Stephen Bruton
He's been heralded as the king of South Austin and is as much a fixture at the venerable Saxon Pub as Ed Hamell was at the Electric Lounge or Joe Richardson was at Joe's Generic Bar. Turner Stephen Bruton is a guitar player's guitar player: He can do it all. Bruton was brought up in Fort Worth. His father played jazz drums and ran a record store, and it didn't take long for the music to take ahold of young Stephen. He spent his teen years playing with the likes of T-Bone Burnett and Delbert McClinton, splitting time between country, bluegrass, and the blues, a mix that still breathes life into the music he makes today. In 1970 he headed to Woodstock, N.Y., and then to Manhattan, a move that yielded touring gigs with Kris Kristofferson and Bonnie Raitt. He moved to Austin in the mid-1980s and, before long, added producer to his résumé for Jimmie Dale Gilmore's
After Awhile in 1991 and Alejandro Escovedo's solo debut,
Gravity, the following year. An appearance in the remake of
A Star Is Born led to an intermittent acting career, as Bruton landed a host of roles in movies and TV shows. But music's the thing, and Bruton's never stopped making it. 1993 solo debut
What It Is, ’95's
Right on Time, and ’98's
Nothing but the Truth gained Bruton further acclaim as a songwriter, and his guitar playing benefited from constant playing both in Austin and on the road. Bruton moved to New West Records, home of the Flatlanders and many other Texas stars, and in 2002 released
Spirit World, which effectively melded his myriad influences better than previous effort. 2005 saw the release of
From the Five, also on New West. In addition to his solo career, Bruton plays with the Resentments, an Austin supergroup that includes Jon Dee Graham and Scrappy Jud Newcomb.
– Christopher Hess
