BIOGRAPHY
 Dix was born and raised in the Midwest. His interests in American folk music, jazz, and original composition are blended into a unique vocal and instrumental sound. His compositions are fresh and his energetic, exuberant stage personality, along with his driving rhythm and lead work, set the tone for a warm and exciting performance.
He began playing guitar at age 12. After college, he relocated to the Bay Area where his interest in hybrid acoustic string music led him to David Grisman’s prototype quintet in the mid-1970s. Bruce eventually teamed up with the mandolinist to edit the magazine Mandolin World News from 1978 until 1984.
In 1978 Bruce formed the band Back Up & Push to play swing and jazz on acoustic stringed instruments. The band accompanied Bruce on his CD Tuxedo Blues, which features many of his original instrumental and vocal compositions.
Dix does studio work on guitar, mandolin, and banjo and has recorded with mandolin legend Frank Wakefield, the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra, among others, and has released his own collection of Americana entitled My Folk Heart. He contributed two original compositions to the soundtrack of Harrod Blank’s acclaimed documentary Wild Wheels.
Five of Dix’s compositions are included in The Way Things Are. They range from the whimsical “I Get Blue” to the Carter Family-esque “Darling Will You Ever Think of Me?” to the haunting “When I Die.”
Mel Bay Publications has published over thirty of Bruce’s instructional projects, including two titles in the bestselling You Can Teach Yourself series along with Bruce’s own play-along BackUp TRAX Book / CD sets for learning everything from bluegrass and old time music, to blues and jazz. His recent works include Doc Watson & Clarence Ashley 1960-1962, a massive and comprehensive study of guitar genius Doc Watson plus two instructional videos: Basic Country Flatpicking Guitar and Basic Swing Guitar. He is currently preparing a book on the music of guitar legend Jerry Garcia.
DISCOGRAPHY
CDs
with Jim Nunally
Brother's At Heart
PURCHASE: Flatpicking Mercantile | iTunes
 |
Jim & Dix's newest collection Brothers at Heart includes fifteen of their favorite songs and tunes, most of them traditional and in the "brother duet" style. Anyone who loves simple and straight-forward singing and picking will surely want to get a copy of this CD.
The brother duet sound is like no other: basic acoustic guitar and/or mandolin accompaniment plus two voices. Simple, from the heart, without much extra decoration, but it gets you right to the roots of the music and to the message of the song. Jim & Dix have listened to and learned from the great country brother duet acts from the 1920s to the present (the Monroe Brothers, Jim and Jesse, the Louvin Brothers, the Dixon Brothers, the Lilly Brothers, the Everly Brothers, the Wilburn Brothers, the Osborne Brothers, the Stanley Brothers, the Delmore Brothers, the White Brothers, and so many more). Though Jim & Dix aren't brothers by blood, they are brothers at heart when it comes to the music. |
Track List:
1. Reuben's Train
2. Dark Hollow
3. I'm Going Back to Old Virginny
4. Eight More Miles to Louisville
5. The Banks of the Ohio
6. Think of What You've Done
7. Poppies
8. Railroad Bill
9. The Golden Slippers
10. Jimmie Brown the Newsboy
11. Sitting on Top of the World
12. Beautiful Brown Eyes
13.I'll Love Nobody But You
14. Mike's Marathon
15. I'm On My Way, But I'll Be Back Someday
|
Appearances on other FGM Releases:
Click item to purchase and learn more information.
LINKS
Check out Dix Bruce's website at: http://musixnow.com/
|
