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Bruce Cockburn

What: Acoustic Adventures presents folk-rock singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn

When: 8 p.m., Saturday

Where: Hering Auditorium

Tickets: $30 at Grassroots Guitar, at 488-0556, or at www.acousticadventures.com

The diversity of singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn’s humanitarian efforts is bested only by the depth of his songbook. Musically, his sights are set on his first live solo-acoustic album, but altruistically, his current focus is harder to pin down.

“I was in Nepal for a month before Christmas, and that trip will be the subject of a film that’s in the final editing stages,” Cockburn said. “I don’t know where that film will turn up, but it’s a documentary on development in Nepal.”

He’s also working to benefit Ardoch Algonquin First Nation retired chief Bob Lovelace, jailed for blocking prospector access to a proposed uranium mine site in Ontario, and war-affected children in Rwanda through the Child Soldiers Initiative.

“Once people know you’re willing, there’s no end to requests,” Cockburn said. “It’s been a pretty interesting part of my life since the early ‘80s.”

The folk singer, activist and storyteller — whose legendary status in Canada is concentrated to a cult following the United States — will play a rare acoustic show in Fairbanks on Saturday.

Cockburn said his aid work has helped nurture his own understanding of how the world works.

“The whole approach that I take to writing my songs is that they all come from some kind of experience or at least imagery that at least comes from people I’m in close contact with,” he said. “Mostly, it’s my take on things, and if I wasn’t seeing those things up close, I wouldn’t have any take on them.”

His involvement in aid organizations leads to new experiences that sometimes breed songs, but that’s a side-effect, not the goal.

“It’s really about trying to do my bit to leave the campsite better than I found it,” he said.

Musically, his pendulum has swung from inward-looking exercises in the ‘70s, to outward in the ‘80s, with a little of both through the ‘90s. Today, with a laugh, he describes it as “totally chaotic and schizophrenic.”

“Chaos is a pretty big influence in the world,” Cockburn said, describing how he tries to ride the wave of life experiences to find connections in the world’s bigger picture. “I find myself doing that a lot, just waiting for the next thing to whack me into some other kind of awareness.”

Cockburn keenly interprets his own environment through song, and his drive for truthful storytelling has been the hallmark of his long and storied career.

“I grew up under the influence of so many artists who were striving for some kind of artistic freedom, kind of free of commercial consideration — or at least said they did — and I bought that myth when I was young,” he said. “I used to think, ‘I don’t care if anybody buys these records,’ but of course I did, and now, I want people to buy them and like them.”

Those factors haven’t driven his career.

“I’ve always had power of veto over everything that’s happened, and that hasn’t changed. And the music business has always been at arm’s length to me thanks to my manager and a small, independent Canadian label,” he said. “I’ve never had to really face the worst of what can happen when you’re dealing with business the way most people do.”

Part of his current tour will result in his first live solo-acoustic album, the 30th album for the man known best for “Wondering Where the Lions Are” and “If I Had a Rocket Launcher.”

“I’ve done live albums before, but always with a band, so it’ll be nice to be able to offer a solo,” Cockburn said.

The album will be recorded at the end of his current tour, in the New England area, and though Fairbanks and Anchorage shows won’t be included, his performance will reflect the song choice for the upcoming album.

“I have a brain capacity of I don’t know how many mini-bytes, but I can keep about 40 or 50 songs in my head after recording about 300,” Cockburn said, “The 40 or 50 I play in Alaska will be the same.”