Bruce McDaniel

Bruce McDaniel (born September 23, 1962) is an American musician, composer, producer and recording engineer, currently living in New Orleans.

Bruce McDaniel was born in Boston, Massachusetts of Mexican and Scottish/American parents on 23 September 1962 and grew up in New York. He was raised by musical parents who met while attending the Juilliard School of Music. He had an early start in NYC's underground punk rock scene as lead guitarist for the Sic F*cks with Tish Bellomo and Snooky Bellomo, a band who, despite the inability to have their name said on the radio, parlayed their comedy-punk spectacle to a feature in Playboy Magazine and movie appearances, including 1982's Alone in the Dark.

After the dissolution of the late '70s punk scene, McDaniel laid low for much of the '80s, recording jingles and demos. A group of these demos, recorded under the name Life of Riley (featuring Peter Engisch and Perry Gartner) were picked up by Grammy-award nominated producer Paul Wickliffe, who produced an album's worth of material for the group, only to have the arrangement (and the group) dissolve under contract disputes. Several of these tracks can be heard on the McDaniel/Gartner collection Ongepotchket.

Through the '90s, he served as guitarist and bassist for R&B singer Vaneese Thomas, daughter of soul icon Rufus Thomas, known for her 1987 top 20 hits "Let's Talk It Over" and "(I Wanna Get) Close To You". McDaniel was ultimately elevated to the role of musical director of her touring band, a job which he still holds.

The '90s also saw the formation of McDaniel's band Nine Men's Morris and their first release Monster in My Stomach on Segue Records. McDaniel provided the songs, guitars and lead vocals, and was joined by Gartner on drums and bassist Donald Kyle. The follow-up album, It's a Wonderful Life, was released in 2004 to excellent reviews, with the title cut being featured on MTV's show Made.

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