Yellow Pages
Grammy winner Bruce Hornsby plays rare solo shows in Bow
A musician’s musician, Bruce Hornsby was backed by his band The Range when he released his 1986 debut album “The Way It is,’’ a Grammy Award winner that produced hits with the title track, “Mandolin Rain’’ and “Every Little Kiss.’’ In the ensuing years, the singer/songwriter/pianist has played and recorded with Bob Dylan, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt, WIllie Nelson, Ricky Skaggs, Stevie Nicks, Bob Seger and Crosby, Stills and Nash. From 1990 to 1992, he toured as a part-time member of The Grateful Dead.
But the WIlliamsburg, Va. native is performing rare solo shows at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24 at the Skagit Casino in Bow. Accompanying himself on a Steinway piano, the show “won’t be a stroll down memory lane,’’ the 54-year-old Hornsby said in a telephone interview from his Williamsburg home studio. “I owe my audience what I’m passionate about at the time, and that’s what they’ll get ... It’s never rote. I’m always in the moment.’’
Tickets are $48, and are available from Ticketmaster at 206-628-0888 or free of service charge at the casino box office.
Hornsby’s grandfather was a professional musician in Richmond, Va.,, “a stern guy who was ‘classical music or bust,’’’ Hornsby recalled. “It was the three Bs: Beethoven, Bach and Brahms.’’ His father Bob played saxophone and clarinet in a band. Hornsby remembers singing “Hound Dog’’ at 3, and absorbing the other tunes hears around the house: Ricky Nelson, Pat Boone, The Coasters, songs from Disney films.
Hornsby took piano lessons at 7, but then “dogged it because I wanted to play ball with the other kids,’’ he said. Hearing Elton John’s second album “Tumbleweed Connections’’ at 17 inspired him to return to the keyboards; Leon Russell led him to boogie woogie, Bill Evans to jazz. He studied at Boston’s Berklee College and earned his degree from the University of Miami’s School of Music in 1977. Three years later, he moved to Los Angeles with his band that included older brother Bob. Hornsby did session work, and played in Sheena Easton’s band; he points out with a laugh that he looks like a geek in the video for her 1985 Prince-penned hit “Sugar Walls.’’
Hornsby founded the band The Range in 1984, but couldn’t get a recording contract, even with the support of good friend and then-star Huey Lewis. But a demo of songs he wrote with his two brothers landed him a contract with RCA.
After recording “That Way It Is,’’ “I didn’t expect s---,’’ he recalled. “I just wanted to record a second one.’’ He pointed out that all his musician friends but one were denied sophomore releases after their debut albums failed to sell.
Instead, the title track, which first broke in England, was a number one hit, the album number three on the charts. The album garnered Hornsby the Grammy for “Best New Artist.’’ “All of a sudden, doors opened wide that had been closed,’’ he said. Especially gratifying was the positive feedback from other musicians. “All of a sudden, they were fans of mine,’’ he said.
Among them were Dylan, who included Hornsby in the recording of his album “Under the Red Sky.’’ Hornsby joined The Grateful Dead following the death of keyboardist Brent Mydland in 1990, and played more than 100 concerts with the band through March 1992. As for the late great guitarist Jerry Garcia, “I loved him,’’ Hornsby said. “I miss him a lot. He was a walking encyclopedia of folk music ... He was a kindred spirit of mine.’’
Hornsby’s 12 albums have sold more than 11 million copies, and he’s earned two more Grammys. His sophomore 1988 album “Scenes from the Southside’’ reached number five on the charts, and produced the #5 hit “Valley Road.’’ His 1990 album “A Night on the Town’’ produced the hit “Across the River,’’ and featured appearances by Garcia, Raitt, Phil Collins, Pat Metheny and Branford Marsalis. In 2006, Columbia/Legacy released the box set “Bruce Hornsby — Intersections 1985-2005.’’ In 2007, the album “Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby’’ debuted at number one on the Billboard bluegrass charts.
Hornsby two weeks ago finished the soundtrack for a Spike Lee film on basketball star Kobie Bryant for ESPN. He’s also completing a stage musical. Recently, Hornsby filmed a small part in an upcoming Robin William movie “World’s Greatest Dad’’; WIlliam’s character plays a big fan of Hornsby, and asks him to play “Mandolin Rain.’’ In his film debut, the singer will have two lines. “I was ‘o-for-two,’’ Hornsby joked. “I should keep my day job.’’
In Bow, Hornsby will take song requests, and along with some hits, patrons can expect some classical pieces by the likes of Ives and Barber. “It will probably be the first time Schoenberg will be played in that casino,’’ he said.
