Bruce Brown

Bruce Brown is a guitarist and singer/songwriter based in Nashville, TN. He has just completed his first CD OFF THE EDGE an eclectic mix of contemporary jazz instrumentals with very strong melodic content and funky grooves; along with an equal amount of radio friendly vocal tunes.

Bruce is probably best known for his twenty-one year stint as a member of the Charlie Daniels Band. During that time he has recorded over twenty CDB albums offering up his talents as a guitarist, songwriter and singer; plus doing television appearances, music videos and countless live shows all over the world, including three trips to Iraq to entertain troops.

He has also had success as a songwriter outside the CDB scoring cuts with artists Mel McDaniel and Travis Tritt. Tritt has co written and recorded three of Bruces songs, one being the number one smash hit TELL ME I WAS DREAMING which received the prestigious BMI million plays award. The video for the song peaked at number one on CMTs Top Twelve Countdown and stayed there for three straight weeks.

Born 1955 in Carlsbad, New Mexico, Bruce was an infant when his parents moved back to their home state of Illinois. He claims West Frankfort, Illinois as his hometown. He credits seeing the The Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show as the inspiration for wanting to play the guitar. A few years later he got his first guitar for Christmas.

Bruce Brown

At 14 years old Bruce started playing in bands covering the hits of the late sixties and seventies. Learning to play and sing so many great songs from the era of AM radio, was a priceless education that honed his skills as a player, singer and songwriter. Players like Clapton, Page, and Santana led him to the blues of BB King, and from there to Charlie Christian, Barney Kessel, and other jazz greats, including Billie Holiday.

After extensive traveling playing the club scene Bruce settled in Nashville, TN in 1980. There he landed jobs as a sideman for artists Tommy Cash, Margo Smith, Rex Allen Junior and Gail Davies. He was bandleader for country music star Mel McDaniel for six years, appearing on television shows, recordings and several music videos with him. All the while Bruce was playing and singing on sessions and writing and demoing his own songs.

In 1989 he was invited to audition for the Charlie Daniels Band. He got the gig and immediately started recording the SIMPLE MAN album. The album reached number two on the Billboard Magazine charts, propelled by the hit single of the same name; which featured Bruces swampy delta slide lick as a recurring hook throughout the song. He revisited that style when Bruce was asked to play a slide version of the song DIXIE for the 2001 Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute film FREEBIRD: THE MOVIE.

Bruce continues to record and do nearly a hundred shows a year with the CDB, while also doing gigs in Nashville performing his original material. He is currently writing and doing pre-production for the follow up CD to his new release OFF THE EDGE.