Biography

Modern England is thousands of miles and several decades away from the mid-fifties and the roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll but as Jacen Bruce grew up in his Cambridgeshre village he felt drawn to rock ‘n’ roll music and the legends of the rockabilly pioneers.

He describes himself as a ‘late-comer’ to live performing since he was in his twenties before he first owned a guitar or performed for a audience but the seeds had, in-fact, been sown during childhood.

One of his primary musical influences was Elvis Presley and when the star’s death fell on Jacen’s birthday it turned out to be a co-incidence that would sign-post Jacen’s future career.

Jacen was equally drawn to writing and playing and in 1993 formed his first band, which he named the Midnight Shift after the song of the same name made popular by another of Jacen’s heroes, Buddy Holly.

This band was, however, swiftly superceded by Jacen and the Rockanauts in 1994. Over the following years the Rockanauts established themselves on the local live music scene while in the same period Jacen’s first CD, You Said, was released on Spindrift Records.

In 1999 he visited Memphis and in a once in a lifetime session recorded with Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductees Paul Burlison and Ronnie Smith as well as The Dempseys (from the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line). For the full story, check out Jacen's website.

In 2008 he formed Memphis Underground, a rockabilly band with the distinctive double bass and wild guitar sounds that can be heard on original tracks such as Slap Bass and Hot Baby Lover. You can check them out on his latest album, the Siren.