| Notes |
- Singer, song writer and recording artist Bruce Hibbard is also a ski instructor, mountain climbing consultant and builder. One of his hobbies is hang gliding. He not only has an exceptional singing voice and style but is also an accomplished bass player and pianist.
He was a member of the early Christian band Amplified Version, which had a sound indebted to such secular artists as Ides of March and Blood Sweat & Tears and was also associated with the group Sonlight, which served as an instrumental backup band for Andrae Crouch & The Disciples. He later morphed into the jazz-fusion band Koinonia and wrote the Christian radio hit "I'm Forgiven" for the Imperials which became number one on the Christian music charts for 13 weeks in 1980. He later contributed songs to albums by Andrus, Blackwood & Company, Roby Duke, Fireworks, First Call, Amy Grant and Lisa Welchel and was a background vocalist on projects by Phil Keaggy and Kelly Willard.
His solo albums present smooth arrangements of somewhat jazzy pop songs, with Willard and some of his Sonlight/Koinonia friends assisting. He is a self-confessed protege of Christian musician Paul Clark and his albums are similar to that artist's work in style and content. Clark coproduced the album A Light Within, which includes the songs "All That I Want To Be" and "Givin' Myself Over." Hadley Hockensmith of Sonlight/Koinonia produced Never Turnin' Back and cowrote most of the songs for that project. The title track for that album became a radio hit for Bruce Hibbard as a performer, reaching number 14 on the Christian music charts in 1980.
Music has always been a part of Bruce Hibbard's life. Growing up in a musically diverse family allowed him to be introduced to different instruments and varied styles of music at a very early age. Bruce began playing in church at the age of 12 and was writing Christian music by his late teens.
A Light Within, Bruce's first album, was released in 1977. This project contained many songs that were recorded by other artists. He was soon signed by Word Records as a staff writer and his position eventually led to an artist deal. In 1981 Word released Bruce's second album on the Myrrh label, Never Turnin' Back. Co-written and produced by Hadley Hockensmith, Never Turnin' Back was a critically acclaimed CCM album which produced three hit singles. You're So Good To Me, a #1 single, remained in the top ten on national Christian radio for over two months. Bruce's extensive writing career includes covers by Amy Grant, Jaci Velasquez, Scott Wesley Brown, The Imperials, Andrus Blackwood and Company and many more.
In 2000, he released Time Waits, a pop jazz offering, on his own label VIZOR MUSIC. In 2008, Bruce brought his Christian music back to the forefront with a compilation of old and new songs on Heaven's Gold Collection.
After a decade of saving song tidbits and melodic concepts for an instrumental album, Bruce had dozens of rough song ideas. In early 2020, he took the best of these ideas to start writing the songs that would become Cloud Street, his latest instrumental album. He said, "The flow of writing was an experience I've had only a few times in my career as a composer." By early 2021 he was ready to start, and in June he began recording basic tracks.
Bruce was married for many years to his late wife, Julie, a doctor who had been an important part of his music. She was a co-writer of many of the songs on Time Waits and Heaven's Gold albums and performed as a background vocalist on those projects.
He has been blessed to have had two wonderful daughters. Melissa is married and currently living in Brooklyn, New York. She and her husband are film makers and have created several documentaries and full feature films. Melanie has preceded us all to Heaven and she will be forever loved and remembered. Her art is a gift to us all.
Website: https://brucehibbard.com
|
1953 - (72 years)
