- This topic has 11 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 11 years ago by
.
-
Posts
-
In listening to the Si’s interview with Bruce I came away with the following. I hope I”m wrong and I might be way off but here is my interpretation and it makes sense.
Since touring with Ricky Skaggs and his other sub acts, Railroad Earth etc. His taste stylistily has changed. He has shifted more towards a southern blue grass style over his more traditional pop/jam band style. This can be seen in his dulcimer songs,Sonny on washboard, the bluegrass version of Mandolin Rain etc. It also makes sense why it was time for him to let go of Bobby and Doug. New sound, style, no room for a Sax or Doug on guitar. Gone.
The fact that Bruce has said many times he hates the first two albums, is a sign that the Bruce of today wants to play what he wants, to play and not please his older fans…which I think is admirable, considering many artists sell out to their fans and I respect that. However, I will miss the Bruce of the 2000’s. Call me old fashioned but I actually liked the Range and I think Bobby/Doug put a good similar twist to things. This new direction is a complete 180 from these bands.
Bruce has even said, his most favorite band was the noisemakers (JV/JT/Doug/Bobby/Sonny). They elevated his music to a new level and had it’s own unique sound, a great chemistry.
To me, this shift will alienate a large bulk of his fans, me included. While possibly picking up a new base of fans from the south. I have no interest in bluegrass or that style of music. The only tour I was interested in was when Bruce was with the Noisemakers and willing to travel far for. I can’t see people of New York City embracing bluegrass…..
I really hope these new band members will prove me wrong. But I don’t think it’s up to them….
I’m with you, A.J., this is a pretty tough change to get excited about. When the dulcimer comes out, I sort of lose interest. I enjoy bluegrass music and have ample opportunity to see it live if I want, but I travel hours and hours to see Bruce–and no other artist–because I want to see what he’ll do next on that Steinway. I understand not selling out and tiring of the “hits”, but I read into his comments that he may not be able to sustain the type of playing we’ve seen from him and is choosing to slow it down to allow him to stay out there. Maybe I’m wrong about that and only time will tell. I’m seeing him in a few weeks and I know it will be a great show. I guess you could say Bruce has spoiled me with such amazing playing, it’s hard to imagine it being any other way.
I hear you A.J.
At the end of the day this is a business, and I’ll never fault Bruce for changing up his style to remain in the business. There’s a huge market for Bluegrass and Folk, and maybe Bruce feels it’s in his best interest to penetrate that market. If anything I’m really bitter towards the millions of people who’s musical tastes span the likes of Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and other terrible performers, while musical geniuses like Bruce and each member of the Noisemakers are unable to play venues like Town Hall in NYC anymore. It’s just disgraceful.
That being said, from a personal preference, I’m 100% in agreement with you. Again this is all personal preference. But Bruce playing Jacob’s Ladder, Big Stick, etc was my fix for Bluegrass. I didn’t need anymore. However, after more recently getting into Hornsby/Skaggs and seeing them live in concert, I’m absolutely in love with what they play. I’d like to branch out to other Bluegrass outside of Hornsby/Skaggs, but haven’t done so yet. I love some of the Dulcimer tunes, Valley Road, Good Life, and now Every Little Kiss. I love Bruce’s solo shows, and hearing rarities such as Soon Enough, Sad Moon, etc.
However…
All that being said, as a fan, and with my personal preference in music, I’ve never wanted to see any other Bruce ventures compromise The Noisemakers. They are one of the things in life I view in the highest regard. It might sound crazy, but it’s true. The Noisemakers – everything that’s been played by that band is absolute genius and perfection to me. And hearing Bruce make it pretty clear that he’s changing directions is very disappointing.
Again, while I think a significant part of Bruce moving away from the Jazz and Jam Band tunes and more towards folk/bluegrass has to do with changes in his personal tastes as he’s stated, a large part of me believes he’s finally succumbed to the demand of the common fan – something it seems like he’s tried so hard and long to prevent from doing. And it’s a damn shame that some of the most stylistically complex and advanced musical progressions played in the most ballsy, unprecedented, and spontaneous fashions has not captured the attention of enough people for Bruce to keep doing it.
I agree. And I guess it’s really hard to say exactly what happened..how it happened and why. However, like anything, you either embrace it or you don’t. Let’s face it, and I don’t know Bruce’s finances, but I’d assume he’s been smart with money, @ 60 does he really need to tour anymore to survive? Probably not. He’s most likely doing it to for his love of music and creation, the art of music. He’s found a niche and he’s carving it out.
The only thing I can’t believe [USER=411]@JF1[/USER] is your comment on not capturing enough people to continue his previous style with the Noisemakers, every show I went to was practically sold out if not sold out completely. Now I can only speak for the east coast USA, can’t speak for anywhere else…. perhaps the south and west was less the case..?
Bruce solo is fun too it’s certainly a more laid back affair and you get to see a master at work, but the Noisemakers will always remain my favorite..not to be confused with Kentucky Noisemakers.
This is a great thread!
I totally agree with ya’ll.
Hopefully fans won’t desert our boy ol’ Brucie.
I mean, I passed up the Kentucky show once I learned that Doug & Bobby got dropped so when the tix went on sale I bought Dave Matthews tix instead.
However, I was stoked once the free show was announced so I can get to see the ‘new’ line-up with the ‘new’ sound without feeling resentment of the change that has become so hard to swallow for me.The jazzy jamming is what made me a fan of BH&NM….I’m not a big fan of bluegrass/folk music. The one or two tunes Bruce would bust out per show was just enough for my taste or fix like JF1 mentioned. I seen the Hornsby/Skaggs thing back in ’07 and thought it was ok but probably because most of it was Bruce’s tunes.
This ‘change’ keeps me thinking that the quality of the songs and set lists will somehow suffer and become predictable because the new guys aren’t necessarily improv-type players. It just don’t make sense to get rid of two guys that know the catalog and the deep musical direction to be able to do all those song changes and teases that Bruce throws at us. I’m really afraid that we’re gonna get the same 12 songs each night. I have noticed over the past three or four years that he doesn’t seem to fulfill requests the way he used to. I went 7 for 7 in Detroit ’09 but after that I’ve been batting .250 with the requests.
Don’t get me wrong I am still gonna support Bruce with whatever he does but I long for the good ol’ days of the magic from my favorite years of ’01 – ’05….thankfully there are so many recordings of those shows.
I just gotta try to evolve with him…maybe I can learn to appreciate bluegrass/folk music they way Bruce got me into jazz way back when.
I’ve been listening to Bruce since the mid 80’s (about since I was 10 years old) and I’ve always thought of Bruce as a jazz man first and foremost. Any forays into rock, pop, folk, bluegrass, etc. just happen to be what he’s doing *at that point in time.* Nothing more, nothing less. I’ve never felt comfortable pigeon-holing Bruce as anything other than a jazz man. Sure he wants to go a more folky direction at this point in time. That genre is pretty popular right now (yes, even in NYC) with the likes of Mumford & Sons, Avett Bros., etc. so it makes sense.
My personal feeling is that you can take the man out of the jazz, but you can’t take the jazz out of the man.
After the show on Friday I have to say this whole debate actually seems rather silly. Stylistically the changes are more subtle that you’d think…and Gibb Droll on guitar absolutely shreds. IMO, his style/tone has a good bit in common with R.S.
[MEDIA=youtube]9rJEG0IFrSw[/MEDIA]
[MEDIA=youtube]56jMvhsgo1A[/MEDIA]
[MEDIA=youtube]T4Cm3hRiYCs[/MEDIA]
You might be right.. This is very close, Gibb seems pretty darn good especially his solo on cyclone. I’m just not crazy about the fiddle…..
After seeing the new lineup Friday in Black Mtn, I have to say I enjoyed it a lot more than expected. Bruce called on Gibb to deliver multiple solos early on and it seemed to boost his confidence to a point that, near the end of the night, he practically stole the show. The fiddle sounded great to me and the mandolin fit nicely in a lot of the tunes. There will never be a replacement for Bobby Read’s contribution to the band, but these guys put on a helluva show Friday night.
Great to hear about everyone liking the new arrangement. I’m really disappointed to not be making a Noisemakers show this summer. I tried my best to get to the Pittsburgh show, but with the length of the drive and timing, it just wasn’t possible for me to do this summer.
I’ll have to rely on audio and video recordings! Hopefully a lot start to surface.
I heard from Bruce this week – I can tell that that he’s keen not to be seen as a folk band going forward. He’s said that he’s “more of a folkie than a jazzer” these days, but the band are certainly as stylistically diverse as they’ve ever been.
Not a folk band, then – but the influence is definitely there.
The new guys both did ok but hopefully this was a one-off type tour and we’ll get Bobby and Doug back for the next Noisemakers tour. The fiddle didn’t do much for me as these songs need the sax and ewi. I also missed Doug’s tone.
One thing that made me scratch my head a bit is that Bruce let Gibb play a lot of solos where he seemed to always have a leash on Doug’s playing…which I always thought it was strange that Doug didn’t get to solo in every song but Gibb seemed like he got to when Doug is the better player by far. Gibb can shred but a lot of that is just noodling. Doug has a Steve Kimock type quality to his guitar tone and playing.
I did enjoy the new band a lot more than I thought I would but the songs and sound did suffer quite a bit without our ol’ pals Doug & Bobby. I think it would’ve made more sense to just add Ross and keep D&B in the band.
- The forum ‘General chat’ is closed to new topics and replies.