Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers

Cliff Bruner (b. April 15, 1915 d. August 25, 2000) was a fiddler and bandleader of the 1930s western swing era. Bruner's music combined elements of traditional string band music, improvisation, blues, folk, and popular melodies of the times. Bruner was born April 25, 1915 in Texas. His family lived in Arkansas and Texas during his childhood, however, most of Bruner's childhood was spent near Houston, where he learned to play fiddle. He traveled with "medicie shows" to begin his musical career. Milton Brown's Musical Brownies drafted Bruner in 1935. Bruner played with the ensembles classically trained fiddler Cecil Brower to create the trademark double fiddle sound of Milton Brown's group. Bruner recorded with Brown's group on Decca. Brown's tragic death after an auto accident ended Bruner's involvement in the group. Bruner formed the Texas Wanderers which included Bob Dunn on electric steel guitar, Leo Raley on mandolin, J.R. Chatwell on fille, Dickie McBride on guitar and vocals, and Moon Mullican on piano. The Wanderers recorded on the Decca and Mercury labels. His songs had a special southern characteristic including songs about truck driving, lost love, the draft, and ill repute. Bruner's band disbanded in the 1950s. Bruner continued to play music and was given some recognition when the revival of western swing came about in the 1970s. Bruner died of cancer in August of 2000. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.