I never thought I'd be the sort of person to write such a tribute, to anyone bar my family and close friends, but in this case I need to make an exception.

I'm so grateful that my Dad stumbled upon this music he'd never heard, at a gift shop in Inverness back in the early 2000s, and was told by the shop owner it was a band called Runrig, who had a relatively new lead singer that changed the sound of the band... Fast forward to Stirling in 2018, and my Dad and I drew to a close our shared time following as many Runrig shows as possible in those intervening years, with heavy hearts indeed...

... Fast forward to 2023 and we now feel a different, deeper sense of loss.  No offense to the previous incarnation of Runrig - they wouldn't have been who they were today without their Story - but we would not have noticed them without the Bruce factor.  That man's voice pierced the music in the most perfect, musical way, to stand out enough but also to compliment the feel of the song, while he respected the contributions and abilities of those who shared the stage with him, demonstrating such humility and class.  His solo albums have been a staple of my iPod for many years now, for some reason needing to be played on long journeys.  When travelling to watch Runrig with my Dad who, bless him, can snore for England, only some clever 'sound engineering' of ear plugs overlaid with headphones playing Beautiful Life/No Final Destination could put me into a happy and relaxed enough state to sleep!  

I can't imagine what his family, friends and musical collaborators are going through; I can't claim to have really known the man, but just seeing the way he was during interviews and live events, including one of my favourite New Year memories of his live stream with his son a few years back, I honestly feel I can say he was a lovely guy, and although I've not really seen much of him since Runrig's final tour, I will miss him dearly.

My best wishes go to Kim, Dylan and Jodi and, somewhere out there, Bruce.