Bruce Hornsby

Bruce Hornsby

Author: Pushkin Industries May 5, 2026 Duration: 56:29

The magic of Bruce Hornsby isn't just that he's one of American music's great piano stylists — or that he wrote one of the most unlikely pop hits of the 1980s, a song about racism with two improvised solos that nobody at his label thought should be the single. It's how relentlessly he's kept moving, long after he had any commercial reason to.

Hornsby grew up in Williamsburg, Virginia, and got discovered playing a steak and ale joint across from the Hampton Coliseum by Mike McDonald. He scored his first big hit in 1986 with "The Way It Is. What followed was a long, restless second act: teaching himself two-handed independence by scheduling benefit concerts just to give himself a hard deadline, making jazz records with Jack DeJohnette and Christian McBride, bluegrass records with Ricky Skaggs, and going deep into Shostakovich fugues that now shape everything he writes.

On today’s episode Bruce Headlam sat down with Bruce Hornsby at the piano to talk about all of it. But they started somewhere unexpected: a steak and ale restaurant in Hampton, Virginia, in the fall of 1978.

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from Bruce Hornsby HERE.

Time-coded chapters:

(01:26) Discovering Musical Influences 

(09:24) Success of “The Way It Is”

(15:51) Crafting Unique Sounds and Styles

(20:30) Collaborations and Songwriting Process

(26:40) Exploring New Directions in Music

(33:20) The Challenge of Musical Growth

(39:10) Jazz and Bluegrass Fusion

(44:47) The Art of Improvisation and Composition

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


Imagine a conversation where the only agenda is genuine curiosity about the creative process. That's the space Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond occupies. Hosted by these four distinct voices from the worlds of music production, writing, and journalism, this podcast strips away the standard interview format. Instead, it feels like you're overhearing an insightful, meandering talk between friends who happen to be some of the most fascinating artists alive. The discussions delve into the unglamorous realities of making art-the false starts, the moments of doubt, the sheer stubbornness required to push through. You'll hear legendary musicians and emerging talents alike discuss not just their hits, but the failures and personal stories that truly shaped their sound. It’s less about celebrity and more about the human experience behind the songs we love. Each episode is a deep, unstructured dive into why creators do what they do, offering a rare glimpse into the vulnerability and chaos that fuel great work. Produced by Pushkin Industries, this series connects the dots between music, culture, and the society that inspires it, making it feel like an essential listen for anyone interested in the stories behind the art.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond
Podcast Episodes
Melissa Auf der Maur [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:40
Melissa Auf der Maur came of age in Montreal's bohemian art scene in the '80s and early '90s, at the very moment that alternative rock was becoming the defining sound of a generation. Through an unlikely chain of events,…
Rewind: Johnny Marr [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:55
Today we're revisiting a conversation with acclaimed British guitarist Johny Marr. Marr started playing guitar as a young teenager growing up in Manchester. When he turned 15 he dropped out of school and moved to London…
Joe Jackson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:34
Joe Jackson showed up in the late '70s UK New Wave scene, all nervous energy and biting wit, with hits like "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" putting him in the same conversation as Elvis Costello and Squeeze. But wher…
Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:40
Ed O'Brien has spent decades crafting some of the most textured, expansive guitar in modern rock. From the fragmented beauty of Kid A and Amnesiac to the experimental layers of The King of Limbs, with the more straightfo…
Earth, Wind & Fire [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:51
Just before the premiere of Earth, Wind & Fire's new Questlove-directed documentary , the three OGs of the group stopped by Broken Record: vocalist Phillip Bailey, singer and percussionist Ralph Johnson, and bass player…
The New Pornographers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:39
The New Pornographers have never been easy to pin down. Since forming in Vancouver in the late ’90s, the band became one of the defining acts of the Canadian indie rock explosion. They’re part of a scene that also produc…
Mopreme Shakur [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:10
Mopreme Shakur is 2Pac's half-brother, a rapper, filmmaker, and record producer living at the intersection of revolutionary politics and hip-hop. He's one of the only surviving members of Thug Life and Outlawz, raised al…
Hardy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:27
Before Hardy was known as the breakout artist who pushed country music into hard rock territory, he was a self-proclaimed redneck from Philadelphia, Mississippi who studied songwriting at Middle Tennessee State Universit…