Bobby Bruce Press Articles: November 2009

Mavs lose three stars

The Mesa College football team has suffered a big blow — even before preseason practices start Aug. 18.

Coach Bob Cortese's Mays have lost — for the entire season — All-American hopeful Bob Schlagel, an all-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference defensive end; Kevin Dooley, an all-RMAC guard last year; and Matt Klaess, the Mavs starting quarterback last year as a freshman and the guy expected to hold down the job again this year.

"Finding out all this was a shock for sure," Cortese said this week of the three major losses, "Right now, I don't know what we're going to do about it."

Schlagel, a 6-foot-2,220-pounder, was a three-year starter at line-backer and defensive end and, according to Corese, was being looked at heavily by pro scouts — particularly some Canadian League clubs.

His loss is also probably the most permanent as he was informed he suffered from a congenital bone disease in his back.

It is much the same disease as the injury that forced the Denver Broncos' Otis Armstrong to retire from football last season because of the possibility of permanent injury.

Dooley, a 6-3, 215-pound freshman last year, went down due to bone chips in his ankles.

"It was something I knew about last year and kind of expected to hear," Cortese said. "He played that way all last year, but you can't expect that sort of thing."

Klaess has had knee trouble since the end of last football season and has undergone knee surgery twice since then, including just recently.

He was a member of the Mesa baseball team in the spring, actually earning a starting berth before the knee trouble put him out of the lineup. He does have ligament damage and is not being counted upon to be back this next season at all.

Broken back helped football player face the music and start new career

By Leslie Kelly
Sentinel staff writer

Former Mesa College football star Bob Schlagel had big dreams about making it as a professional athlete.

Schlagel, who's got a list of football honors that includes being named All-American, was even courted by pro scouts from the Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Colts three years ago.

One play in the second quarter of one of the last games of his junior year changed all that. Sehlagel, a defensive end, was flattened by an opponent.

It wasn't until eight months after an offensive lineman tackled him, however, Schlagel discovered that play had broken his back.

"It was one of those plays where you had the wind knocked out of you," Schlagel said, "I was hurt, but I got up and played the rest of the game."

After the season. Schlagel chalked up the pain to earlier back problems and the hours he spent lifting weights, but he was puzzled by the numbness that set into his legs whenever he sat for more than five minutes.

Finally, eight months later, after a Bronco scout timed him sprinting, Schlagel decided there was something very wrong.

"I'm not really fast, but I had never been as slow as I was that day," he said.

When he went to the doctor, Schlagel was told his spine had shifted out of place. Schlagcl was lucky in that he only had to spend the next six months in a body cast, not the rest of the his life in a wheelchair. Another jarring blow, the physician said, and he would have been permanently paralyzed.

His dreams of becoming a professional football player at a dead end, Schlagel focused his efforts on fulfilling another fantasy. He had taken guitar lessons when he was in high school, and after attending a Bee Gees concert in 1979, Schlagel told his parents he wanted to become a singer

"They laughed and said, 'Sure, Bob. Better get your mind back on football,' " Schlagel said.

With his mobility limited while he was in the body cast, Schlagel spent hours practicing his guitar and writing songs. "Sitting and strumming my guitar was about me only position that was comfortable."

Soon, he was as determined to achieve perfection in his music as he had been at preventing the opposing team from scoring during a game.

"Football was the best thing that ever happened to me because it taught me that everything you do, you've got to do right," he said.

Although he missed football, Schlagel filled his hours singing at local nightspots in a duo known as Bob and Bubba.

About a year ago, while he was singing at the Timbers, Schlagel met the man that would change his life.

"I met Jody Lyons at a music store that day and asked him to come and hear me sing," Schlagel said. "When I asked him after the show what he thought, I expected him to pat me on the back. Instead, he told me, 'We've got a lot of work to do.' "

Lyons, whose credits include working as musical director on a television special for Fleetwood Mac, wants to build a major recording studio in Grand Junction. After he heard Schlagel, he agreed to become his voice coach.

"I'm not a schooled musician. so he taught how me to breath while I was singing." Schlagel said. "He really made me want to get going on my musical career. I really have a lot of respect for him and wanted to work hard to prove myself."

Lyons also helped Schlagel with his songwriting.

"I wrote my first song when I broke up with a high school girlfriend," he said. Although he'd come a long way from there, Schlagel's work still needed some constructive criticism.

"I know Jody's going to make a good song even better." he said. "It might just be one word that's out of place and he can spot it."

While Schlagel was working on his vocal chords, he pestered Lyons, asking his voice coach when he would be ready to record.

"He told me to be patient," Schlagel said, "that he would let me know as soon as I was ready. But after working with him for eight months I was beginning to get discouraged."

Then, one afternoon four months ago, after listening to Schlagel practice, Lyons gave him the green light.

Schlagel headed to a recording studio often used by the Osmonds in Lindon, Utah. In mid-March, he cut a demo record.

"I'm pretty nervous about it, but I sing better when I'm nervous," Schlagel said before the recording session.

He recorded two songs. Now he hopes to get further financial backing, and perhaps even sell the demo record to a major record company.

"I'm hoping that won't take long and I can finish recording the rest of the album." Schlagel said.

While he's waiting to hit the big time, Schlagel stays in tune by performing with a group of fellow Mesa College students called Alpine.

"We're not looking to go anywhere with this band, but it's a lot of fun," he said.

Ex-linebacker heads to a musical future

Courtney DeBruin
Daily Sentinel

Muscle runs in the Schlagel family, but Bob Schlagel is changing all that.

If Schlagel, the former Mesa College football standout, has anything to say, or "sing," about it, music may replace muscle in the family vocabulary.

He recently finished a week-long gig in the Observatory Lounge at the Grand Junction Hilton, and two weeks ago he was accompanied by the group Alpine in his first concert appearance in Grand Junction in three years.

It's all part of his promotion plan that he hopes will lead to bigger and better things musically after being raised in a family that has produced more athletes than musicians. Schlagel's father played professional football in Canada and his younger brother Bruce plays basketball at Western State College.

Bob took after nts father and came to Mesa in 1978 to play football. At 232 pounds, Schlagel, 26, had the bulk to play on the line and the speed to play linebacker—two positions he excelled at. His junior year he made the first team all Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics District 7 squad. He also was an honorable mention All-America.

In his last game as a junior, however, he was involved in a play that would change his life.

"They ran a sweep to my side and I got pinned. My back got bent real weird," Schlagel said. "I played the rest of the game because I thought I had just gotten the wind knocked out of me."

Later that year he returned home to Aurora and received an invitation to visit the Denver Broncos.

"I knew something was wrong when they gave me my times for 40 yards. They were so slow. They had me go to their doctor and he took X-rays of my back. He told me, 'You're football days are over.' "

The news came as a shock. The doctor said one hit could paralyze him for life, so Schalgel underwent surgery and spent the next six months in a body cast.

Schlagel had played guitar since age 10 and had been writing music since 16.

"I would come home from football games at Mesa and to unwind, would play the guitar with my banged-up hands,'' he said.

His arms and hands were about the only thing he had during his recovery, and he put them to good use.

"I knew I could write songs so I thought I might as well give it as big a shot as I could. I played between five and eight hours a day. I probably wrote 50 songs in six months," he said.

Schlagel's musical career actually started at Mesa, where he and Larry "Bubba" McKenna won a talent show. They played small concerts around town and earned a modest following.

Somewhere between high school and college. Schlagel's musical tastes shifted from rock 'n' roll to country. Now, he classifies his music as contemporary country. "That's what I enjoy most right now.

"I like music that tells a story," said Schlagel, who has slimmed down to 190. "Even my simplest songs tell a story. I also like melodies that you can sing along with."

He has spent the last few years in Aurora where he has built a studio in his home. He spends days recording music for others and nights playing the night club circuit. Schlagel already has reached his first two goals of playing professionally and recording a record.

"Bob and Bubba" play the music field

Larry "Bubba" McKenna and Bob Schlagel perform at many area sites as the duo "Bob and Bubba."

By Brenda Phillips

Talent at Mesa College comes in many forms, one of the most recent examples surfacing from the musical duo "Bob and Bubba."

Bob Schlagel, a senior at Mesa College, and Larry "Bubba" McKenna, a junior, are Bob and Bubba. They formed the duo last January and "worked out some songs," according to Schlagel. McKenna said the name Bubba was given to him at age 2 by a nanny in Texas.

Since January, Bob and Bubba have been playing at Grand Junction sites such as the T-Bone, The 4th Quarter, Junction Square, and The Timbers. "We sang at the Bar-X and they said it was the best FAC they had ever had," Schlagel said.

Bob and Bubba recently played at the VA Hospital as part of the Student Body Association's "Friends for Life" visitation. They liked us a lot and we enjoyed doing it," McKenna said.

They have also been hired as a warm-up band for a Dan Fogelberg concert at Southern Utah State College in April, Schlagel said. "They're not sure that Dan Fogelberg will be there, but it'll either be him or Kenny Loggins."

Bob and Bubba are both 22 years old and both play guitars. McKenna said he got a guitar from a Woolworth's when he was 12 and taught himself to play. Schlagel said he began guitar lessons at age 11 and went on to become "one of the greatest guitarists of all time."

They practice about three hours a day, according to Schlagel. Some of their hobbies include playing football, and Schlagel claims to be teaching his golden retriever to "bark the alphabet."

Bob and Bubba specialize in "variety music," according to McKenna. They also perform original songs. "I write most of them," McKenna said. Schlagel does most of the singing. "Bob has a better voice than me," McKenna said.

McKenna is from Grand Junction, and is studying Business Administration. He said he will use his business abilities to fall back on, but that he doesn't want to make it a career. "I want to be a musician," he said.

Schlagel, who is from Denver, came to Mesa College on a football scholarship to study physical education. He said he was injured and underwent back surgery, which had a "big influence" on his career. "Something I've always wanted to do is sing," he said.

Both Bob and Bubba are single, and they said that they don't have any girlfriends at the present time. They said they do have a few groupies, however. "After the ACUI convention all these girls ran up to us with our pictures. We spent a lot of time signing autographs, which was really different," Schlagel said. "There are some people that follow us everywhere we go," he added.

They said they have done some charity work, like performing at the VA Hospital. However, the concert in April, which will be performed before an audience of about 5,000, will be the "turning point" in their career, according to Schlagel.

As far as the concert goes, Schlagel said, "I'm looking forward to it." He said that he's not nervous. "We do our best when we're under pressure." He added that they will be doing a lot of performing next semester. "We have a lot of college gigs."

"What we're trying to do right now is get some of our original songs put on an album," McKenna said. They also have some promotional packets from Thunder Studios.

They already have plans in case they become rich. "I'd buy all my friends a motorcycle," Schlagel said.

"I'd stop going to Weady's for lunch," McKenna said. "I'd pay someone to go get it for me."

As for the perfect girl, Schlagel said he would like a tall girl with a British accent, while McKenna said he would like a girl like Conan's girlfriend in the movie "Conan the Barbarian." He said, "I kind of see myself as being like Conan."

Schlagel makes it on his own

By Dana Carver

Three years ago Bobby Schlagel gave up his career as a football player to become an entertainer.

Schlagel came to Mesa on a football scholarship from Denver. He started for three years, but after extensive back injuries, which required surgery, he decided to pursue a career in music.

Schlagel started to play the guitar when he was 12. His early interest in music led him to form a duo with Larry "Bubba" Mclenna. "Bob and Bubba" played in local bars and in the college center.

No longer a duo, Bob and Bubba combined their talents with Greg Finch and Brian Boyd, forming the band 'Chardanna." The new group makes its debut at 3 p.m. Oct. 1 at the Arts Festival at the Western Colorado Center for the Arts. They concentrate on Top 40 music as well as Schlagel's original songs. The new band is planning several appearances around town.

Besides his affiliation with "Chardanna," Schlagel's solo career is off to a promising start. He is scheduled to appear at Junct'n Square in Clifton at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 30. and Saturday, Oct. 1.

Schlagel's dedication to his career is obvious. "Playing with Bubba was fun, but this is something I've wanted to do. The songs I write are from the experiences I've had. It's easier to get into the songs I write. I know what I feel when I sing them," said Schlagel.

According to Schlagel, he is influenced by Kenny Loggins and Barry Gibb; he appreciates their voice quality.

Schlagel has an album coming out before the end of next year with the help of Jodi Lyons, a noted professional from Los Angeles. Schlagel and Lyons met at the Guitar Center, a local gathering place for musicians. Lyons has worked for ABC and CBS
arranging theme songs for specials involving Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, and ELO, to name a few. Lyons plans to open a studio in town to coach other young performers.

Bobby describes Lyons as "the Kenny Rogers type with a long beard. He's a coach, producer, manager and arranger. He's been a lot of help."

"Bobby is a good song writer with a unique voice. He has the dedication it takes to make it in the business. He doesn't have an inflated ego like most performers. I'm impressed by his maturity and I really enjoy working with him. The album is definitely going to be a salable product. Right now we are doing demo tapes and arranging songs. Bobby is still
looking for more financial backing so he can travel and promote the album after its release," said Lyons.

According to Lyons, Schlagel's goals for the future are admirable, his talent abundant, and his attitude realistic.

Lyons stated,"I've been in the business for a long time. I'm thoroughly impressed with him as an entertainer. He's going to make it."

Talent search sends local band to Orient

Don Thompson

Daily Sentinel

A five-member band that owes its existence to a February Grand Junction concert will be winging its way to a four-month tour of Japan this month, after winning an Air Force talent contest.

Bob Schlagel played rhythm guitar when he wasn't tackling the bad guys as an All-American defensive end and middle linebacker for Mesa College in 180.

Now, as lead singer of Bob Schlagel and the Team, he's teamed up with three other Mesa College graduates: Greg Finch on drums, Rich White on bass and Larry "Bubba" McKenna on lead guitar. The fifth member of the band, Bill Byan of Detroit, has joined the band at its new Aurora headquarters in Schlagel's mother's basement.

Finch, White and McKenna went through high school in Grand Junction, and Finch and White performed as the opening act during Spyro Gyra's Grand Junction stop this spring.

Schlagel started writing and recording a record when he was still in Grand Junction, but "I did side B and ran out of money."

He didn't record the second half until last fall, when he put together a financial partnership under the name Team Records.

He put together the Team for a Feb. 19 Mesa College concert to promote the record, which came out the same day.

That's when the four members with Grand Junction ties got together for the first time, although various members had played together before in different combinations.

The band really got going about two months ago, playing Schlagel's originals and top 40 rock and country songs up and down the Front Range.

Meanwhile, Schlagel's album, put together independent of the rest of the Team, was getting air play on Boulder's KBCO-FM, one of the largest radio stations in the state. A subsequent video rendition has been picked up by KBDI-TV out of Broomfield, he said.

The 10-song record is available now at a variety of Grand Junction record stores. he said.

The band's break for the Orient came from an Air Force talent search, Schlagel said.

"They had two weeks to check out every band in town. We were the last band they looked at and we ended up winning it," he said. "It's kind of the chance of a lifetime for us."

The band leaves July 19 and will return Nov. 19 after hitting Air Force bases in Japan and several amusement parks.

Bobby Bruce makes stage return tonight

Grand Junction Free Press • Friday, January 28, 2005 • 19

Free Press Staff Report

A familiar face from the past in the local club scene will make his return in the Grand Valley tonight at Bailey's in the Grand Vista Hotel.

Bobby Bruce, otherwise known as Bob Schlagel, owner of "The Lending Source, 2755 North Ave., will team up with his stage partner Bredt Montrose.

It's been 10 years since Bruce last performed in the Grand Valley.

But those who have been in the Grand Valley awhile might remember him.

He first made a name for himself 20 years ago on the Mesa State Maverick football field as an All-American defensive end.

In addition to leaving a mark on the football field, he left a mark on the local club scene as Bobby Bruce playing "country rock" music.

What: Bobby Bruce and Bredt Montrose
Where: Bailey's in the Grand Vista Hotel
When: 5 p.m. to midnight tonight, with a break from 7 to 8 p.m.

After college, he returned to Denver to work in the mortgage business, where he also enjoyed success as an entertainer.

He recorded three CDs, and opened for numerous national touring acts including John Denver.

He even did a tour in Japan, where he shared the stage with '80s hair band, Winger.

In 1999 and 2001, Bmce and Montrose were named "Denver's Best Duo" by Westward Newspaper.

He moved back to the Grand Valley in April, and has yet to take the stage — until tonight.

"When you've been away for awhile you want to do things right," he said.

Since he's been back, he's written four new songs, and is soon to release another CD.

"I figured the time was right," he said of making his return tonight.

Bobby Bruce makes his return tonight at Bailey's in the Grand Vista Hotel.

Bobby Bruce

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

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Bobby Bruce makes stage return tonight