. In a seven-year run, the band Bare Facts released two singles and one full LP, Arms Length, in 1983.

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Now in 2026, Coughlan says the current musical chapter he’s into is …community.

“Music means community. Always a gathering of people. That is the most important thing I’ve learned over the 50 years of hammering away.”

By the late 1980s and into the ’90s, Coughlan had added doo-wop styled The Hightops to his resume. The mid-’90s saw solo work and Tiller’s Folly enter Coughlan’s musical journey.

In 1997, Coughlan began the project as an effort to preserve a measure of Pacific Canadian history. Since then, Tiller’s Folly performed hundreds of school shows, honing its craft as presenters and performers.

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Coughlan sees the B.C. Pacific coastal storytelling of his 30 year Stirring Up Ghosts projects as his real musical legacy.

“It started really just to get students and kids interested in history.”

February 2026’s release The End of the Road is more of a folksy offering from sound of the TF trio, with more offerings in their look to the spirits of before in Stirring up Ghosts, Coughlan’s storybook of western songs about western heroes and villains.

This musical bard of B.C. has many irons in the fire: solo dates booked for 2026, a Van Morrison tribute act that hits the road, Tiller’s Folly, and more.

“We’re just figuring out the year, there’ll be more stuff falling into place over the next month.”

When it comes to the heritage of Pacific Northwest pioneer culture, he says the music and performances are accepted across the Atlantic in Scotland and south into the United States. Tiller’s Folly has toured Scotland eight times, Coughlan 13 times on his own.

Coughlan adds he’s comfortable at 65, and still rebuilding the career after the 2020 pandemic cut live dates out from underneath the entire industry. He says whether you’re new to it, returning to music, or have been at it for 50 years, it’s about finding voice and place.

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“Find your culture and immerse in it, and find your voice,” Coughlan said, echoing how he started on the streets of Vancouver in the early 1970s.

Tiller’s Folly has only a pair of Alberta shows this spring – one on April 16 at Grande Prairie Live Theatre and April 18 at the Parkland Community League in Edmonton.

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