More from Melissa Reagan’s newsletters, sent direct from Bruce Hornsby’s office in the 1990s. Links have been added where appropriate to add context. Announcing Spirit Trail as a double CD.
Double Album
Bruce has basically completed work on his sixth record – and in the end, it has become his sixth and seventh record – a double album containing twenty new songs. CD1 contains the first record Bruce and the band recorded, with major contributions from other musicians such as John Leventhal, guitar; Matt Chamberlin, drums; and John Pierce, bass (the latter two being the rhythm section for the New Orleans Kingsway Studio sessions). It generally includes longer, looser musical approaches, as opposed to CD2, recorded from October to December 1997 in Virginia and New York, which deals with shorter, tighter songs. The double album should be released sometime in late summer (barring last-minute artistic paranoia and freak-out) with a short tour to coincide with the in-store date.
Summer Shows
From a bluegrass festival to an orchestral setting, Bruce’s summer concert schedule is typically varied, with a mix of solo piano and band shows, settings ranging from clubs to amphitheatres, and genre-hopping ex- pected. Here’s the list as of mid-May:
June 19 – Telluride, CO Bluegrass Festival – Bela Fleck & The Flecktones featuring Bruce Hornsby
July 28 – Solo piano concert – The Strand Theatre in York, PA
August 13 – *Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis, MA (a favorite band venue)
August 15 – *Sugarbush in Warren, VT
August 16 – *South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, MA
August 17 – *Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ
August 19 – Bruce performs with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Chastain Park in Atlanta, GA
August 22 – Sokol-Blosser Winery in Dundee, OR
August 24 – Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville, WA
October 26 – November 8 – Yoshi’s in Oakland (see next page)
*denotes Bruce and the band
Furthur
The answer to the question “What happens between June 19 and July 25?” is… The Furthur Festival, back for the third straight year but with a different twist. This year, the Festival features the newly-formed group “The Other Ones” (as opposed to whom?) that includes Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, and Mickey Hart from the Grateful Dead, Bruce (sort of from the Dead), John Molo (from Bruce), and Dave Ellis (from Bob) on sax. Also fleshing out the tighter package (not so much time hanging around on the bus this year) are Rusted Root (noted young hippie band) and Hot Tuna (noted old hippie band). The tour runs from June 25 to July 25. The group looks forward to playing for all fans of the skeleton on these 23 dates:
June 25 – Lakewood Amphitheatre in Atlanta, GA
June 26 – Blockbuster Pavilion in Charlotte, NC
June 27 – Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, VA
June 29 – Continental Airlines Arena in E. Rutherford, NJ
June 30 – Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY
July 1 – Great Woods Center in Boston, MA
July 3 – Sony Entertainment Center in Philadelphia, PA
July 4 – Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, NY
July 5 – Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, NY
July 7 – Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, CT
July 8 – Montage Performing Arts Center in Scranton, PA
July 9 – Star Lake Amphitheatre in Pittsburgh, PA
July 11 – Alpine Valley Music Center in Milwaukee, WI
July 12 – Polaris Amphitheatre in Columbus, OH
July 13 – Pine Knob Music Theatre in Detroit, MI
July 15 – Deer Creek Music Center in Indianapolis, IN
July 16 – The World Music Theatre in Chicago, IL
July 17 – Riverport Amphitheatre in St. Louis, MO
July 19 – Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre in Denver, CO
July 21 – Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV
July 22 – Irvine Meadows in Irvine, CA
July 24 – Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA
July 25 – Shoreline Amphitheatre (second performance)
Unplugged
On May 19 in Montreal, Bruce taped a solo piano “Intimate and Interactive” show for MuchMusic (Canada’s version of MTV). Air dates are unknown, but the 90-minute concert included questions from the live audience and, knowing the standard Bruce concert procedure, song requests. Check the web site for broadcast dates: http://members.aol.com/BrHornsby
Omega Institute
In 1993, Phil Jackson, coach of the Chicago Bulls basketball team, came to see Bruce and the band perform at the Arie Crown Theatre in Chicago, and asked Bruce to consider conducting a music seminar at the Omega Institute in upstate New York. Five years and a few more proddings later, Bruce is joining Jackson on the weekend of September 11-13 to teach a class entitled “Composing & Improvising Music: The Art & Act of Spontaneity in Music”, which is definitely a first (although Bruce did teach jazz piano for non-piano majors at University of Miami in 1977). Jackson will be conducting a basketball clinic that weekend and is sure to get a “horse” challenge from the music teacher.
Crown Of Jewels
Randy Scruggs is releasing his solo album on Warner Bros. (he took even longer than Bruce!), entitled “Crown Of Jewels“, named after the song Bruce wrote and sang for the record. The story of a beauty queen run amok, the song was recorded last year in Nashville, with Randy, Bruce, Kenny Aronoff and various other stalwart Nashvilleans. Bruce, along with Lee Roy Parnell, also played on the instrumental track, “Travel On.” The record is tentatively set for release July 14.
Songwriters on Songwriting
Songwriters on Songwriting written by Paul Zollo includes an in-depth interview he did with Bruce in 1996, which was also published in SongTalk magazine. In addition to Bruce, the book contains over 50 other interviews with artists like Jackson Browne, Carlos Santana, Dan Fogelberg, Tom Petty, Rickie Lee Jones, and R.E.M., just to name a few. The book is published by Da Capo Press, Inc. The ISBN number is: 0-306-80777-7.
Yoshi’s
Bruce will be returning to Yoshi’s Jazz Club in Oakland, CA from October 26 through November 8. He will perform solo, and with the band. For ticket information call Yoshi’s at 510-238-9200. Further information will be posted on the website as it becomes available.