Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers

Once his initial supporting group the Range disbanded, singer/songwriter Bruce Hornsby pursued an array of projects and partnerships across the 1990s. Although solo work occupied much of that period, he gradually formed a fresh ensemble of touring players whose improvisational approach diverged from his prior band. His intermittent role as keyboardist with the Grateful Dead helped steer him toward this freer style, prompting him to name the new outfit the Noisemakers by the close of the decade. Their debut appearance came with the expansive double live set Here Come the Noise Makers in 2000. Blending jazz, folk, classical, and rock elements, the Noisemakers attracted fresh listeners from the jam-band scene. Over the following decade Hornsby issued three studio albums alongside the group: the boundary-pushing Big Swing Face in 2002, the more intimate acoustic collection Halcyon Days in 2004, and the melody-driven Levitate in 2009. Drawing once more on accumulated concert recordings, the Noisemakers delivered a second double live album, Bride of the Noisemakers, in 2011. Their next studio effort, Rehab Reunion, arrived in 2016 and spotlighted Hornsby’s lap dulcimer, an instrument that had already become a fixture of their performances.