Biography
 

I started playing the guitar in 1965. From the time I was just a little kid exposed to American Bandstand, I was always singing.

At the age of 7, my parents took me to vocal school where I played small clubs and appeared on the WGN television show "Little Stars". 

For my thirteenth birthday, I was given guitar lessons with Tony Carmen, a well known jazz and rock teacher. Among his other successes, he also taught Michael Bloomfield at the same time. Tony's patience and tenacity helped me develop my own playing style. I took lessons from him for almost five years.

I started forming bands and groups in eighth grade, first as a singer then as a guitarist as well. With moderate success I played through high school at various clubs and venues. 

Fast forward to 1978… I became a salesman in the consumer electronics field and put my guitars away. However, the urge to make music would not leave me alone. I picked them up again and started writing new songs.

At that point, I decided to make a record. The "Electric Eddie" name evolved because at the time, I had two other friends named Bruce. Because of my last name, they started calling me “Eddie”. Eventually, because of my profession, I took my nickname of “Electric Eddie” which became my stage name as well.

Three other things helped the name “Electric” stick. First, many people observed that I played the acoustic guitar as if it was an electric. Few guitarist then or now are known for that.  

Second, I had a massive afro hairdo which people said looked like I plugged myself into an electric socket.

Finally, my poker buddy Howie used to say I plugged myself in at midnight and really started to get aggressive. The original title of my first album was to be “Plugged In” because of that.

In 1979 I recorded the 45 RPM record that inspired the famous June concert, "Electric Eddie at the Chances R ". It was a momentous event in my life and people still talk about it almost thirty years later.

In the winter of '79 I was offered a job that was too good to pass up. I became a businessman. However, this time, instead of abandoning my goals to be a rock musician, since  music was always my passion, I put a studio in my townhouse and continued to write songs.

The urge to record struck again in 1996 and I recorded my first CD, a compilation of tunes from various periods in my life.  It was called “The Two Sides of Bruce Edelson” referring to the one side of "Electric Eddie," the rock and roll guitar player and the other side being Bruce Edelson, the businessman.

So here we are in 2007 and I am returning to the studio to record another CD of previously unheard music. The nine songs on this CD will include both old and new material. I will once again be playing all the instruments (except the drums) and will sing all the vocals.

If you hear strains of classic artists in my songs or performance, some of my musical influences include Ray Davies and Neil Young. Stop by the Photos page and see the picture of me meeting Neil at the 1993 Farm Aid concert in Ames Iowa. (Ed. Note: Nowell says that Neil still considers it a high point in his life!)

The music goes on. Its influence in my life is here to stay. After you hear the new CD, plan on returning in a few years to listen to, and buy, "Still Alive at 65!".

Bruce