Bruce's Music Page

MUSIC

My hobby is writing and performing original folk songs. I have recorded a new album, ALMOST ENDLESS FUN. Scott Alzheimer produced 14 tracks, Jake Krch three, and Chad Zenisek one. The tracks are:

Your Original Question
Waiting for the Light Blues (with Jake Krch)
Outside
Theme from the XXVI Olympiad (with Kimberli Maloy)
Everlasting Day (with Dennis Schaefer)
Crayon (with Jane, Robbie and Eli Nesmith)
The Guide (with Kimberli Maloy)
Spring
Summer
Autumn
It's Christmas! Buy Something!! (with Jane, Robbie and Eli Nesmith)
Urban Legend (Chad Zenisek)
Happily Ever After
Southern Baptist
We Are We (with Jane, Robbie and Eli Nesmith)
Cellphone
Visions of Chickens (with Dennis Schaefer)
Interstate

VIDEO: "Faithful in the Rain"

My first album, MOUTH FULL OF MUSTARD (2003), was produced by Alex Dyba. The tracks include:

Better Grammar Than God
At The Mall
Avenging Angel
Waiting for the Bluegrass Buddha
Orange Rhyme
Gender Studies
Dawn
Chicago
I Like Baseball
Love You, Interplanetarily
Ahead, She Said
Pickles
John Has Tomatoes
Political Science Club Song
Totems
Afternoon
White Bread From The Suburbs

Both discs are available for the everyday, low-low price of $10. For "Mouth Full of Mustard," half the proceeds goes to the Friends of Music at Coe. The discs may be purchased by contacting me (bnesmith@coe.edu).

I wrote my first song in 1984, and performed it at the Wesley Foundation in Urbana, Illinois. Since then I have sung publicly in Atwood, Farmington, and Macomb, Illinois; and Cedar Rapids, Marion, Stone City, and Walker, Iowa. My favorite place to perform is Brewed Awakenings Coffeehouse, 1271 1st Av SE (across from Coe). Come see me November 6!

I enjoy listening to folk and singer-songwriter music online at these sites:

BBC Radio Scotland (Glasgow): Iain Anderson, Bryan Burnett, Mary Ann Kennedy, Tom Morton
KPVL (Postville, Iowa): Jeff Abbas
WXPN (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania): David Dye, Michaela Lejeune, Dan Reed
WYSO (Yellow Springs, Ohio): Niki Dekota
American Routes, syndicated show hosted by Nick Spitzer
Mountain Stage, syndicated show hosted by Larry Groce

Here's my annual list of Ten Notable Albums of 2008

My CD acquisitions in 2009:

Avett Brothers, "I And Love And You"
Bop Ensemble, "Between Trains"
Greg Brown, "If I Had Known: Essential Recordings, 1980-1996"
Camera Obscura, "My Maudlin Career"
Flying Burrito Brothers, "The Gilded Palace of Sin/Burrito Deluxe"
John Fogerty, "Revival"
Marshall Tucker Band, "Anthology: The First 30 Years"
Steve Martin, "The Crow"
Erin McCarley, "Love, Save the Empty"
Jeremy Messersmith, "Silver City"
Todd Snider, "East Nashville Skyline"
Jennifer Warnes, "Best of Jennifer Warnes"

My CD acquisitions in 2008:

Jimmy Buffett, "Songs You Know By Heart"
Sheryl Crow, "Detours"
Yo-Yo Ma, "Songs of Joy and Peace"
Conor Oberst, "Conor Oberst"
Okkervil River, "The Stand Ins"
Ruckus Roboticus, "Playing With Scratches"
Silencers, "Blues for Buddha"
K.T. Tunstall, "Drastic Fantastic"
Weepies, "Hideaway"

My CD acquisitions in 2007:

"A Celebration of American Music" (Susan Dudek, flute; Rebecca Hemminger, soprano; Kendra Culver, cello; Nola Gustafson, piano; Charis Buell, piano)
Feist, "The Reminder"
Patty Griffin, "Children Running Through"
Kate Kane, "Kannibal Kitty"
Kate Kane, "19 Year Old Blues"
Angelique Kidjo, "Djin Djin"
Kinks, "Village Green Preservation Society"
Gayla Drake Paul with Eric Douglas, "Here in the Center of the World"
Proclaimers, "Life With You"
Josh Ritter, "Hello Starling"
Ron Sexsmith, "Time Being"
Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra, "Napoleon"
"Woodstock: Three Days of Peace and Music"
Neil Young, "Chrome Dreams II"

My CD acquisitions in 2006:

Hoyt Axton, "Flashes of Fire: The Best of Hoyt, 1962-1990"
Billy Bragg, "Life's a Riot and Spy vs. Spy"
J.J. Cale and Eric Clapton, "Road to Escondido"
John Denver, "Rocky Mountain Christmas"
Ben Harper, "Both Sides of the Gun"
Drew Hayward, "Mexed Missages"
Mammals, "Departure"
Ziggy Marley, "Love is My Religion"
Loreena McKennitt, "An Ancient Muse"
Men at Work, "Contraband: The Best of Men at Work"
"OnXRT," volume 9 (various artists recorded live by WXRT-Chicago)
Dennis Schaefer, "Uncle Pop's Cabin"
Bruce Springsteen, "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions"
K.T. Tunstall, "Eye to the Telescope"
Stevie Wonder, "Songs in the Key of Life"

My CD acquisitions in 2005:

John Cale, "Fragments of a Rainy Season"
Susan Dudek, "Dearly Beloved"
The Duhks, "The Duhks"
Steve Earle, "Guitar Town"
Woody Guthrie, "This Land Is Your Land"
Priscilla Herdman, "Forever and Always"
Kimberli, "Comedy & Tragedy"
Lazyboy, "Lazyboy TV"
Erin McKeown, "We Will Become Like Birds"
James McMurtry, "Childish Things"
Willie Nelson, "Country Man"
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken Vol II"
Gayla Drake Paul, "Restless"
John Prine, "Fair and Square"
Various Artists, "The Arranger's Touch: A History of the Jazz Arrangement from Jelly Roll Morton to Quincy Jones"
Various Artists, "There Is No Eye: Music For Photographs"

My CD acquisitions in 2004:

Dave Alvin, "Ashgrove"
Lou and Peter Berryman, "House Concert"
Chicago Sinfonietta, "African Heritage Symphonic Series Vol II"
Bob Dylan, "Blonde on Blonde"
Flatlanders, "Wheels of Fortune"
Bob King, "The Frustrated Musician: The Best of Bob"
Alison Krauss and Union Station, "Lonely Runs Both Ways"
Kirsty MacColl, "Tropical Brainstorm"
Jim Malcolm, "Home"
John Mayer, "Room for Squares"
Chrys Mitchell, "No Plans for the Day"
Gayla Drake Paul, "Retrospective 1982-2002"
Pentangle, "Early Classics"
Rilo Kiley, "More Adventurous"
Kev Russell's Junker, "Buttermilk and Rifles"
Mindy Smith, "One Moment More"
Thrills, "So Much For The City"