Kaphan pioneered new territory for the pedal steel in the 90's as a member of alt-rock cult favorites American Music Club, where he quickly liberated the instrument from its Nashville stereotype. Slider is a more extensive rethinking of the pedal steel, with its silvery, liquid tone refracted through Kaphan's personal harmonic vocabulary, skillful arrangements and wide-ranging stylistic compass.

His pedal steel work with AMC also led to pedal steel sideman dates on recordings for REM, Jewel, The Black Crowes, Love and Rockets, Chris Isaak, Red House Painters, Jellyfish and others. Career highlights include playing with John Lee Hooker on his Grammy-winning Chill Out. Bruce spent most of '97-'98 on the road playing with former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. Since then he's focused on film scoring and sound design, producing albums for various Bay Area bands and artists, and doing his first solo album.

"Slider achieves something rare in popular music: a new face on an old favorite, a creative synthesis of ambient, pop, country, Indian, electronic music - and Bruce Kaphan. Like water under the desert, these pieces were always there. They just had to be tapped."