Linda East Brady now living in Utah, USA, served for two years as a contributing editor for HHGI ONLINE GUITAR MAGAZINE (where she first interviewed Brian after release of his first CD 'Back to the Dirt.'  She is a regular contributor to the respected roots rock magazine, BLUE SUEDE NEWS.  Her work has appeared in SOUTHLAND BLUES MAGAZINE,  INSIDE THE HEARTLAND MAGAZINE, and THE FENDER MUSEUM OF THE ARTS publication.  She is currently seeking a publisher for her first novel, LONE
STAR ICE AND FIRE.

CAVE WALL ARTISAN FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM

by Linda East Brady

Brian Gladstone is a walking paradox, a man who self-describes his nature as one of an analog guy caught in a digital world. His realm is sound. His life work revolves around reducing sound that is unpleasant, damaging, polluting – noise – and producing sound that is enriching and healing – music. In both endeavors Brian is nearly savant in nature -- working on instinct and guts, producing brilliant and satisfying work.

For his daylight gig, Brian works for Plitron Manufacturing in Toronto, Canada, a company started by his older brother, Howard Gladstone. Brian is involved in visualizing, then bringing forth, an electrical element called a toroidal transformer. In simple terms, this device emits extremely low electronic noise as it transforms electricity into power. This is a vital feature in everything from the innards of certain medical equipment to high-end stereo and recording studio components, as well as myriad other applications, where electronic noise is not just a nuisance but can actually damage end-use results. "Pollution reduction – whether it be electronic noise, or in the products and by-products we produce – is one of our major concerns at Plitron," Brian notes. "We strive to be an environmentally responsible company."

Then there is the creature that comes out once Brian leaves the lab – that of the modern day bard with music and poetry in his heart and an acoustic six-string in his fist. He has a lyric writing style that runs the gantlet from serious environmental and psychological concerns to unadulterated silliness. As for his playing, his fingerpicking style is crisp, yet possesses an earthy, timeless texture.

Brian’s first CD, BACK TO THE DIRT (1999), helped carved out a musical foothold for the guitarist, both in his native Toronto and worldwide. Via a diligent self-marketing campaign, he gained global support in various alternative radio formats. His music has criss-crossed into the country, bluegrass, folk and rock markets. His philosophy about his music is simple and sincere. "I know a lot of people say this, but I do mean it. It really isn’t about money. It is a passion – if I had done it for money, I could have gone for a much more commercial sound. But fingerpicking, especially, is so grounding for me."

COMING BY IT HONESTLY

Brian springs from a profoundly musical family. His father, Russell Gladstone, played guitar, banjo, trumpet, and was a member of an award-winning barbershop quartet. There is also painting, writing and sculpting in the bloodline. Five other members of his immediate clan have either released or are preparing to release their own CDs. His younger sister, Bonnie Gladstone, has provided vocal harmony on both of Brian’s releases. All the Gladstone siblings are self-taught, or at least can be said to have passed their musical skills around like a serving patter at the dinner table. Brian says, "My older brother Howard introduced me to Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Peter Paul and Mary -- all the folkies. I used to watch him play the guitar when I was young, from a Mel Bay guitar instruction book. After that time, I was hooked on acoustic guitar and folk music."

"I remember the Mel Bay book," Howard Gladstone adds. "I played on a ten dollar Kent Guitar. There were folk songs, with such lyrical gems as 'Go tell Aunt Rhody, the old gray goose is dead.’ Then, of course, the scene exploded with the folk renaissance, folk-rock and all that." Howard also remembers the sounds from an American radio station that they could occasionally capture. He recalls, "Radio signals (came) driftin' up to Canada on AM from Virginia, with the whiff of country music, and Appalachian tunes. We only could sometimes get it in the evenings, on the small portable orange/brown AM transistor radio. It was like that music did not come from just another place, but from another time -- broadcast back in the 1920s and only arriving now, or actually arriving then, in the 1960s."

Brian’s mother, Shirley Gladstone, says of her second oldest child, "I always thought Brian was very gifted, but he was also very shy when he was young. He came from a big family (six children, two sets of twins) so I think in a sense he was lost in the shuffle. He wasn’t even quite the middle child, being second oldest. (In such a large family) everyone had to express themselves very loudly to be heard."

Shirley’s brood grew up making their own music. "They’d play in the basements with drums and things– I could just sleep through it because I was so in tune with it," she admits, laughing. "But Brian stands out as a guitarist – one of the best I’ve heard." However, his mother really never noticed his scientific talent until he grew up and went into business with Howard. She agrees with most of the people he has worked with that his scientific side seems to be intuitive. "He thinks about what needs to be done and it comes to him," Shirley says. "I think it was the same with his music and poetry. He wrote poetry as a young man but he never showed it to anybody back then. He was quiet about it, never really blossomed until the last few years. But he has always had an amazing sense of humor. When you are with him, he is just so funny in subtle ways."

THE INTUITIVE ENGINEER

In 1984, Howard started Plitron Manufacturing. Brian joined the company in its second year. "Howard said, 'You can be the engineer - this is what we build' showing me a toroidal transformer. My response was, Great! What does an engineer do? What's a toroidal transformer, and how do they work?" Neither of us knew the answer at that time. However within three years I had researched and written all of our company's design software."

In sardonic big brother fashion, Howard has a different take on Brian’s joining Plitron. "Nobody ever did decide to hire him, actually, now that you mention it. I think one day he just showed here for work. We tried to discourage him by playing jazz in the office where he had to work -- for him jazz is like water torture. But he persisted and wouldn't go away. Within a year or two, we could not get rid of him, so we started paying him --not much of course."

The year Brian joined the company, his youngest child, Lindsey, was born. Not long after her birth, life circumstances left Brian alone raising Lindsey and her two older brothers, Jeremy and Michael. "It was a difficult few years," he readily admits. "At the time, (Plitron) had six employees, no money, no business, and there was little interest in our products. I maintained three jobs for almost two years to make ends meet." In addition to trying to build Plitron, Brian taught computer programming at Centennial College’s night school division, and sold stereos on the weekends. Guitar playing sort of went by the wayside during this phase of Brian’s life, but the hard work paid off. "Plitron now has about 170 employees and we export toroidal transformers all over the world."

So how did Brian master this complex electronic business? "Really, all of my technical knowledge is learned by doing," he says. "I have no real formal training – except for one year of business school after high school."

Howard sums up Brian’s ingenuity this way -- "He sees the solutions, but don’t ask him to prove them scientifically. It’s not natural brilliance. It is a type of insight, and needs to be balanced with diligence and hard work. It is another one of those weird alchemy combinations that somehow seems to work."

Brian now serves many functions for the company. He is part owner, and is the Director of Engineering as well as manages the Engineering department. He is also their most experienced and trained transformer designer. He is a keystone in their four-man research team.

Electrical engineer Dr. Francisco De Leon has served two years as a member of Plitron’s research team. Dr. De Leon says that, as a researcher, "Brian has the special combination of two very important abilities: He posses a very deep understanding of Faraday's Law (one of the elemental principles needed grasping in the design of their product) and he has an artistic imagination. Brian utilizes these two powerful tools to invent special transformers or to find economical solutions to tough technical problems."

"He has a unique way to look at solutions and can always propose a different -- and frequently better -- alternative to construct a transformer. Since transformer design is simultaneously science and art, an artist with technical knowledge - like Brian- can produce wonderful results."

"When I met Brian about two years ago, he had already innovative and very ingenious solutions for acoustical noise emissions and inrush currents demanded by transformers," Dr. De Leon continues. " During the two years we worked together we formed a tremendously productive team. We had invented many new transformers and inductors with special characteristics. Also, we had developed a number of improvements to transformer manufacturing. In many instances Brian has been the main contributor. As a transformer designer, Brian knows what to do to optimize the cost, size and performance of the transformer. He is able to transmit his ideas to customers' engineers. Thus he is a very effective technical sales man. In addition, customers frequently do not know exactly what they want or need. Brian has developed a sixth sense and is able to design transformers even with incomplete information."

One of Plitron’s customers, an engineer with a major amplifier company, is a tremendous admirer of how the firm’s equipment works in real world applications. He notes, "I believe Brian's greatest asset is the patience to work with those who don't know as much about his field of expertise as they should. That skill is rare for an engineer of his caliber."

Requirements for the music industry are difficult to calculate. The amplifier engineer continues, "The load and demand is fixed and/or predictable. In my application using Brian's product, the source material is music and the load is a loudspeaker. Yes, we have test bench measurements with signal generators and fixed loads. Design for a test bench and you miss the real mark -- how does it work in the real world application? This is a price sensitive market … loudspeakers range from improperly designed homebrew to demanding touring sound reinforcement."

"When doing a calculation, what formula do you use to define music as a source?" he asks. "What type of music? Who defines what is music and what is noise? Now you get into a gut feel situation. When dealing with Brian, I describe the basic end result, and Brian applies his knowledge of music into his design equations. This usually gets us close enough to where I can build the prototype so I can take exact measurements. The source material in the real world for the product is music, not some test generator signal in the lab. So... again I measure, and give Brian the results. Brian interprets my measurements and applies his experience and knowledge of music and presto! His design works well."

As for Brian’s interpersonal skills as a co-worker and manager, Plitron’s Dr. De Leon comments, "I would say that it is a pleasure working with him, while it is very difficult working for him. I should admit that his particular way of demanding from his employees and suppliers has been very effective in getting apparently impossible results. I have witnessed how he forced suppliers to think and come up with new and better solutions."

LEONARD COHEN, BOB DYLAN AND DOC WATSON ROLLED UP INTO ONE

Robert Digioia is another engineering marvel that Brian works alongside, but they work together to create Brian’s recordings. He has produced and audio engineered albums for some of the best known and diverse acts of our times – names like David Bowie, Glen Gould, John Hammond, Jr., Celine Dion and Rush. He produced Brian’s first CD, and is engineering and working as co-producer on PSYCHEDELIC PFOLK PSONGS. He says of working on the projects with Brian, "Part of what I bring to the show is the objective ear that a producer must have. The engineering side of things has been a bit of a challenge. We have recorded at Brian's house (in a basement studio cobbled together over the years). I then bring (the tapes) home for pre mixing -- which is usually pretty close to (the finished product). With any artist that I work with, the challenge is to get the most they are capable of out of them, and also stay true to their intentions." Robert jokingly adds, "What they are not capable of, I always have a plane standing by at LAX with session musicians ready to be here at a moment’s notice!"

While not actually having a yes-men band on call, Robert does strive to skim the cream from his talent’s work. "I have always enjoyed working with Brian because (I look at this) as the singer/songwriter (project)," he explains. "This is a style that I enjoy, as it showcases the artists and their songs. Also, some of Brian's material is the fingerpicking … that we are showcasing. I know that Brian likes to focus on the guitar playing -- which is great -- but I don't want to leave the storyteller behind. Think of it as Leonard Cohen, Doc Watson and Bob Dylan rolled up into one person!"

Valuable tools that Brian brings to the studio are ears and soul wide open to musical influences. The many talents he sites as inspirational encompass much of Western roots music. He had the good fortune of seeing many live performers during his formative years. These shows included many of British Blues/Rock Royalty, the delicious Canadian/Southern Gothic hybrid of the Band, and – fifteen times, no less -- Bob Dylan. Brian doesn’t just claim the title "Woodstock Generation" as a matter of pedigree, but actually attended the festival. And in his music, he seems to have bitten off some essence of many of these artists.

Brian points to Brian points to Doc Watson and Jim Kweskin as special influences on his tasty, dead-on fingerpicking. Watson, he says, is "…Number one in my book – purely one of the great finger pickers ever." On PSYCHEDELIC PFOLK PSONGS, Brian does Watson’s version of John D. Loudermilk’s Windy and Warm and also a fiery version of Watson’s Black Mountain Rag. " I’ve seen Doc play (this rag) a few times … I can find all the notes he plays – but I don’t know how he can fit all those notes in!" Jesse Fuller’s tune, San Francisco Bay Blues, is another lush song Brian tackles on the album. "I first heard it by Peter, Paul and Mary," he says. "But I must admit that I’m borrowing Reverend Gary Davis’ licks on my version. I really love his style."

As for the biggest mentor of his peculiar, succinct stylings, Gladstone sites a player by the name of Jim Kweskin. Along with his self-named jug band, Kweskin carved a niche for himself in the northeast and the Greenwich folk scene of the sixties and seventies. After Brian saw Jim play, he declares, "I was so impressed with Jim’s guitar playing that I went home and changed my style the next day. (Jim) held the pick the way a standard guitar player would, between the thumb forefinger."

Holistic medicine healer and friend Danielle Sade has told Brian that the manner in which he holds his pick is a meditative yoga energy position called mudra. "Perhaps it is coincidental? Perhaps not!" Brian says of his pick grip. He also utilizes his three free fingers in conjunction with the pick. Shirley Gibson, manager of Norm Hacking, and all round folkie information lady wrote in The TRANZAC CLUB NEWSLETTER after his gig at the club, that Brian possesses, "…amazing flying fingers that can flat and finger pick at the same time…" Brian comments, " Well, that’s what I learned from watching Jim Kweskin. And it takes years to learn to do cleanly." The years of practice time, much of it stolen after a full day’s work as his children slept, has paid off in spades. Brian’s style is crisp and flowing, yet sultry. The sound he has developed is as modern as a hard drive, yet as old school as a butter churn. This timeless quality makes is captivating and its broad appeal is demonstrated by the wide range of play-lists where Brian has found his selections.

Brian first heard Leo Wood’s 1918 composition, Somebody Stole My Gal, from Jim Kweskin. "I was trying to figure out how Jim picked it and instead came up with this arrangement – that’s the way a lot of picking happens – just an idea with an evolution." And evolve it did, into the instrumental closer for Brian’s CD. "It has great lyrics, but I was having so much fun guitar playing I never bothered to fit in the words – I don’t think it needed words." Finger Lickin’ Pickin’, his own composition, is another terrific solo example of Brian’s playing style that is found on PSYCHEDELIC PFOLK PSONGS.

While Brian has worked diligently to become one of the best pickers today, he also views his playing as the framework for his lyrics. As for wordsmiths, he cites influences as diverse as John Prine, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and "early Donovan – (he) just blows me away!" But one artist he especially credits is the late Phil Ochs, a folk-bard whose battle with devastating depression finally ended with his suicide in 1976. On the new CD, Brian performs The Highwayman, a poem by Alfred Noyse that Phil Ochs set to music. Brian says of Ochs, "He was visionary, not all that well-known today. (Howard) brought I Ain’t A’ Marchin' Any More by Phil Ochs home in the mid-1960s. I was immediately attracted to Phil's words and music. He was a very sensitive artist, with tremendous insight and empathy for all pain and injustice in the world."

On his choice of The Highwayman for PSYCHEDELIC PFOLK PSONGS, Brian says, "The first time I heard (the song) I was curious, intrigued -- what a beautiful, haunting sound. In this version I changed a few of the original lyrics, and added the last two lines 'this was your fate, you cast your prophesy to the wind' -- meaning I am trying understand what (Phil) was telling us -- we listened but could not do anything. Only you can alter your fate. I wanted to record the Highwayman from the first second I heard it in 1966."

"After Phil Ochs took his life a few years later, I listened to The Highwayman again. I thought he was merely using the song to foretell … his own fate -- 'shot him down on the highway, and he lay in his blood on the highway…’ He was an incredible patriot, always sang about the beauty in America. (Phil) was continually dismayed with America and the politics of the time, and it seems he believed they let him down personally.

"Many folk artists -- myself as well, unfortunately -- we can see the flaws inherent in the system," Brian continues. "The last time I saw Phil, in 1975 at the Riverboat in Toronto, I met and talked with him before that show. He was weary and lacked intensity and energy by then. Maybe he realized that there is just no remedy sometimes. I realize this -- that's why I have to turn off my emotions so much of the time. It’s a coping and survival mechanism for prophets and insightful people. We need protection from our high sensitively - like the ozone layer."

It is no accident that Brian compares his sensitivities to the threatened ozone layer. He is extremely concerned about the imbalance caused by humanity in the environment. He tackles this issue in his composition Save the Wolverine. The song speaks straightforwardly of destruction of the forest and the impending repercussions to wildlife. But here Brian has made some interesting lyrical and visual choices. While wolverine is itself a rather poetic word, the creature itself is not cutely charismatic -- compared to, say, a panda. But perhaps that is Brian’s point – best we heed the endangerment of a gruff carnivorous member of the weasel family – is he, after all, so very different from us?

Another song on the record, Flashing Before My Eyes, is shrouded in Cassandric warning. This song might be interpreted as one of channeling, reincarnation -- or as an overview of human accomplishment and destruction. Either way, as with Wolverine, Brian seems to be saying we need to tread lightly. He mentions societies that have ruled the known world, then vanished with barely a trace. "Another time in place is now, as we carve our destiny," he sings, challenging us to be careful with what is here before it, too, goes the way of tall shipmen and the lotus carvers.

A reported fan favorite is Do You Think You’re Dorothy? The title Dorothy is she of the MGM Musical version of the L.Frank Baum book, THE WIZARD OF OZ. Brian’s friend Danielle Sade sees our continuous moral/ethical struggle illustrated well within the song. "Brian takes the character of Dorothy (who) had a magnificent dream to look over the rainbow (and who finds) a place without any trouble. Dorothy is swept up in a tornado and has an inner journey of self, (seeking) a wizard to take her to this place. On this inner journey she encounters three unique beings all looking for perfection. They magnified the flaws that were in them and were not aware of their positive traits. In the end they discover their weaknesses are their strengths."

Danielle also comments on the juxtapositions found in the song – how sometimes it is hard to discern the good guys from the bad. "Dorothy meets with a good fairy that guides her through the way, and evil witch that makes her discover a different part in herself. Brian mentions Toto as a double agent. Dorothy's nurturing relationship with her dog is symbolic to dedication and a bonding, However, Toto seemed to get Dorothy into trouble a couple of times in the story because of his witty curiosity and his need to do what was ethically right for him. (He doesn’t care) about the consequences and anybody else." This she believes can be seen in the bigger questions of what is right and wrong, and for whom? "If you click your heels together, does it cleanse your sins forever? Dorothy killed the witch because she was not perfect or sweet. Did Dorothy have God by her side? Do you think that your Dorothy… symbolizes the complimentary patterns of the universe that you can only recognize the good only in comparison to evil --becoming aware that good is not an opposite. Good and evil exists in all of us.... Even sweet Dorothy!"

As with most wordsmiths, some of Brian’s characters that populate the songs spring from imagination, others are from his life. One of the prettiest tunes is A Father’s Lullaby, a song of love for children. He began the song shortly after Jeremy was born, and finally finished it about a year ago. "(Daughter) Lindsey cries whenever she hears it," Brian says. "There is not enough songs to express a father’s love for his children. Fathers need to hear this. We need something up-to-date to sing to our children – let them know what’s going on and what we need to do to survive. That is our mission – to help them find the skills they need to carry on, and remind them that they must look inside…to find everything to survive."

Another composition is directed at someone Brian once saw as a trusted friend, but who betrayed him. This deception resulted in his song Jamie Lynn. This painful experience served to inspire some of the most convoluted and powerful poetry on the CD. "She always had crisis in her life. She always blamed someone or something for her problems -- never took responsibility," Brian says of her. "I trusted her totally. I loaned her some money based on a promise to pay back, and she disappeared forever and ripped me off. I felt set up and cheated, so I wrote this song about her."

On the flipside, he includes a song about lost first loves, I Still Think About You, Babe. The muse who helped inspire this song chooses to remain anonymous, but does have this to say about Brian and his music, "Brian has grown since we first met in so many ways. He has written so many songs, and they all have a special story and meaning, especially the one that he wrote about me. I find it very touching and I become emotional when I hear it. I find that life experiences and maturity has brought out the best in him. He is a man who is reaching for the stars and pursuing his boyhood dreams. He is also the same Brian that I knew way back in the sixties. He's fun loving and young at heart."

This fun loving and young at heart nature that Brian’s old friend mentions is abundantly revealed on PSYCHEDELIC PFOLK PSONGS, too. I Like Me may be the most upbeat song about being ordinary this side of Fats Waller’s catalogue. Orange Juice Song has the harried day energy and playfulness reminiscent of the Beatles’ Good Morning. He tackles local political satire with his jab at Toronto’s mayor in Mega City Mel – a song sure to be a Toronto crowd-pleaser. Another song bound to strike a local chord is Norm’s Living Room, recorded live in the swan song musical magic days of The Tranzac Club, run by Toronto folk impresario Norm Hacking. The club was a casual outlet for Toronto singers and songwriters to strut their wares upon its funky little stage. The song is bound to stir fond memories for area artists and fans alike. Fortunately, Norm’s Living Room will be carried on at the Silver Dollar Room, so the legend lives on.

The giddiest piece on the album is the opener, Asphalt Cowboy. It offers a loping beat and tongue-in-cheek Greek Chorus background vocal – I’m an Old Cowhand for the 21^st Century. "I had meant it as sort of a self-portrait. Asphalt Cowboy opens the new CD to explain who I am and what I’m doing here," Brian says. He had been flabbergasted when the first album rose to 86 on the Worldwide Mainstream Charts for country radio play. "It was something I had not considered – appeal to country fans. I guess I never realized how close folk was to country." Indeed, blues folk and country are merely cousins under the skin, and Brian’s music has a little slice of all those genres.

THE PSINGER, NOT THE PSONG

As diametrically opposed as Brian Gladstone's two vocations may sound on the surface, the are fused within him, parts of his whole self. Plitron’s amplifier manufacturer customer sums it up this way -- "Take the music out of Brian's head, and he becomes just another frustrated engineer who wants exact numbers for his calculations. No ability for a gut feel exists, then." The reverse may also be true in this quixotic man. Take away his analytical, puzzle-solving nature, then his drive to develop his complex playing style, his need to tease and toy words in to meaningful passages could well be lost, too.

There is too little space here to sing the praises of all the material to be discovered on PSYCHEDELIC PFOLK PSONGS, but assuredly, there is something for nearly every palate. While you open your ears to his work, take a trip to his web-site WWW.BACKTOTHEDIRT.COM and browse the emails he’s been sent. The correspondences’ varied nature reveals just how many different souls he has touched with his songs. Even big brother Howard muses, "Strange thing. I have started again to play and write songs. Did Brian influence me, in reverse, to start writing again? Well, maybe. But we are totally different. I respect what he is doing musically and lyrically. He really puts a lot of effort into it."

Brian believes, in all seriousness, there is healing force that music has to offer, knows it has power to help us join together for a better world. In all silliness, he declares that, "PSYCHEDELIC PFOLK PSONGS is the only CD which can restore brain cells destroyed by cheap sixties drugs!"

Sounds like the sort of cure any patient can dig.

END