Bruce Dallas, the talented, energizing, foot-stomping, singer/songwriter/pianist, has come a long way since his rock n roll, accordion wielding days, performing on the North Shore of Boston.  Bruce's first paying gig came from playing accordion and singing in his own band, "The Phantoms", at the respectful age of 12.  Since then, the singer songwriter has performed and recorded with numerous Boston and LA artists, such as members of Boston, The Peter Wolf Band, Mister Mister, and Richard Marx.

"Coming from Scottish heritage, my father was a big bagpipe and accordion fan.  I remember when I was nine years old he said he would buy me either a set of pipes or an accordion.  I chose the accordion being the lesser of two evils," laughs Dallas.  Since the Beatles had such a big influence on Bruce as a child, he realized that he should switch over to a more rock-oriented instrument like the guitar or keyboard.  At the age of 14, he saved up for a Farfisa, at age 18 he moved up to a Hammond B3 organ.  Throughout junior high and high school, Bruce made money every weekend playing school dances and community halls with local bands like Erick and the Vikings, The East Coast Expansion, The Grim Reapers, and Axe.  When it was time to go to college, the Hammond wouldn't fit in the car, but the accordion did.  On particularly frustrating days at college, Bruce would pull out the ol' accordion and start jamming.  Soon he had a new arsenal or original tunes, surprisingly, they weren't polkas, but songs influenced by his idols at the time:  Elton John, Billy Joel, Van Morrison, and even Bob Marley!  Reggae accordion?  Now that's really weird!

One Friday night, while hanging around on campus, Dallas heard there was a battle of the bands talent show going on in downtown Burlington, VT where Dallas was attending school.   Dallas' friends encouraged him to go enter the competition.  Dallas, sitting on a stool, with his accordion, sang one of his newly written tunes.   Out of fifteen acts, including rock, jazz, and country bands, took a respectable third place.  That event gave him the courage to go out and try to get work with his novel act.  Soon Dallas was performing his rock accordion solo act all around town to rave reviews. After graduating from the University of Vermont with his degrees in Business and Music, Dallas hit the road.  From New England to Florida, and to New York, he continued to win over audiences with his unconventional act.  After recording some demos, Dallas went to the Big Apple to try and get a deal.  The labels, liked the songs, but advised Dallas to switch to the piano and lose the accordion.  After his failed attempt to convince the A&R guys that his novel act could make it, Dallas moved to California, bought an electric piano, and soon became the talk of the San Diego music scene. Bouncing back and forth from San Diego to Los Angeles, Dallas fronted a number of bands, Dallas Collins, Bolton Dallas, and Bigger Than Dallas, while he continued writing songs, and trying to get a record deal.  A number of labels showed interest, but Dallas was unable to close a deal on his own.  To make ends meet, he started writing jingles, plus production music for radio and television, but never stopped recording his own material and performing live.

Bruce has recently released a new compilation CD entitled CRAZY RIDE, which includes both recent and older tracks, and continues to do what he has always done… never give up!!  It was in those early days, Bruce decided to give the accordion a rest, and he switched to keyboards.  Bruce performed successfully with a number of local, edgy, rock bands over the next several years.

From Boston to Florida, Maine to California, the adventures of this gifted singer/songwriter were anything but soporific.  The colorful musical style and poignant lyrics of Dallas will leave you looking for more.

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