Classic Clips: Stephen Bruton with The Resentments “Heart Of Hearts” 2006

We look back at a clip from The Laboratorium Stuttgart, 7th December 2006.

Stephen Bruton was an exceptionally talented guitarist and songwriter who is better known today as a supporting musician who worked with the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Delbert McClinton, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Steve Goodman, Carly Simon, Waylon Jennings, Geoff Muldaur, T Bone Burnett, the post-Lowell George Little Feat, Alejandro Escovedo, Johnny Nicholas, Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, to name only a few. This is despite releasing five genre-mixing solo albums. He had started his career in Fort Worth, Texas, with his friend T Bone Burnett who he worked with off and on throughout his career, and the eclectic nature of Fort Worth’s music scene meant that you could hear bluegrass, country, blues and jazz nightly if the mood took you. Sadly, Stephen Bruton died from cancer in 2009, but not before his 2006 performance with his Austin bar band The Resentments in Stuttgart on 7th December 2006 was recorded, eventually being released in 2012 as “Welcome To Our Living Room – Live At The Lab In Stuttgart”. It proved a fitting celebration of Stephen Bruton and The Resentments as a whole band.

In the mid-90s Stephen Bruton, Scrappy Jud Newcomb, Jon Dee Graham, Bruce Hughes, and “Mambo” John Treanor started jamming on Sundays at Austin’s Saxton Pub, and the band’s career proper started with 2002’s live album “Sunday Night Line-Up”. All the members of The Resentments had their own careers, with Band Of Heathens drummer John Chipman replacing John Treaner following his untimely death. They played a mix of rock, country and blues, shared the vocals and their own songs, and brought an instrumental mastery on guitars and all things stringed ignoring genres and bringing their own mix to roots music.

When the Faces and Small Faces Ian McLagan moved to Austin he recruited Scrappy Jud Newcomb to his Bump Band. Newcomb is regarded as a stalwart of the Austin and Texas music scene and is known for his impeccable guitar playing and ability to write a good song. Jon Dee Graham has played with almost everybody who is anybody over the years, including Terry Allen, James McMurtry, John Hiatt, Patty Griffin, Michelle Shocked, and Lone Justice, as well as establishing his own recording career. Guitarist, bassist, singer-songwriter, and producer Bruce Hughes has been part of the Austin music scene since the ‘80s and has won awards for his bass playing.

‘Heart Of Hearts’ was written by Stephen Bruton, NRBQ’s Al Anderson, and Sharon Vaughan for Don William’s “And So It Goes”, and shows the respect that Stephen Bruton’s songwriting is held in. Al Anderson was a member of NRBQ’s classic line-up for twenty years, before leaving the band to become a leading Nashville-based songwriter and session guitarist. Sharon Vaughan has had a very interesting career as a songwriter, working first in Nashville before emigrating to Sweden before returning to Nashville. Along the way, she has worked with everybody from Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and George Jones, to Northern Ireland’s Paul Brady, and Jimmy Buffett, written songs with various Swedish artists and even worked with the Japanese band Exile.

The Resentments were at the top of their game on 7th December 2006 in Germany and brought a touch of Austin to Europe. The clip gives a glimpse of their relaxed professionalism and the easy meshing of their guitars. While Stephen Bruton had a very successful career supporting many iconic artists, forming a very special relationship with Kris Kristofferson, and making a name for himself not only as a great guitarist but also as a noted songwriter, watching this clip you can’t help but wonder why he wasn’t known to a wider audience as an artist in his own right, with or without The Resentments.