Who Is Bruce Tunkel and What Is His Musical Background?

Updated

Bruce Tunkel is a New Jersey-born singer-songwriter who has been creating original music for more than three decades. He is best known as the frontman of The Red House, which signed a major label deal with SBK Records in 1989 and scored a Billboard rock chart hit with "I Said a Prayer" in 1990. Since then he has built a solo career spanning 8 solo albums, 2 EPs, and a 30-song singles collection.

Early Life and Influences

Tunkel grew up in New Jersey in a household with older siblings, which gave him early exposure to the music of the 1960s and 1970s. According to his site, he spent a great deal of time with his siblings' record collection, absorbing and learning from it, and also played the family piano and banged on a Charles Chips can while making up songs.

That combination — listening closely to an existing record collection and experimenting on whatever was available — shaped his approach before he ever joined a band.

The Red House and the SBK Records Era

As a teenager, Tunkel played in a variety of cover bands. He then connected with the friends who would form The Red House. The group agreed to focus on writing their own music rather than covers, and released their first album, There is a Window, in 1986.

The band gained notoriety for both its writing and its performances, and in 1989 signed a major label record deal with SBK Records. Their self-titled 1990 release was widely acclaimed, and:

  • The single "I Said a Prayer" reached #30 on the Billboard rock tracks chart
  • The accompanying video appeared in rotation on MTV

Solo Career and Later Projects

After The Red House, Tunkel began writing and performing as a solo act. His output since then includes:

Release type Count
Solo albums 8
EPs 2
Singles collection 1 (30 songs)

He was also a member of The Susan Rumors, which released a 10-song pop record in 2017.

What He Is Doing Now

Tunkel continues to work on new songs and performs occasionally. For listeners new to his catalog, the natural entry points are the 1990 Red House album (for the SBK-era sound) and the solo albums and singles collection (for the three decades of writing that followed).