Bruce Mandel

New CD coming summer 2012!
Bruce Mandel’s acoustic guitar, keen lyrical ear, and intimate and honest voice have traveled with him across the country and through musical territory both new and familiar. With the release of his latest CD, "Between Dreams and Regrets", Bruce adds fresh layers to the ground covered in his first, Follow Your Heart. After all, what lies between dreams and regrets but the gritty reality of our complex lives?
The diverse sounds of this latest CD—contemporary folk, Americana, a little bit of Bluegrass—reflect the breadth of Bruce’s experience.
The lyrically driven songs are both personal and probing, whether Mandel is writing from his own experience or weaving the ballad of another’s, as in “Irene Kibbe,” about a young Polish emigrant during World War II. While sometimes delicate, sparse, and reflective—as in “Winter Falls” with its gentle acoustic guitar and cello—Mandel’s sound is at other times full and layered, as he mixes the tones of the mandolin, accordion, clarinet, trombone, dobro, and cajón. Throughout this newest album, however, the acoustic guitar maintains its constant presence, as does Mandel’s warm voice and distinct style.
It began, as it did for so many, with The Beatles back when Motown still triumphed over marketing and FM stood for freedom in music. The sounds of '60s pop, and soul were the rocking soundtrack of his dreams as Bruce hungrily listened each night to the little red transistor radio his grandparents had given him.
Next came the great singer-songwriters of the ’60s and ’70s and Bruce absorbed the rich and varying styles of The Eagles, Paul Simon, Dan Fogelberg, Cat Stevens, Van Morrison, Jimmy Webb and Jackson Browne to pick out just a few.
All this time Mandel was honing his performance and listening skills.
Then with an opportunity to work as an Entertainment Technician for the Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, Bruce learned the technical side of his musical profession. Soaking up the experience of working alongside the likes of America, Ronnie Milsap, Tanya Tucker, Tom Jones, and The Temptations, all the while staying true to his calling, writing and producing his own songs.
Eventually Mandel’s need to perform what he was writing took precedent and Bruce reprioritized his life with a move to Durango Colorado where he quickly became a true presence in his new home, opening in concert for nationally and regionally touring songwriters.
His work in Durango culminated with his co-founding of the Annual Durango Songwriter’s Expo in 1996. This popular event that features listening sessions, showcases, seminars, panels, and networking opportunities has attracted new talent and high-profile musicians and industry experts alike, and continues to grow and spread to new locations around the country.
Once again Bruce's heart called and he picked up his guitar and returned east early in the new century, to follow his heart and he has settled deep into the fertile artistic community of the Berkshires in western Massachusetts.
In the summer of 2010 Mandel debuted a special song he wrote and recorded to help celebrate the Otis, Massachusetts BiCentennial with a special performance. Long a supporter of Public Libraries, Bruce is donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this CD to The Free Otis Public Library.
Summer of 2011 found Bruce debuting SongSpark!, his Creativity/Songwriting Seminar.
Along with writing new material for his next couple of albums, including a children’s recording, Bruce finds the time as a bass player to support some of the Berkshire’s finest songwriters in the studio and on the stage.
Bruce has received multiple Massachusetts Cultural Council Grants and is a NEST eligible artist with The New England Foundation For The Arts.
“What happens when you dig down deep?” Mandel asks in “At the End of the Day.” Perhaps Between Dreams and Regrets, a musical expression of life’s varied landscape, is itself as good an answer as any.