Born on this day ...

[Ruby]

Bruce Randall Hornsby was born on this day in 1954, in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. He is, of course, a great piano/keyboard player and has produced several big hits, the best known of which is “The Way It Is” – his brother John co-wrote quite a lot with him in the early days and he gets some credit for those too. Hornsby has a relaxed playing style, has been associated with a number of different artists (a lot with the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia, in particular - made over 100 appearances with them) and doesn’t limit himself to playing in a specific genre which has led to some ground-breaking music making – for example, his collaboration with bluegrass luminary, Ricky Skaggs. No-one imagined the piano would work, but it does. In another unprecedented move, he doesn't play piano at all on his 2016 album with the Noisemakers, Rehab Reunion - he plays the dulcimer. 
 
The overall impression is that he's been a busy person, Mr Hornsby, not only playing with his own bands, but also working as a sideman and producer. He is a big sports fan as well, getting out on the basketball court both as player and spectator. He and his wife named their twin sons Keith and Russell after Keith Jarrett and Leon Russell respectively.
 
“The Valley Road” … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfKIq1Pmc8Q
 
“The End of the Innocence” with Don Henley … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5lqR6bCXPc
 
“Across the River” … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmIJ-q9uCq0
 
“Mandolin Rain” … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDgOwX72fLI – and the version with Ricky Skaggs, because I like it … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX9tKrjZLmQ
 
And the big one … “The Way It Is” …