Alfred and Iris played in a band with Dick Damron at local dances, where Bourne and his siblings would sleep behind the piano.

[7] Although interested in pursuing music as a career from an early age, Bourne trained as a mechanic to appease his father.

By 1978 he was part of a band named Sweetgrass, playing with second cousin Jim Morison and multi-instrumentalist Dave Richards.

[9] He released a self-titled album in 1980, then joined The Tannahill Weavers, a traditional Scottish band he was introduced to by Jim MacLauchlan of Edmonton's Southside Folk Club.

[8] In 1997 Bourne joined blues duo Schuld & Stamer on their debut album, No Special Rider.

[17] In 2011, Bourne fronted the Free Radio Band with his son Pat[18] to record the Bluesland album.

[20] In 2012 he released two CDs; the solo album Songs from A Gypsy Caravan, and Amoeba Collective, created in collaboration with Tippy Agogo and other musicians.

[22] In 2013, Bourne led the historic Edmonton Christmas album titled An Edmonton Christmas: Live Off the Floor, along with other Edmontonian artists including Joe Nolan, Jenie Thai, Jeremy "Jey" Witten, and Justine Vandergrift.

In addition to guitar, violin, and percussion, the music features drones, a Tibetan singing bowl, and non-lexical vocables.

[24] Beginning in April 2020 and continuing for several months, Bourne partnered with Paul Steffes to stage a series of pop-up concerts in neighbourhoods around Alberta, and into British Columbia.

[29] For a while he gave free guitar lessons to young people through the Boyle Street Community League.