2014-04-12
Bruce Matthews is a Grand Rapids-based independent singer songwriter, who
sings about the outdoors, family, brokenness, redemption, and his journey with
God. In his youth, he played in bands in central New York and later travelled
the hotel bar circuit in the Northeast and Midwest, before packing up his
guitar and heading to graduate school. His career in outdoor and environmental
education led to positions in New Hampshire, New York and Michigan, and
eventually he became founding president of the Recreational Boating and Fishing
Foundation in Washington, DC. He's now executive director of the North Country
Trail Association (MI). It was not until 2007, when Matthews began attending
Ada Bible Church, that he started playing regularly again. Original music began
flooding out and soon Matthews was occasionally performing at local
coffeehouses. The new album, So Far...,
was released in March 2014 and features many band members including Bruce
Matthews (acoustic guitar, vocals), Tony Muka (electric guitar), Ned Swift
(bass), Jeff DeGroote (drums), Carmen DeGroote (vocals), Gary Wayne Wade
(percussion), Jen "Sparkles" Dudik (vocals), Andy Ferris (keys, mandolin) and
David Pomper (keys, accordion). The level of skill these musicians have is
apparent through the album, particularly on tracks like "Ballad of Foxey Brown"
and "Band Of Brothers."
- Richard Martin
LAURIE MORVAN
CURE WHAT AILS YA
BUDDY GUY
RHYTHM & BLUES
MR. GROOVE BAND
ROCKET 88 TRIBUTE TO IKE TURNER
RICHARD RAY FARRELL & MARCO PANDOLFI
Stuck on the Blues
BILLY BRANCH AND THE SONS OF BLUES
BLUES SHOCK
RUTHIE FOSTER
The Truth According to Ruthie Foster
The opinions expressed in these reviews are those of the individual volunteers that submitted the article and do not necessarily reflect the views of WYCE or GRCMC; nor its staff, donors, or affiliates.