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Biography

Bruce began his musical journey playing trombone in the Riverina Concert Band in the NSW country city of Wagga Wagga where he grew up. He was a regular student in trombone and music theory at the local Conservatorium of Music. His father, also a musician & entertainer, helped develop his ability. He joined a college ska band called "Happy Accidents" as a trombonist in the horn section. He realised that trombone was only going to get him so far so he started taking lessons from renowned teachers, Betty Lys for vocals and Roger Pell on guitar. Soon after he auditioned for and won the lead role in the musical "Oklahoma". Unfortunately due to a prior commitment he was unable to perform in that musical. A year later he auditioned for and won the lead role of Tony in "West Side Story". Bruce entered the Star Quest Talent Contest and won 1st prize. Local musicians saw his ability and formed a band called "The Indelible Soul Brothers" with Bruce as lead singer. They started gigging around the Riverina area getting quite a reputation as he was honing his skills as an entertaining front man. He went over to the U.K. for a holiday and decided to stay. He brought the guitar he won in the Talent Contest with him and started busking in the London Underground Tube Stations. He met some amazing musicians there. All the time learning the craft of singing, playing guitar and working out what the crowd want. A chance to go to Austria to play for the ski season opened up. He worked as a ski instructor during the day and playing at two different venues during the nights. When he returned to Australia a year and a half later he decided to pursue a professional career in music. He reformed his old band and was in another musical, "The Music Man". He moved to Sydney in 1990 and saw how other artists were performing with backing tracks. He set about making his own backing tracks and building a repertoire of songs. He landed his 1st paying solo gig at O'Malley's Hotel in Kings Cross when it originally opened in 1991. Since then he has performed at over 200 venues in and around the Sydney area as well as interstate and overseas. He also had a major sponsorship with Strongbow/Bulmers Cider for 2 years. His songs and personality have grown with each performance to where he stands today as one of Australia's best Solo/Entertainers.