After more than a quarter of a century mostly playing other people’s songs, Galloway singersongwriter Bruce McKenzie has released his first solo EP, ‘Sleepy Wee Town’.
The Kirkcudbright musician is regularly seen playing at local events with ceilidh band Shore Road and was also a member of popular local band Scruffy Buzzards. However this collection of five songs represents a renewed focus on his own material.
In sporadic solo shows, he has supported former Wolfstone frontman Ivan Drever several times as well as opening for well-known Irish singer-songwriter Eleanor McEvoy. He’s also appeared at the Wickerman Festival among other live events.
The EP was recorded at Bladnoch’s Unit 7 Studio and produced by Huey Dowling,who also provides additional instruments on songs which feature a breadth of influences from the folk scene as well as Americana.
“After hundreds of gigs playing other people’s songs, I reckoned it was time to get some of mine out there. I’ve always felt a bit nervous about sharing them as I guess there’s a vulnerability to that, but it feels like I should do it now. These are songs written on long commutes, late nights and early mornings and I hope they resonate a bit with folks near and far,” Bruce said.
“It was important to me that these recordings retained the essence of what you see and hear when I do them solo live and Huey has done an absolutely wonderful job of that in arrangements which I’m really pleased with. He’s such a magician in the control room and I have loved working with him so much we’ve now started recording a full album too. I hope to put that out in 2026.
I guess I’ve always been drawn to story songs and there’s plenty in this record – from a wee town finding its feet again to a Bronx bus driver taking a different path – I hope folks like what I’m trying to do,” he added.
Physical copies of the EP will be on sale at Bruce’s gigs with digital downloads available from www.brucemckenzie.bandcamp.com
The ‘Sleepy Wee Town EP’ is also available to stream and buy on the mainstream platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music. Bruce McKenzie will be appearing alongside popular local singer-songwriter Nathon Jones, from Newton Stewart, at a number of shows this summer including visits to Loch Arthur, Girvan’s Folk Festival Fringe and Gatehouse of Fleet’s Midsummer Music. Both will share a selection of their own songs as well as combining on some of their favourite Americana and bluegrass numbers.
