Bruce Guthro, one of Cape Breton’s most well-known troubladours whose remarkable 40-year career made waves on both sides of the North Atlantic, has died.
Guthro passed away on Tuesday evening after a battle with cancer. He had just celebrated his 62nd birthday on Aug. 31.
He leaves behind his wife, Kim Anderson-Guthro, two children, Jodi and Dylan Guthro, as well as many family and friends.
Guthro was born on Cape Breton Island and started his career fronting a band at local clubs — what his longtime friend and colleague J.P. Cormier described as his “first career,” as Guthro would reinvent his place in the music industry many times over.
He would go on to have a successful solo career in Canada before fronting the hugely popular Scottish band Runrig for 20 years.
More recently, he brought together both established and up-and-coming artists in his mould-breaking songwriters’ circles, where the musicians face each other, away from the audience, allowing a vulnerable and emotional atmosphere of storytelling.
Cormier described Guthro as “one of the most likable people you ever met in your life.”
“He was so incredibly proactive and positive. But it was impossible to stop it, you know. And that’s what inspired all of us,” said Cormier, who knew Guthro for more than 30 years.
“He saw the universality of us as writers, but also saw the thing that made us different, which made us stronger, right. And he was compelled, for some reason, to demonstrate that to the world over and over and over again, and that’s what the circles were.”
MORE TO COME