Bruce Hornsby

After studying music at the University of Richmond and graduating from Berkley College of Music and the University of Miami, in 1977 Bruce Randall Hornsby has been recognized on a number of occasions with industry awards, including the Best New Artist Grammy for 1986 with Bruce Hornsby and the Range, the Best Bluegrass Recording Grammy in 1989, and the Best Pop Instrumental Grammy in 1993. He was born on November 23, 1954 in Williamsburg, Virginia and gained fame as an American singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter. Hornsby grew up listening to all types of music. Known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances, Hornsby draws frequently from classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Motown, rock, blues, and jam band musical traditions with his songwriting and the seamless improvisations contained within.

Hornsby achieved recognition from many activities like his solo albums and performances, his current live act Bruce Hornsby & the Noise Makers, his bluegrass project with Ricky Skaggs, his jazz act The Bruce Hornsby Trio, and his wide-ranging appearances as a session- and guest-musician. He also collaborated with the Grateful Dead.In the spring of 1974, Hornsby's brother Bobby, at the University of Virginia, formed a band, Bobby Hi-Test and the Octane Kids to play fraternity parties, featuring Bruce on Fender Rhodes and vocals. The band, which is listed in Skeleton Key: A Dictionary for Deadheads, performed covers of Allman Brothers Band, and predominantly Grateful Dead songs. Although Hornsby's collaboration with Bobby Hornsby was relatively short-lived, at present, his brother Bobby's son, R. S., is a recurring guest-guitarist with Hornsby's band and periodically tours with his uncle.

In 1984 he formed Bruce Hornsby and the Range, who were signed to RCA Records in 1985. Besides Hornsby, Range members were David Mansfield (guitar, mandolin, violin), George Marinelli (guitars and backing vocals), Joe Puerta (bass guitar and backing vocals), and John Molo (drums).Hornsby's recording career started with the biggest hit he would ever have, entitled The Way It Is. It topped the American music charts in 1986. With a propulsive yet contemplative piano riff and the refrain, That's just the way it is, some things will never change, the song was catchy and described aspects of the American Civil Rights movement and institutional racism.

Hornsby released his first solo album, Harbor Lights, in 1993. This record showcased Hornsby in a more jazz-oriented setting and featured an all-star lineup, including Pat Metheny, Branford Marsalis, Jerry Garcia, Phil Collins, and Bonnie Raitt. Unlike earlier albums, Harbor Lights allowed more space for Hornsby's and guest-players' extended instrumental solos to flow naturally out of the songs. The tone was set by the opening title track, which after 50 seconds of expansive solo piano lurches into an up-tempo jazz number, ending with Metheny's guitar runs. The album closes in a similar fashion with Pastures of Plenty, with an extended guitar solo from Garcia intertwined with Hornsby's piano. Hornsby also quotes the main musical phrase from the Grateful Dead's Dark Star as the jazz head to his song about tensions surrounding a biracial relationship, Talk of the Town. The mid-tempo Fields of Gray, received some modest radio airplay. Harbor Lights was well-received by critics and fans, praising it for its cooler, jazzier sound and its affinity for sincere portraits of American life, love, and heartache. Hornsby would also secure his third Grammy in 1993 for Best Pop Instrumental for Barcelona Mona

Bruce Hornsby played piano and accordion nightly with the Grateful Dead from September 1990 through March 24, 1992. Hornsby played with the band following the death of Brent Mydland and preceding the acceptance of Vince Welnick as sole keyboardist.Hornsby's own music evolved significantly during this time period, although his primary performative project remained the Grateful Dead. Critics have suggested that Dead's vibrant tradition of melding folk music and the blues with psychedelic rock in loose-knit expressions and extended jamming further pushed him [Hornsby] outside the confines of mainstream pop.

Hornsby's own touring band line up underwent extensive changes during 1998 to 2000, not the least of which was the apparent end of musical collaboration with long time drummer John Molo, who then became former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh's regular drummer in his post-Dead band Phil Lesh & Friends. A set of twenty consecutive shows performed by Hornsby and his band at Yoshi's jazz club in Oakland, CA would mark a particularly innovative period of evolution for his live shows; here Hornsby and his band were able to explore songs in a completely spontaneous fashion. As Hornsby experimented with a different sound, ushering in frequent collaborations with such musicians as Steve Kimock on guitar and Bobby Read on heavily effects-driven electronic woodwinds, his current band, dubbed Bruce Hornsby & the Noise Makers, took shape. With the arrival of 2007, Hornsby saw two new musical projects in fruition with the release of two new albums.

Dating back to a 2000 collaboration on the track Darlin' Cory for Big Mon, a Bill Monroe bluegrass tribute album, Bruce Hornsby and Ricky Skaggs had discussed launching a project together. In March 2007, the duo, backed by Skaggs's band Kentucky Thunder, released the bluegrass album Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby, and set several tour dates together. Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby combine bluegrass, traditional country, a tinge of Hornsby's jazzy piano and a splash of humor on a spectrum of songs from the traditional Across the Rocky Mountain and Hills of Mexico to new compositions such as the opening track The Dreaded Spoon, a humorous tale of a youthful ice cream heist. The pair also reinvent Hornsby's hit Mandolin Rain as a minor key acoustic ballad and give his cautionary tale of backwoods violence, A Night On the Town, a treatment highlighting the Appalachian storytelling tradition that was always at the song's heart. The album ends a surprise cover of Rick James's funk hit Super Freak in a bluegrass arrangement. Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby would top Billboard's bluegrass charts for several weeks after its release. As Hornsby carves out a newfound place for piano within traditional bluegrass, disproving the notion that the piano is not compatible with string-oriented bluegrass, critics have called his playing and songwriting centered, focused, and inspired.

Bruce Hornsby, is a superb American artist who has made a name for himself as one of the greatest artists of his age within his genre. Born back in 1954 and originating from the city of Williamsburg within the great state of Virginia, this incredible American has distinguished himself through his music in many different genres. His albums have sold many copies and his live performances are truly one of a kind. Aside from being a remarkable singer, he is also an accomplished instrumentalist, master of the piano, the accordion, keyboards and even the dulcimer. He has been playing and releasing sensational music since his debut in 1984 and has been signed on to RCA Records and Sony. He has been involved with many bands; Hornsby & the Noise Makers, Bruce Hornsby Trio, Skaggs & Hornsby, Hornsby and the Range, The Other Ones, Grateful Dead, Bobby Hi-Test and the Octane Kids.

This spontaneous and creative artist has also won numerous awards as a result of his huge discography and his live performances. He has won the Grammy Award three times; as the Best New Artist, the Best Pop Instrumental and the Best Bluegrass Recording. He has formed many bands as well as had a very successful solo career. He is presently part of his live band, Bruce Hornsby & the Noise Makers as well the jazz band, The Bruce Hornsby Trio and a special bluegrass act alongside Ricky Skaggs. He was also part of legendary band, Grateful Dead, at its very peak. He has released around a hundred different albums, forty two of them live, and many of his albums have sold millions such as the album, The Way It Is, a three times platinum certified album. Thus, this is artist to be caught live on stage, by making use of these amazing Bruce Hornsby Tickets.