Bruce Aitken
Encyclopedia
Bruce Aitken, QSO
Queen's Service Order
The Queen's Service Order was established by Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, awarded by the government of New Zealand "for valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the public sector, whether in elected or...
, (born 1953 at Invercargill
Invercargill
Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff,...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
) is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
rock and jazz drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
. Later in his career he also became a singer and songwriter.
Aitken began his career in New Zealand, performing with the band Rogers Dodgers and later Heathen Grace. He moved between Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand from the 1970s to the early 1990s as he continued his music career with various bands.
In 1998, Aitken moved to Canada and became a citizen there in 2003. He has since worked with eastern Canadian artists such as John Campbelljohn, Gordie Sampson
Gordie Sampson
Gordie Sampson is a singer-songwriter and producer from Big Pond, Nova Scotia, Canada.He has written songs for Carrie Underwood , Martina McBride , LeAnn Rimes , and George Canyon and produced and sound engineered...
and J. P. Cormier
J. P. Cormier
J.P. Cormier is a Canadian bluegrass/Folk/Celtic singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was born in London, Ontario in 1969 and began playing guitar around age five. As a child he displayed an unusual ability to play a variety of instruments by ear and won a guitar contest at age nine.Mr...
. He has received multiple East Coast Music Award nominations, and produces the Cape Breton International Drum Festival
Cape Breton International Drum Festival
The Cape Breton International Drum Festival, also known as the Cape Breton Drum Fest or just CBIDF, is an annual event held in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The first festival was in 2001, and there have been festivals ever since, around the beginning of May of each year.-History:This festival is...
with his wife Gloria Jean Aitken.
Aitken was featured nationally on the television programme On The Road Again
On the Road Again (TV series)
On the Road Again is a Canadian television series which aired from 1987 until 2007. Wayne Rostad was the program's host for its entire run. The series consisted of interview and documentary segments from various Canadian locations....
. He was the 2004 Music Nova Scotia Musician of the year, and inducted into the Southland, New Zealand Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2008.
Aitken lives in Marion Bridge, Nova Scotia
Marion Bridge, Nova Scotia
Marion Bridge is a Canadian rural community in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality.The community is named for the eponymous bridge that crosses the Mira River; Marion Bridge being approximately mid-way between the river's source in Grand Mira and its discharge point at Mira Gut...
.