Hornsby, Bruce

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Bruce Hornsby

Singer, songwriter, pianist

Success long eluded rock performer Bruce Hornsby. White many in the recording industry considered his work promising, he was rejected by all the major labels. “I was going nowhere fast,” he told Dennis Hunt of the Los Angeles Times. “I was writing these formula pop songs. It wasn’t what wanted to do.” In 1985 Hornsby decided to follow his instincts. He and his brother, John, began writing music that blended jazz, country-folk, and New Age. The result, an album titled The Way It Is, earned Hornsby and his four-man band, the Range, a Grammy Award.

A native of Williamsburg, Virginia, Hornsby grew up wanting to be a professional basketball player. While in high school he learned to play piano. He later studied at the University of Miami School of Music, where he learned classical and jazz piano. After receiving his degree, Hornsby returned to Virginia and formed a rock cover band that played in bars and clubs throughout the South. In 1980 he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a staff composer for 20th Century Fox.

During this time he recorded and distributed demo tapes. Some of the biggest names in the music industry took notice, and several record companies expressed interest. But Hornsby received no contract offers, so he enlisted in Sheena Easton’s road band for two years. In 1985 Hornsby recorded another demo. This time, he ignored the advice given him by industry insiders; he was tired of trying to write what other people thought was commercial. The tape consisted of four songs written by Hornsby and his brother, and it featured Hornsby, alone, singing and playing acoustic piano, bass, drums, and accordion. There was no electronic music. “I just wanted a tape to sound exactly like I heard the music in my head and not have to compromise with anybody about any of it,” he explained to Pam Lambert of the Wall Street Journal. The tape led to a contract with RCA.

The debut album of Bruce Hornsby and the Range, The Way It Is, went platinum. Its title track, a song about racial prejudice, topped the Billboard chart. Another single, “Mandolin Rain,” reached the top ten. Hornsby produced six of the album’s songs, three others were produced by Huey Lewis, an early champion of Hornsby’s work. The album’s style, which Lambert described as “jazz-tinged folk-rock,” and socially conscious material struck a chord with audiences and critics. Huey Lewis has called Hornsby’s music “rural Southern highbrow.” A People reviewer wrote: “With their small-town settings and common heroes, Hornsby’s are the sort of heartland tunes that just might knock a chip in the Springsteen-Mellencamp monopoly.” At the 1987 Grammy Awards Hornsby and his group were named best new artist.

For the Record…

Born c. 1954; married. Education: Attended Berklee College of Music; graduate of University of Miami, 1977.

Began playing in rock bands in the late 1970s; staff songwriter for 20th Century-Fox in Los Angeles; formed own band, Bruce Hornsby and the Range, c 1980.

Awards: Grammy Award for best new artist, 1987.

Addresses: Record compony —RCA Records, 1133 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036.

A second album, Scenes from the Southside, has also sold millions. Homsby’s music has been influenced by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett and country singer George Jones; his lyrics are drawn from current events and social trends. Mostly, his work reflects his southern roots. “I guess this sounds pompous, but we want to create our own sort of microcosm of a place, “he told Rolling Stone. “Kind of like Faulkner, I guess, had a county where all his things were set. If there’s anything special about what we’re doing, that’s what it is.”