Tale of the tour ’24 – Bruce Hornsby’s year

Bruce Hornsby played 773 songs, either solo, with the Noisemakers or yMusic, at these 42 shows in 2024. There were 177 different songs, showcasing the enormous catalog that they play over the course of the year. Here’s some detail on the ’24 tour…

Songs from each record

 

• The Way It Is: 89 performances of songs from that record
• Scenes from the Southside: 47
• Night on the Town: 15 
• Harbor Lights: 23
• Hot House: 35
• Spirit Trail: 96
• Big Swing Face: 13
• Greatest Radio Hits: 1
• Halcyon Days: 33
• Skaggs/Hornsby: 7
• Camp Meeting: 0
• Intersections: 6
• Levitate: 27
• Red Hook Summer: 2
• Solo Concerts: 3
• Rehab Reunion: 41
• Absolute Zero: 56
• Non-Secure Connection: 28
• ‘Flicted: 23
• Lost and Found: 6
• Deep Sea Vents: 72

That’s 658 performances of Bruce’s songs in total, across 42 shows!

Covers and unreleased songs

Additionally, there were:

• 111 performances of 50 different covers and
• 5 “unreleased” songs that were played 39 times (technically “unreleased”, as they’re not on Bruce’s studio records).

Overall, that’s 773 songs performed in 42 concerts.

Covers

 

The complete list of covers:

• L’Escalier du Diable (Ligeti): 13 times played
• Catenaires (Carter): 9
• Goldberg Variation 1 (Bach): 7
• Webern Variation #2 (Webern): 7
• Cherokee (Bud Powell): 6
• Gavotte (Schoenberg): 6
• 20/20 Vision (Jimmy Martin): 4
• Changes (Tupac): 4
• Little Sadie (Dylan): 4
• Long Black Veil (Dill/Wilken): 4
• Too Much Monkey Business (Chuck Berry): 4
• Arthur McBride (Irish folk song): 2
• Moonshadow (Cat Stevens): 2
• Mystery Train (Elvis): 2
• Sister Rosa (Neville Brothers): 2
• That Would Be Something (McCartney): 2
• The Grand Tour (George Jones): 2
• There is a Mountain (Donovan): 2
• A Change is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke): 1
• Baby Don’t You Worry (Sonny Boy Williamson): 1
• Bb Prelude in Bb (Bach): 1
• Blue Monk quotes (Monk): 1
• Fairytale of New York (Finer/Macgowan): 1
• Going Home – Theme to Local Hero (Knopfler): 1
• Goldberg Variation #3 (Bach): 1
• Green Green Rocky Road (Donovan): 1
• I Need You (George Harrison): 1
• In A Gadda Da Vida (Ingle): 1
• In Dreams (Orbison): 1
• Just One More (George Jones): 1
• La Fiesta (Chick Corea): 1
• Lot to Laugh Train to Cry (Dylan): 1
• Maggie May (Rod Stewart): 1
• My Favorite Things Variations (Rodgers/Hammerstein): 1
• On Broadway (George Benson): 1
• Paint it Black (Jagger/Richards): 1
• Parisian Thoroughfare (Bud Powell): 1
• Secret Agent Man (Sloan/Barri): 1
• Silver Threads and Golden Needles (Reynolds/Rhodes): 1
• Smokestack Lightning (Chester Burnett AKA Howlin’ Wolf): 1
• Spoonful (Chester Burnett AKA Howlin’ Wolf): 1
• Stranger in a Strange Land (Russell): 1
• Study #22 (Ives): 1
• Sun Bear Theme (Jarrett): 1
• The Letter (Carson): 1
• The Sadness of It All (Lynn/Twitty): 1
• This Magic Moment (Drifters): 1
• Under the Boardwalk (Drifters): 1
• We’ll Sing in the Sunshine (Garnett): 1
• Will It Go Round in Circles (Preston): 1

“Cherokee” was played 6 times in these 42 shows, but not in 2023. “Twelve Tone Tune” was played 14 times last (the second most popular cover), but it did not feature in these shows.

Unreleased/compilations

And those unreleased songs:

• End of the Innocence: 23 times played
• Big Stick: 10
• Barcelona Mona: 2
• Love Me Still: 2
• Nobody There But Me: 2

Show openers

 

29 different songs opened 42 shows in 2024 – they are:

• Bright Star Cast: 5 shows opened
• Preacher in the Ring Part One: 5
• Country Doctor: 2
• Harbor Lights: 2
• Living in the Sunshine: 2
• Sidelines: 2
• Soon Enough: 2
• 20/20 Vision: 1
• Bb Prelude in Bb: 1
• Big Rumble: 1
• Cast-Off: 1
• Circus on the Moon: 1
• Crown of Jewels: 1
• Cyclone: 1
• Days Ahead: 1
• Green Green Rocky Road: 1
• L’Escalier du Diable: 1
• Life in the Psychotropics: 1
• MIA in M.I.A.M.I.: 1
• My Resolve: 1
• No Limits: 1
• Resting Place: 1
• See the Same Way: 1
• Sneaking Up on Boo Radley: 1
• Song C: 1
• Stander on the Mountain: 1
• Study #22 (Ives): 1
• Sunlight Moon: 1
• The Red Plains: 1

Show closers

 

All of them:

• End of the Innocence: 7 shows closed
• Deep Sea Vents: 5
• Rubber Band Rainbow: 4
• Mandolin Rain: 3
• Deep Blue: 2
• Hooray for Tom: 2
• Jacob’s Ladder: 2
• Nobody There But Me: 2
• Prairie Dog Town: 2
• The Show Goes On: 2
• Cruise Control: 1
• Down the Road Tonight: 1
• Every Little Kiss: 1
• Long Black Veil: 1
• Sunflower Cat: 1
• Swan Song: 1
• The Dreaded Spoon: 1
• The Grand Tour: 1
• The Way It Is: 1
• Valley Road: 1
• Walk in the Sun: 1

Most played accordion songs

Bruce played 5 different songs on accordion at these 42 shows: 31 accordion performances in all.  “Jacob’s Ladder” was the most played, just as in 2023.

• Jacob’s Ladder: 14 times played on accordion
• Big Stick: 10
• Pete and Manny: 5
• Cartoons and Candy: 1
• Defenders of the Flag: 1

None of them were played on piano of dulcimer.

Most played dulcimer songs

Bruce played 31 songs on dulcimer at these 42 shows, making 118 songs on dulcimer in total. “Valley Road” was most played.

“Over the Rise” got double the number of plays than 2023 (10 over 5). “Mandolin Rain”, “The Way It Is” and “The River Runs Low”, all from the first record, all got their first ever live performances on dulcimer.

• Valley Road: 14 times played on dulcimer
• Prairie Dog Town: 13
• MIA in M.I.A.M.I.: 10
• Over the Rise: 10
• Shadow Hand: 9
• Echolocation: 7
• The Good Life: 6
• Tipping: 6
• LIDAR: 5
• Mandolin Rain: 5
• Too Much Monkey Business: 4
• Is This It: 3
• Arthur McBride: 2
• Black Rats of London: 2
• Celestial Railroad: 2
• Every Little Kiss: 2
• Mirror on the Wall: 2
• Moonshadow: 2
• Rehab Reunion: 2
• Baby Don’t You Worry: 1
• Green Green Rocky Road: 1
• Hey Kafka: 1
• I Need You: 1
• Maggie May: 1
• Smokestack Lightning: 1
• Spoonful: 1
• The Dreaded Spoon: 1
• The River Runs Low: 1
• The Way It Is: 1
• Tropical Cashmere Sweater: 1
• TSA Man: 1

Every song played in 2024

All 177 songs played across 42 shows this year… 773 in total! Notable firsts: first ever “Bucket List” and “No Limits” live plays, and the reinvented “Rubber Band Rainbow”! Also the first time ever playing ““Mandolin Rain”, “The Way It Is” and “The River Runs Low” on dulcimer.

Here is every single song performed in those 42 shows in 2024:

• The Way It Is: 39 times played
• Mandolin Rain: 26
• End of the Innocence: 23
• Every Little Kiss: 21
• Valley Road: 15
• Cast-Off: 14
• Jacob’s Ladder: 14
• Prairie Dog Town: 14
• Sneaking Up on Boo Radley: 14
• L’Escalier du Diable: 13
• Rubber Band Rainbow: 12
• Country Doctor: 11
• Never in this House: 11
• Preacher in the Ring Part One: 11
• Big Stick: 10
• MIA in M.I.A.M.I.: 10
• Over the Rise: 10
• Song C: 10
• (My) Theory of Everything: 9
• Catenaires: 9
• Deep Blue: 9
• Deep Sea Vents: 9
• Foreign Sounds: 9
• Phase Change: 9
• Platypus Wow: 9
• Shadow Hand: 9
• The Show Goes On: 9
• The Wake of St. Brendan: 9
• Walk in the Sun: 9
• Absolute Zero: 8
• Great Divide: 8
• Halcyon Days: 8
• My Resolve: 8
• The Wild Whaling Life: 8
• Circus on the Moon: 7
• Echolocation: 7
• Funhouse: 7
• Goldberg Variation 1: 7
• Line in the Dust: 7
• Soon Enough; 7
• Webern Variation #2: 7
• Across the River: 6
• Cherokee (Bud Powell): 6
• Living in the Sunshine: 6
• Preacher in the Ring Part Two: 6
• Schoenberg Gavotte: 6
• The Good Life: 6
• Tipping: 6
• Cyclone: 5
• Hooray for Tom: 5
• LIDAR: 5
• Meds: 5
• Night on the Town: 5
• No Limits: 5
• Pete and Manny: 5
• White-Wheeled Limousine: 5
• 20/20 Vision: 4
• Bright Star Cast: 4
• Changes (Tupac): 4
• Days Ahead: 4
• Dreamland: 4
• Harbor Lights: 4
• Little Sadie: 4
• Long Black Veil: 4
• Resting Place: 4
• Sad Moon: 4
• Song A: 4
• Sticks and Stones: 4
• The Road Not Taken: 4
• Too Much Monkey Business: 4
• Anything Can Happen: 3
• Blinding Light of Dreams: 3
• Bucket List: 3
• Cleopatra Drones: 3
• Fractals: 3
• Is This It: 3
• Look Out Any Window: 3
• Lost in the Snow: 3
• Rat King: 3
• Sidelines: 3
• Spider Fingers: 3
• Sunflower Cat: 3
• The Dreaded Spoon: 3
• White Noise: 3
• Arthur McBride: 2
• Barcelona Mona: 2
• Barren Ground: 2
• Black Rats of London: 2
• Candy Mountain Run: 2
• Celestial Railroad: 2
• Crown of Jewels: 2
• Cruise Control: 2
• Fields of Gray: 2
• Fortunate Son: 2
• Gulf of Mexico Fishing Boat Blues: 2
• Here We Are Again: 2
• Hymn in C: 2
• King of the Hill: 2
• Lost Soul: 2
• Love Me Still: 2
• Mirror on the Wall: 2
• Moonshadow: 2
• Mystery Train: 2
• Nobody There But Me: 2
• Rehab Reunion: 2
• See the Same Way: 2
• Sister Rosa: 2
• Space is the Place: 2
• Swing Street: 2
• Take You There (Misty):: 2
• Talk of the Town: 2
• Tango King: 2
• That Would Be Something: 2
• The Grand Tour: 2
• There is a Mountain: 2
• This Too Shall Pass: 2
• Tropical Cashmere Sweater: 2
• Where’s the Bat?: 2
• A Change is Gonna Come: 1
• Baby Don’t You Worry: 1
• Barber Booty: 1
• Bb Prelude in Bb: 1
• Big Rumble: 1
• Blue Monk quotes: 1
• Cartoons and Candy: 1
• Continents Drift: 1
• Defenders of the Flag: 1
• Down the Road Tonight: 1
• Fairytale of New York: 1
• Gennessee Ted: 1
• Go Back to Your Woods: 1
• Going Home: 1
• Goldberg Variation #3: 1
• Gonna Be Some Changes Made: 1
• Green Green Rocky Road: 1
• Hey Kafka: 1
• I Need You: 1
• In A Gadda Da Vida: 1
• In Dreams: 1
• Just One More: 1
• La Fiesta (Chick Corea): 1
• Levitate: 1
• Life in the Psychotropics: 1
• Long Tall Cool One: 1
• Lot to Laugh Train to Cry: 1
• Maggie May: 1
• My Favorite Things Variations: 1
• Non-Secure Connection: 1
• On Broadway: 1
• Paint it Black: 1
• Parisian Thoroughfare: 1
• Pastures of Plenty: 1
• Secret Agent Man: 1
• Shit’s Crazy Out Here: 1
• Silver Threads and Golden Needles: 1
• Smokestack Lightning: 1
• Song B: 1
• Song H: 1
• Spoonful: 1
• Stander on the Mountain: 1
• Stranger in a Strange Land: 1
• Study #22 (Ives): 1
• Sun Bear Theme: 1
• Sunlight Moon: 1
• Swan Song: 1
• The Hound: 1
• The Letter: 1
• The Red Plains: 1
• The River Runs Low: 1
• The Sadness of It All: 1
• The Tide Will Rise: 1
• This Magic Moment: 1
• TSA Man: 1
• Under the Boardwalk: 1
• We’ll Sing in the Sunshine: 1
• What the Hell Happened: 1
• Will It Go Round in Circles: 1