Bruce Mahan

Bruce remembers the day he got his first "real" guitar.  It was Christmas 1962 and he received from his parents a hollow bodied Harmony Guitar.  Bruce became obsessed with learning to change chords quickly enough to play a few folk songs at a respectable tempo. It didn't take long until he was just making up stuff so it's accurate to say that Bruce has been songwriting since he was 12.

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Another memorable guitar was Bruce's first solid body electric guitar.  Memorable because he sold it to John Schwab. It was John's first guitar and perhaps Bruce's largest contribution to the music world since John went on to become one of the original members of "McGuffey Lane"  and still today is one of the most successful Independent artists in the country.

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Between being 12 and graduating from high school Bruce was always involved in music to some degree.  He recalls playing and singing at church with his cousin Stanley. Bruce's first band was with a high school friend Mike Lehner and two girls whose names he can't remember. They called themselves "The Ethnics". Not one of the four knew what the word meant. They just liked the name (ha ha). An early memory is a gig at a beatnik venue called "The Cracked Cup".  It was  located on High St. near The Ohio State campus and was memorable because Bruce was raised in a Pentecostal household and had no clue what pot was.  The room was so thick with smoke it was difficult to sing. He remembers that they were paid with all the pizza they could eat and all the pop they could drink.  irst exposure some Saturday morning TV show.

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Bruce played basketball at Mifflin High School and was awarded a scholarship to attend Ohio Dominican University. After earning a starting position as a freshman, in his infinite 18 year old wisdom, he decided to enlist in the Air Force and left on December 13, 1968 for San Antonio Texas and boot camp.  Bruce spent 4 years in the Air Force and was honorably discharged as a Sargeant in 1972.  His tours of duty included San Antonio and Wichita Falls Texas, Fayettville North Carolina and Suwon Korea. 

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While in the service Bruce married his high school sweetheart.  However, shortly after returning from Korea they were divorced. He attended Franklin University in Columbus and completed his undergraduate work in December 1973. The only constant in his life was that he was never without a guitar and never not writing songs.  He had purchased a 4 track recorder while in Korea and for $10 a song he would write and record songs for friends to send home to loved ones. His friends would tell him some specific things about wives and /or kids and he would write personal songs for them.

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A few years after returning to Columbus, Ohio from the military Bruce packed his guitars and tennis rackets and on an impulse inspired by one of the harshest winters in Ohio history (1977 – 1978) moved to Houston, Texas. He bounced around several day jobs never lasting more than a few months and always focusing energy on solo gigs up and down Westheimer Rd. in Houston. The music scene in Houston was booming and Bruce wanted to be part of it.

 

He worked a few jobs while playing clubs up and down Westheimer Rd and the surrounding area.  After a few years in Houston Bruce started branching out to playing more and more in San Antonio. He often opened for The Walker Colt Band and he and Herman Willburn became close friends.  In 1983 he joined Walker Colt and that same year recorded his first album That's how he ended up joining The Walker Colt Band and in 1983 he moved to San Antonio.  With financial help from PAS Productions and promotional  help from Joe Scates, Bruce, along with The Walker Colt Band, recorded his first album "Cancel the Ransom I Escaped".  The album was recorded at DeLeon Studio in San Antonio.  Walker Colt continued to book gigs as a trio and Bruce continued to book solo gigs. They would book gigs as Bruce Mahan & The Walker Colt Band about 5 or 6 times a month.  In 1986 Bruce left the band and signed a contract with Case Munson, an agent in Austin Texas.  Herman Wilburn and Bruce were like brothers and he hated leaving Walker Colt but the money was much better and he was tired of living hand to mouth. Case booked Bruce on what was affectionately called “The Holiday Inn Circuit”.  Bruce bought a VW bus, removed all the back se oats to make room for his music equipment and hit the road.  His first run around the circuit started at Jilleys in San Antonio and went to Houston Tx – Beaumont Tx – Baton Rouge La – Alamosa Colo – Stillwater Ok – El Paso Tx – Van Horn Tx – Fort Stockton Tx – back to San Antonio Texas. The first time around the circuit was over 6 months in a VW bus not seeing a single person he knew (pre-cell phone and Facebook) and Bruce got back to San Antonio pretty fried.  Case Munson graciously let Bruce out of his contract and he went back to booking himself.

 

 While playing a gig in Middletown Ohio Bruce was offered financial backing to record his second album (Rough Around the Edges/Solid Down the Middle). Having grown up in Columbus Ohio Bruce contacted John Schwab, a childhood friend who is an original member of McGuffey Lane. John and Bruce co-produced an album of songs Bruce had written.  They finished the album in 1990.  By then there were a lot of changes in Bruce’s life. In 1988 while playing a gig just south of Dayton, Ohio Bruce met a girl. By the time the album was finished he was married, had a stepson and a beautiful little girl. When Bruce’s daughter Cassandra was born there was no way he was going to continue spending nights sitting on a stool in a club when he could be home. His life revolved around his family and the only music he was involved in during those years was a Christian family band and playing at church.  Now Bruce is retired, his daughter is grown and has a daughter of her own and for the first time in a long time Bruce is once again enjoying writing and recording songs.  Bruce moved back to Columbus Ohio and has really enjoyed reconnecting with childhood friends. One in particular has been very enjoyable. Bonnie and Bruce were boyfriend/girlfriend for a couple hours in the 8th grade (1964). He had been divorced for about 3 years and Bonnie had been widowed for over 5 years when they reconnected at a high school reunion. They are now married and sharing the “Golden Years”. In the fall of 2018 Bruce finished his latest album. .Five of the songs on this CD were written for Bonnie and four were inspired by his ex-wife Erin thus the CD is titled (Love Lost & Love Found).

Bruce Mahan

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