Successful Grant App!

I am very excited! I was recently notified that I will receive an Individual Artist Grant from Five Wings Arts Council! I’ll be using the funds to go into the studio to record my original music for CD production, streaming, and download. 

I’ve been waiting for the official word to go public with the info and, frankly, explain my light schedule this winter. I’m spending the time practicing, writing, and basically getting ready to hit the studio and lay down some tight, high-energy tracks! 

I have to give my wife, Liesa Thill, credit for helping me put the application together. She somehow manages to listen to and read the profuse information, opinions, and digressions I give her and form it into a winning grant proposal. 

With more than 40 years of playing and writing, my biggest challenge, now, might be picking just ten songs to record! 

Stay tuned for updates as I go through this process! 

Here’s the formal news release I’m sending out with details about my background, the grant, and Five Wings Arts Council: 

BAXTER—Bruce Archer was recently named a recipient of an Individual Artist Grant by Five Wings Arts Council. Archer will use the funds to complete studio recordings of his original music for CD production, streaming, and download. 

Archer, currently of Baxter, Minn., has been playing guitar, singing, and writing music for more than 40 years, with over 20 of those years as a professional musician working in Minneapolis and, since 2017, throughout northern and north central Minnesota. He has been featured on Lakeland PBS’s revival of their Backroads show (Season 2, Episode 2) and has played with a range of regionally and nationally recognized musicians. In the summer of 2018, Archer and his wife, Liesa Thill, coordinated the Seeing Music/Hearing Canvas live music/visual arts event in Brainerd, Minn., as part of deTOUR Downtown—a creative placemaking initiative to inspire people to visit downtown despite road construction. 

According to Archer, his music does not fit tidily into a single genre but draws on historical or original sources as influences including bluegrass, blues, and the storytelling traditions of folk music. He is recognized for his finger-picking and slide guitar techniques, which display a level of talent and mastery that comes from years of “sifting through musical styles and keeping the bits that resonate” with him. Whether he’s performing an original song or a deep cover, he coaxes an instrumental voice from his guitar that is authentically his own. 

Your next opportunity to catch a live performance in Brainerd is April 6, 2019, at Roundhouse Brewery. 

For more information on Bruce Archer, visit www.brucearchermusic.com or find him on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. 

The Individual Artist Grant program provides assistance for artists at various stages in their career development. Artists must provide a match of at least 25% of the total project cost. Serving Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd, and Wadena Counties, Five Wings Arts Council is one of Minnesota’s eleven Regional Arts Councils. FWAC provides stewardship and distribution of funds acquired from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage fund as well as funds allocated from the general budget through the Minn. State Legislature. 

This project was made possible by a grant provided by the Five Wings Arts Council with funds from the McKnight Foundation. 

For more information on Five Wings Arts Council, visit www.fwac.org.