Nashville based rocker James Bruner follows his recent tour of the UK & Europe with The Struts & Barns Courtney with the release of a new single to kick off 2025
– Release Date: Feb 14th –
FFO: The Darkness, The Struts, AC/DC
Label / Imprint: Maroon Records
Format: Digital Single
“Bruner’s taking the blues & deftly repackaging it in an accessible but still highly reverential fashion” – Rock Flesh
“His music raises the hairs on the back of your neck… it’s really working!”
Dean Jackson / BBC Nottingham, Derby, Lincolnshire & Leicester
Illinois born, Nashville based James Bruner tore it up in the UK & Europe before Christmas on a 20-date tour with Brit rockers The Struts & Barns Courtney, wowing crowds wherever he went with his highly charged rock n’ roll set. Now he’s back with a new single Eye In the Sky – a track that personifies the ever encroaching world of surveillance, AI & non-truths that we all seem to be facing these days.
Following on from his previous single, When I’m Down, with its lush arrangement & heartfelt vocals, Bruner this time ‘dials up the rock’ on Eye In the Sky to deliver a mesmeric guitar-fest of a track, over which he tells his tale of succumbing to the seductive nature of modern life in a way similar to the ‘sirens’ of Greek mythology.
Recorded at Nashville’s Curb Studios, the track features the stunning lead guitar work of fellow musician Zach Mears – a welcome addition to both the live band and studio work. There’s also an acoustic version that compliments the lead track perfectly, while adding horns to the arrangement giving it a Hispanic flavour.
Bruner says of the release “I’ve always loved the idea of making songs & lyrics as visual as possible. Personifying that ‘eye in the sky’ as a dark villain-esque character who gets a thrill out of creating trouble with no regard for anyone else, to me expresses how insidious this stuff can be!”
Having come of age amidst skateboard culture in Springville, Illinois, Bruner was drawn towards artists like Roxy Music, David Bowie & Iggy Pop as opposed to what his friends were listening to at the time. Watching how skaters executed their craft on videos featuring Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life, Rod Stewart’s Every Picture Tells a Story & Black Sabbath’s Paranoid inspired him to get a guitar aged 15. He was soon to join local band Unchained as lead vocalist & rhythm guitar – but it was when he moved to Nashville that his focus on songwriting & working with topflight musicians began to bear fruit.
Full band shows as a solo artist began around 2022/23 & since then Bruner has not looked back, honing his craft as a live performer on various high-profile tours; one in the US with Barns Courtney, The Ramona Flowers & UK indie faves Yonaka plus two tours of Europe with UK alt rockers The Struts & Nashville singer-songwriter William Fitzsimmons. Alongside his live work, Bruner’s been busy developing his songwriting through working with a wide variety of musicians, vocal coaches & producers in the studio.
2025 sees a new chapter for James Bruner who, with substantial touring experience behind him, is now focusing on his recorded output with an EP release this spring and further recording sessions at Nashville’s renown Curb Studios – don’t miss!
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