ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Bruce Kulick

A huge supporter of ESP Guitars since day one, Bruce Kulick is a legendary guitar player. While Bruce is best known for his memberships in essential American rock bands like KISS and Grand Funk Railroad, this versatile player has also produced some outstanding solo material as well. In fact, his brand new solo album BK3 gets released in February, and if youʼre in LA, cruise over to the Cat Club in West Hollywood on 2/1/10 for the BK3 release party! Bruce would love to see you there.

To really understand the amazing Mr. Kulick, you have to rewind a few years. As a hot young player in New York, Bruce was recognized as having prodigious talent, and by his early 20s, he was already touring professionally, playing guitar on the road to support Meat Loaf's classic "Bat Out Of Hell" album in the late ʻ70s. Spending the next few years in bands with a range of people from Michael Bolton to Billy Squire, Bruce was asked to become a member of KISS. He accepted, and held the lead guitar role from 1984-1996. In addition to a number of gold and platinum albums, Kulickʼs membership in KISS gave him a long-standing respect from the bandʼs throng of fans, known collectively as the KISS Army.

After his departure from KISS, Bruce hooked up with John Corabi to form the band UNION, doing three albums with the band as well as continuing to work with other KISS alumni including Eric Singer, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. By the beginning of the 2000s, it was high time for Bruce to do his own solo album, and in early 2001 he released Audio Dog, followed in 2003 with the album Transformer. The albums showed the wide range of music of which this versatile player/composer is capable.

It was in 2001 that Bruce got a chance to join another iconic band, Grand Funk Railroad. In the nine years since, Bruce remains the drive behind Grand Funkʼs great lead guitars. In addition to touring, Bruce remains a hot property as a session player, a composer, a producer, and a creator of instructional materials for guitar.

ESP was known more as a company offering high-quality replacement parts for guitars when Bruce discovered us back in 1985. His first ESPs were souped-up Strat®-shaped models, followed by years of his use of custom ESP Horizon models. Bruce has also been known to use ESP Eclipses and other guitars in the line as well, depending on what sound and vibe he wants to achieve. From session playing through world touring through being a member of some of the biggest bands in history, Bruce retains the respect of guitarists everywhere, and weʼre proud to have him remain part of the ESP family for over two decades.

Listen to the following tracks off the new album!

BETWEEN THE LINES

HAND OF THE KING

Watch our exclusive video interview!