Vince Bell
Music & waywords™
Coming
VINCE BELL
A Texas native, Vince Bell got his start in Houston in the 70s, home to a burgeoning scene that produced legends Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark; and he joined the rise of his contemporaries, Nanci Griffith, Lucinda Williams and the youngest of the group, Lyle Lovett. The beloved, long-standing Anderson Fair was an incubator, and Vince soon garnered a reputation for his spare, beautiful, evocative, and often sneak-up-on-you funny lyrics. Griffiths said, “Vince was the best of us.”
An accident in 1982, hit by a drunk driver after he left finishing recording a demo for his debut record, changed his life irrevocably, sustaining a severe traumatic brain injury.
It took 10 years of recovery, and another two before he was introduced to Bob Neuwirth who was immediately taken by Vince’s writing. He produced Vince’s long-awaited debut, Phoenix (1994), and a life-time friendship was born.
Neuwirth always said, “Vince Bell is a writer”, and in 2018 he guided Vince to a long-time dream – albums that blended all forms of music influences and poetry. Together with producers Dave Soldier (Soldier String Quartet) and Patrick Derivaz (engineer/musician) brought 40 years of Vince’s words and the vision of Ojo to life in 2018.
Vince longed to do a second album, and Paula Batson, a music industry veteran and Neuwirth’s life partner stepped in, as Neuwirth passed away May of 2022. The team of producers and musicians returned, and the result is Break My Heart.
These albums are a culmination of Bell’s musical influences.
"Vince Bell is a poet."
"Vince Bell is a shaman."
“I often have said in the past that what a prose writer does with a shovel, a poet does with a microscope. It’s the same thing, just different tones, different weights, different lengths. ”
– Vince Bell
Create the libretto and you’ve written an opera. Create the outline and you’ve written a book. Create more time and you’ve made room for tomorrow. Create a fresh perspective and you can change the world.