Album Notes

"Life's An Intelligence Test" has been picked for airplay by over 200 radio stations. Radio Teutoburger Wald in Germany called it “a masterpiece of acoustic music!” James Pearson of BBC Radio Shetland in Scotland said, “14 great tracks with some excellent folk songs.” And Theo Oldenburg of Radio WinsChoten in the Netherlands described it as “A beautiful CD. Great songs, fine singing and playing.” In the 2006 Great Lakes Songwriting Contest he took both 2nd and 3rd Place. Then he was selected as one of five finalists in the 2007 Texas Songwriters’ Serenade contest. As the Grand River Folk Arts Society explained, “Bruce Holmes looks at our human foibles with a clear eye, no illusions and a loving sense of humor.”
Bruce grew up a finger-picking folkie. But then caught the rock bug and wanted to join the Beatles. When that didn’t pan out he returned to his roots. For much of his adult life he’s done shape-note singing with the Sacred Harp community. He studied flat-picking with the bluegrass folks. When his daughter took up the fiddle, he decided to take lessons with her. She soon left him in the dust, but a fondness for fiddle tunes remains. He’s loves the sound of celtic music, so each day he spends some time practicing the bousouki, bodhran and concertina. His influences include the Byrds, Jethro Tull, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Warren Zevon. When people tell him he reminds them of Ian Anderson, he takes that as a huge compliment.
But more than anything he loves a good story. And a lifetime of stories is shared in his songs.
Holmes has spent most of his life teaching. He’s taught everything from Aikido to folk dancing to juggling to chess (he was the coach for Oakton Chess, Illinois State Champions in 1993 and 1994). He’s the author of Anvil of the Heart, a science fiction novel that made the Locus recommended reading list for 1984. He also created a 24 cassette series on the Feldenkrais Method that is used all around the globe.
If you’d like to hear some great stories and discover where a lifetime of music can lead, you can hear the music at www.BruceHolmes.com.