Fredericksburg, VA country rocker Steven Bruce is set to release his debut LP Same Time, Same Place, Same Station on August 7th. Debut albums during times of uncertainty might very well be either a good or bad thing for a burgeoning artist, but make no mistake Bruce isn’t your typical twangy troubadour. With an indie-rock nod to Fruit Bats and Blitzen Trapper, Bruce splits his Americana and Country Western influences into its own subgenre.
There’s plenty of heartbreak and loss on Same Time, Same Place, Same Station. Autobiographical songs like “Shirley Bird” and the sweepingly nostalgic “Keeping Time (Until Then)” pay tribute to Bruce’s grandparents, while “Cryin’ Eyes” — with its mix of pedal steel guitar, loping grooves, and vocal harmonies — turns a tear-stained eye to his divorce. In the spirit of his late relatives, though, the album is also a celebration of life, focusing not only upon its struggles and setbacks, but also its small victories. “Weekend Song” is a roadhouse roots-rocker with plenty of Chuck Berry-inspired guitar riffs, and the spirited “Detours” is a kiss-off to anyone standing in Bruce’s way. On album highlights like “Rhinestoned” — an original song worthy of Gram Parsons’ old-school duets with Emmylou Harris — Bruce even finds a balance between melancholy and resilience, occupying the same fertile middle ground as many of his country favorites.
“Everyone grieves differently,” the songwriter admits. “I want this record to serve as a tribute to my grandparents, and a tribute to myself for making it through what I thought were the worst times of my life.”
Helping him through those tough times were a number of collaborators from across Virginia, including producer E.P. Jackson, harmony vocalists Mackenzie Roark and Karen Jonas, pedal steel guitarist Gary Lee Gimble, and drummers Derrick Decker and Seth Brown. Together, the group recorded Same Time, Same Place, Same Station at Fill Your Boots Studio in Fredericksburg, filling the album with Telecaster twang, swaggering vocals, and even a reimagined cover of Jack White’s “There’s No Home for You Here.”
“I hope folks listen through this album and it makes them feel like they can make it through whatever may lay ahead of them,” he says. “From my divorce to losing both of my grandparents, life throws you curveballs sometimes. The best you can hope for is to lock in and slam it out of the park.”
Glide is proud to premiere “Keeping Time” (below) off Same Place, Same Station a ripe invitation into Bruce’s countrified style that is hummable and muscular. The song serves as a tribute to his grandparents, who encouraged his musical talent and performed at their funerals.
“After my grandma’s funeral, I went home and had a gig that night. I always knew there was a song in that phrase of hers, I just didn’t know how to get it out. Suddenly it hit me. And that night the story of our relationship just laid out perfectly in this song,” describes Bruce. “This song is a perfect tribute to our love. You only get so many grandparents in a lifetime and I truly feel like I was blessed when it came to them. I miss them every day and I hope that this album would fill their hearts with a ton of love and pride (I say hope, but I know it would). They were my biggest fans and will more than likely always be. I’ll see them again one day, same time, same place, same station.”
Photo by Amber Renee Photography.
