Doug Bruce Tickets

DOUG BRUCE

Texas expat Doug Bruce has been described as “Two shots of Travis with a Haggard chaser” (Music Connection, UK), and if you thought you didn’t like country music…. Doug Bruce & his band, The Tailgaters, will have you re-thinking that one!

Since relocating to Australia in 2005, Doug Bruce has moved from back of stage as a drummer to front man, honing his craft as a singer-songwriter, gathering several industry nominations and awards and an ever-increasing and loyal fan-base thereafter.  Doug self-produced his first two award-winning albums from his recording facility, Shoo Fly Studios.  His third album Made That Way was officially released January 2013.

Made That Way has already been lauded as Doug’s best album yet, and landed him Male Artist of the Year finalist in the 2014 CMAA Golden Guitar Awards.  It also spawned three nominations in the 2013 Southern Stars Independent Country Music Awards for Album of the Year, Best Male Artist and Single of the Year. The title track went to #2 on the national radio chart and was several weeks in CMC’s Top 30 countdown.  Thank God I’m a Cowboy was the second release, and went to #6 on Australia’s Country Tracks Top 30 and #20 on the Country Music Channel Top 50 countdown. The third single Clock Out At Five was released to radio mid-November 2013.

Doug’s second album, A Good Place, netted him four from four hit radio singles and CMC video countdown entries and was voted Victorian Album of the Year at the 2011 Victorian & National Country Music Awards.  Writing six of the tracks himself and recruiting some of the best songwriters in the business, the album has reaped enormous praise in the country music and mainstream press. Doug’s Merv Lowry Best Traditional Song winner, Coffey Road, was two weeks at #1 on the country music radio airplay charts in Australia and #13 on the CMC countdown. Sweet was 14 weeks in on the Country Tracks Top 30, holding onto the #2 spot for two weeks and climbed to #17 on CMC’s Top 30 countdown (where it was in the Top 50 for several months).    This song earned Doug Oz Artist of the Year nomination and  Video of the Year nomination in the 2013 CMC Music Awards. Doug was also a 2012 CMC Oz Artist of the Year nominee and was voted a top 15 finalist in the Video of the Year at the 2012 CMC Music Awards for Honky Tonk Shoes, which was three weeks at #2 on national radio.  He also took out Victorian Male Vocalist of the Year  at the 2011 Victorian & National Country Music Awards with this song.   He won Best Vocal Collaboration at the 2012 TIARA Country Music Awards for Close Enough, with Amber Joy Poulton, which went to #13 on national country radio, where he was also awarded Best Male Vocal winner for Coffey Road.   

Doug’s first album, All I Need won the The Smoky Dawson Best Indepent Release award at the 2009 Victorian & National Country Music Awards.  He also took out Victorian Album of the Year, and Victorian Male Vocalist for What I’m Drinkin’ About at these awards. He was also awarded Best Male Vocalist at the 2009 TIARA Country Music Awards. I Know About Lonesome won Best Professional Contemporary Song at the TSA National Country Songwriting Contest.

Doug and his hand-picked band of musicians, The Tailgaters, were added to one of Australia’s leading country music artist rosters, Laing Entertainment, at the start of 2011...and have been pulling unsuspecting crowds  onto dance floors ever since!


Doug Bruce & The Tailgaters have now performed at all the major country music festivals and events in Australia, including CMC Rocks the Hunter, CMC Rocks Nth QLD, Gympie Music Muster, Deni Ute Muster, Tamworth Country Music Festival,  Mud Bulls & Music Festival, Broadbeach Country Music Festival , and the Urban Country Music Festival, among others.
Born in Aubrey, Texas, Doug moved to Bendigo in 2005 with his Australian wife and their young son (and since then they have welcomed a second son).   Whilst only taking front of stage as a lead singer in 2007, Doug’s music career began almost 20 years ago, performing primarily as a drummer and backing vocalist for numerous bands in Texas.  He also spent time in Nashville performing and doing studio session work as a drummer and backing vocalist.  This afforded him many memorable experiences, including performing on the Grand Ole Opry twice, opening for George Jones with Billy Yates, and opening for the likes of Rascal Flatts, Travis Tritt and Charlie Robison in Texas. 

Doug and his band tour in the USA every other year. The last visit saw Doug perform his hit song “Coffey Road” at the Ernest Tubb Texas Troubadour Theatre in Nashville