Spirit Trail has been released and the Other Ones tour is in the books. Tupac has released “Changes” and there’s a look at Bruce’s other collaborations. More from the newsletter archive, sent direct from Bruce Hornsby’s office in the 1990s. Links have been added where appropriate to add context.
“Spirit Trail”
Bruce’s 6th (& 7th) record(s) were released on October 13 to internet acclaim, “Bruce-is-too-smart-for-his-own-good” disdain (E-Weekly), record’s-good-but-Uncle Charles-bashing (Rolling Stone), 4-stars-this-is-smashing (San Francisco, Lexington, Boston, Detroit, Newark, Music Boulevard & others), very- insightful-this-guy-really-knows-music lauding (Musician), and thank-you-very-much-best-of-the- month-best-review-ever-received applauding (Stereo Review).
Letterman and Live with Regis and Kathy Lee sightings were pondered, perused and praised by the diehards, and more opportunities are in the offing: Austin City Limits (taping December 5), Jay Leno, Rosie O’Donnell and other notables in 1999.
Playing The Game
Bruce will be playing solo and with the band for several radio shows (“the new payola” as the L.A. Times refers to them) in December.
Dec. 2 – WHPT Tampa
Dec. 3 – The Mix Houston
Dec. 4 – KGSR Austin
Dec. 7 – WTTS Indianapolis
Dec. 18 – KFMB San Diego
The booking agent, Adam, at QBQ is busy booking an extensive Spring Tour (April/May/June). So if you don’t see a show coming near you close to that time, call him up and bitch at him.
Other Ones
The summer Other Ones tour was a success beyond all expectations. Word-of-mouth spread rapidly, and the unprecedented walk-ups (day-of-show sales) made the tour one of the most successful tours of the summer. Bob, Mickey, Phil & Bruce have been mixing tracks for an upcoming live album, on Grateful Dead Records, slated for early 1999 release. Queue up to get your copy, and hear John Molo rule.
Tupac & Bruce
The much-rumoured Tupac Shakur reworking of “The Way It Is,” called “Changes,” has finally been released as the first single from the forthcoming Tupac’s Greatest Hits collection from Interscope. Bruce is a cross-over artist yet again! In fact. we’ve had lots of questions regarding Bruce’s songwriting collaborations over the years, and here is a partial list the hordes have been gasping for (or on):
John Hornsby: 20 songs
Don Henley – “End Of The Innocence”
Robbie Robertson – “Go Back To Your Woods”
Charlie Haden – “Nobody There But Me”
Leon Russell – 5 Songs
Chaka Khan – “Love Me Still”
E-40 – “Things’ll Never Change”
Mike “Hank” Mangini – 3 songs
Tupac Shakur – “Changes”
Wild Magnolias
Bruce was honored to be asked to play on New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian legends The Wild Magnolias’ new album, “Life Is A Carnival“. Bruce played piano and sang Prince-esque background vocals, along with Robbie Robertson, on the title track. The record is due February 9 on the Metro Blue (Capitol) label.
The Newsstand
There will be a feature interview on Bruce in an upcoming issue of Keyboard magazine, and he will be featured in Jazz Times magazine in their Before-After series (very much like the Downbeat magazine Blindfold Test). Hopefully Bruce won’t piss off as many people this time as when he did the Downbeat Blindfold Test.
Bruce is also included in a new book, Predictions For The Next Millennium, published by Andrews McMeel. Bruce’s predictions are included along with such notables as Kato Kaelin, Thor Heyerdahl, Rodney Frelinghuysen, Viscount Ilya (Kuryakin) Prigogine, Buffalo Bob, His Majesty King Sihanouk, Hage Geingob, Steingrimur Hermannsson, Edmund Leopold de Rothschild, Hugh Hefner, Dick Vitale, and The Dalai Lama.
Songbook
Warner Bros. Publishing will release the song book for “Spirit Trail” soon, with transcriptions of all of the piano-intensive songs from the record. Bruce personally checks the excellent work of the Warner transcribers, so players will not be dissatisfied with the quality of the transcriptions in the book. And they’ve blown up Bruce’s Berklee ID card from the CD booklet for a better look at the quintessential music-school geek.
Yoshi’s Broadcast
The Album Network will broadcast a special “By the Bay” taped at Bruce’s appearances at Yoshi’s in Oakland in November. The special is scheduled for broadcast on over 50 radio stations around the U.S. during the week of December 14. Call your local stations to inquire about a date and time.
Previous & Upcoming Benefits
Bruce plays a lot of shows for free! He has enjoyed the opportunities he has had this year to perform and help raise funds for a variety of deserving charities. Some 1998 highlights include former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly’s Hunter’s Hope Foundation for Krabbe’s Disease, opening for the Dave Matthews Band stadium show in Roanoke which raised money for over 50 groups in the state of Virginia, Bruce’s friend Rex Hudler’s Down Syndrome benefit, the Frank Sinatra Las Vegas Celebrity Classic benefiting the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center, and events for the American Cancer Society and the Rainforest Action Network.
In December you’ll find Bruce in the Bay Area of California for two special performances. On December 19 he’ll play at the Berkeley Music Center with Bonnie Raitt and others in support of SEVA, and on December 20 Bonnie and Bruce head south for the Santa Cruz Civic Center to join Jackson Browne and Los Otros to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Mitch in Central America.
Homerun-records breaker Mark McGwire and Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa host events in Walnut Creek, CA the weekend of January 8-9 to benefit organizations assisting abused children and the Animal Rescue Foundation. Bruce performs at the concert on January 9, along with Clint Black, who has asked Bruce to collaborate on his next record.
Bruce performs in March in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia for the first time in 9 years! Solo piano concerts in celebration of the City of Williamsburg’s 300th anniversary and to benefit the Williamsburg Land Conservancy are scheduled for March 28 and 30 at Phi Beta Kappa Hall at the College of William and Mary. Tickets will go on sale in January. Information about ticket sales will be posted on our web site at: http://members.aol.com//BrHornsby
Information on Web Sites/Mail
Our “no frills” site has an added link to a new site for Bruce. It offers photos (some of Bruce as a kid), a discography, music samples and tour information. The photos alone are worth a trip to this site. The address is: www.bruce-hornsby.com
The mailing address is: P.O. Box 3545, Williamsburg, VA 23187.