Biography
Six Decades of Crowd-Pleasing Music
Bruce Lande is a singer and guitar player with over six decades of experience entertaining audiences in Texas, New York, and North Carolina. He focuses on crowd-pleasing songs that bring people together — from family beach gatherings to private parties, coffee shops to clubs.
His repertoire centers on the Americana, Ballads, Blues, Country, and Rock & Roll songs of the 1950s through 1970s — the music three generations of audiences know by heart and want to sing along to.
Origin — San Angelo, Texas, 1970
Bruce performed his first solo act in San Angelo, Texas in 1970 while serving in the U.S. Air Force. That early stage time in West Texas honkytonks set the foundation for everything that followed.
The Syracuse Years — Reflections Two
In the 1980s, Bruce formed a rock and roll cover band that played in clubs around Syracuse, NY, including the inaugural ball for the Mayor of Rome, NY. Reflections Two became a popular cover band for weddings and private parties throughout Central New York.
Tuesday Night Open Mic Host — Winston Salem, NC
In 2014, Bruce formed a seven-piece group that served as the host band for the Tuesday Night Open Mic in Winston Salem, North Carolina. The band backed up and played alongside many popular local artists including Junior Dunn, Lisa Smith, The Junction Trio, and many others — giving emerging performers a professional band behind them every week.
Performance Ready Musicians — The Pandemic Years
During the COVID pandemic, Bruce hosted the Performance Ready Musicians group on Facebook — an online showcase of pre-screened, talented artists from around the world. Regular performers included Joe Quinn and Tommy Keyes from Ireland, Steve Flocco, Bernie Drury, and Tom Fairnie from the United States, John Kampouropoulos from Greece, Markus Koehorst from Spain, and many more. Bruce honed his personal performance skills during this time, performing almost every day for over two years.
Today — Holden Beach, North Carolina
Bruce currently entertains audiences in multiple venues around Holden Beach, NC. He is the resident performer at The Scoop in Holden Beach (mornings Tues–Sun, evenings Thurs–Sun in season) and is available for clubs, private parties, weddings, and community events throughout Eastern North Carolina.
The Range — Every Generation, Every Decade
What sets Bruce apart isn't just the years — it's the range. He can open with Grateful Dead for an eight-year-old boy and close with Shaboozy for his little sister, then turn around and give their grandmother Perry Como and Andy Williams. He's played Sinatra's “My Way” and watched a grandmother cry while her son-in-law sang along to Johnny Cash and her granddaughters danced to “Wagon Wheel” — three generations, one table.
He's played two nights of Southern Rock set up next to the tattoo tent at a biker wedding, provided the music for the inaugural ball of the Mayor of Rome, NY, and led a hundred-plus wedding guests — bartender and hotel manager included — through “The Loco-Motion” from the ballroom into the lobby. At a small wine bar, he's held a room with Harry Chapin's “A Better Place to Be” and Gordon Lightfoot's “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” — songs most performers won't attempt.
Beyond guitar and vocals, Bruce plays harmonica leads live, works out keyboard intros by ear (“Piano Man,” “Crocodile Rock,” “House of the Rising Sun”), and uses a looper pedal to play guitar and keyboard at the same time. A self-built song library hundreds deep — his own version of a piano player's fake book, for guitar — lets him take almost any request and make it sound like he's played it for years. His repertoire has recently expanded into neo-traditional country as well — Morgan Wallen, Joe Diffie, “Folsom Prison Blues,” “On the Road Again,” “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.”
