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I began playing the guitar in 1976 (at the age of twelve years old). I found a curiosity for songwriting at the same time! A unique situation occurred in my initial encounter with formalized lessons. My uncle gave me a guitar, however, I thought that the guitar was actually a bass guitar! When the teacher told me that I was missing 2 other strings, I laughed but felt challenged.
In 1997, I decided that I wanted to attempt to record solo. I felt as if the Lord wanted me to convey something that was inside of me; this something was very hard to share with other musicians and singers, so I knew I had to do it alone. That revelation came to light in 2000. I recorded my first demo CD, "Everything That I Am" in his my studio in England! I decided at that point that my work for the Lord was only beginning and that all of the years of playing the guitar and singing with the Clark Special would now become inspiration in my own musical ministry. My demo CD "Everything That I Am" was quickly followed by another demo "Hold On". This work is a reflection of what the Lord was doing to me at that time; I was going through some permanent changes and I could only write and sing about what was in my heart and what the Lord was doing for me. The song "Hold On" is a song about some of my closest friends. My friends that I am singing about have went through some tough times and I wanted them to all know that no matter what you go through or will go through, the Lord will be right there with you only and only if you just hold on. The "Hold On" CD was followed by my project, "When Praises Seem To Go Up" . The title track, "When Praises Seem To Go Up" rose to the top of the MP3.com charts in less than 2 weeks! This CD was aimed at the younger online audience. I wanted to take the contemporary approach and reach out to our youth who may be in trouble spiritually,but seek a worldly remedy. Music is sometimes the only way to reach the ones astray because they depend on music so much. I would like to touch as many lost souls and let them know that the Lord will answer only if they call on him. My grandmother told me that He may not come when you want him, but He's right on time." Check out my inspiration page while you are here. I shifted my musical interest to smooth jazz in 2002. I released my first major jazz project entitled, "Special Moments". This CD sold out at a local CD store in Germany in an amazing 6 days! My release received major reviews from jazz portals around the world and was also reviewed by vh1.com! I am an independent songwriter and I record, sing, and play all of the instruments and produce my work entirely! I have also played with several other bands to include a jazz band, "Expressions", out of Dayton, Ohio! One of the tracks on my Special Moments CD, "Expressions" is dedicated to that jazz band, "Expressions"! My Special Moments project was mastered at Skywalk Records, and manufactured at Sony-Austria! I have recorded a second smooth jazz CD entitled, "Aesthetic Melodology" and it features the already popular "Futuristic". I am also finishing my third project which is entitled, "Destinations". I plan to release it in July 2006 and hope you will enjoy, so come back and visit! Bruce McKenzie Destinations-Bruce McKenzie
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I thought I had a bass guitar and I felt like playing bass
was easy! I decided that guitar playing was going to be easy one
way or the other! I took a few lessons, but drifted
away from the formalized format and found a local guitarist who
had a band and was very established. At this time, I began
to learn under this guitarist's direction and progressed very
fast! After only a few weeks of lessons, I was asked to join
the guitarist's band, but my mother (Barbara McKenzie)
would not let me join because I was only 13 years old!
I was also noticed by a well-known band (Chocolate
Buttermilk) and they wanted to recruit me as well; once again,
My mother would not let me participate. I never became
discouraged and continued developing my talent. I decided that
I would start my own band. I attempted to start a
band with some of my neighborhood friends, but they lost
interest in the idea. They also tried to discourage me from
following my dream to play and write songs professionally! I was a very shy boy, but very determined to become a
songwriter. My first chance to play in a band came when I
organized a band for the high school talent show! I had been
playing the guitar for a couple of years at this point and had
been exposed to a few key influences to include former musicians
for singer Millie Jackson and a very well known
guitarist in the neighborhood named Fulton Smith (who gave me a
Fender Mustang guitar based on my skills to play so well at an
early age). I linked up with
my high school buddy James McQueen and we put together a band
I named "Stellar Fungk" (with a G which stood for
something I can't remember at this time!) James McQueen
introduced me to gospel music and asked me to come and possibly
join a local gospel group. I never dreamed that I would
play gospel music; I heard it around the house all the time, but
I didn't think of the gospel music as something I would want to
do. I subsequently joined the gospel group, which led
to joining another local gospel group called "
