This week Gabriola Island musician Bob Bossin celebrated Earth Day with the release of a music video featuring two dozen musicians from five countries singing a song with an environmental message.
On April 21 Bossin unveiled Pass it Along – Transatlantic Session on his YouTube channel. The song, written by Alberta folk singer Scott Cook, describes how a guitarist only owns a guitar temporarily and will eventually “pass it along.” The metaphor is then extended to Canada and then the planet.
“He says we borrow it from the children and I think that’s absolutely true and we don’t tend to think that way,” Bossin said. “So it had a really nice philosophical point and a good set of lyrics and beautiful tune. I mean, what’s not to like?”
About a month ago it occurred to him that the song would be a good one to cover for an Earth Day video and he started reaching out to friends he’s made during his 50 years of touring.
“I thought well maybe I could get some other people to do it because everybody’s home. Nobody’s on the road,” he said. “And then the more I thought about it, I kept thinking about more people I could ask.”
Bossin ended up including 24 musicians from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Italy in the video. With so many contributors, Bossin said the recording took 25 hours to mix – “and that’s not counting the time thinking it through” – and the video took 33 hours to edit.
Bossin raised the money to cover the studio and editing fees and donated the to rest to charity.
“It was overwhelming,” he said. “I went over budget and I raised twice as much as I used. All in days.”
So far the video has been viewed more than 4,500 times. Bossin said “people are really touched by it.”
“I’ve had a whole bunch of responses, people saying that it moved them to tears, which was not something I ever even considered,” he said.
For a link to the video, click here.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com
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