Tony Bruno
Tony Bruno's dedication and abilities as a guitar soloist are unsurpassed. While many music lovers associate Bruno's instrument, the lap steel slide guitar, with country music, he plays this instrument in an untraditional style. Instead of Delta bluesmen, he takes his cues from rock guitarists.
From the first time Tony Bruno found out that the slide playing on Jackson Browne's "Redneck Friend" and "These Days" were performed on lap steel, he was hooked. He had to know who played it and how it was done. The player turned out to be David Lindley, but it was up to Tony Bruno to teach himself to play the slide. Soon after buying a lap steel, he found himself choosing strings, fingerpicks and most importantly a suitable tuning.
As he acclimated himself to the instrument, he started to formulate an idea of how he wanted to communicate with his guitar. He learned to play in any key, and play as many different styles as possible.
Practicing mostly with radio and recordings, he developed his own style of playing. Since there are more popular music and standard guitar rather than slide guitar performances, this allowed Tony to learn guitar-type runs and riffs. In time, this gave him a unique voice among slide and steel guitar players. The eclectic, unidentifiable style of Major Lingo gives Tony a vehicle to demonstrate his virtuosity and soul stirring emotional diversity.