Press Release (November 11, 2000)

Comstock Records Signs Brian Gladstone of Canada

Award winning independent label Comstock Records of Fountain Hills Arizona

today announced the signing of Brian Gladstone of Toronto Canada to it's

carefully selected artist repertoire list. Comstock founder and president

Frank Fara, voted 'Country Music Personality of the Year' for 1999, a 20

year veteran in the music industry, announced today that Brian's CD 'Back

to the Dirt' will be added to their global radio pipeline marketplace

next week. A leader in country music radio promotion for over 20 years

Comstock Records is one of the USA's most visible and established

Independent Country Music Labels.

"Comstock's track record speaks for itself," said Brian Gladstone,

independent artist who wrote, performed, and played all the instruments on

the newly released CD 'Back to the Dirt.' The CD is entirely acoustic, no

electric instruments are used in the production, and no sonic or electronic

enhancements were made use of in the mix. "The CD spans many genres, defies

a known classification, and I would not classify it as country music, but

is certainly eclectic in nature. But It's the country stations, which are

giving it lots of airplay, and continually appears on playlists with the

likes of Bob Dylan, Doc Watson, and Steve Kaufman. Comstock has extensive

penetration and depth into global markets, especially Europe, which I would

have no way to reach without them."

Back to the Dirt started to gather notoriety immediately after its launch

in November 1999. Music journalist Karen Bliss wrote, "Toronto

singer/guitarist Brian Gladstone is a finger-picking guitar master, a

colorful story-teller and an intuitive performer. His debut CD, Back To

Dirt, is an all-acoustic offering, on which he plays all the instruments."

Guitar Nine featured Brian in its December 1999 edition as the

'Undiscovered Artist of the Month' with the comments. 'Guitarists will

appreciate Gladstone's talents for fingerpicking and acoustic flat picking

while enjoying his creative and insightful lyrics about modern day topics--

A true acoustic treat." The descriptive phrase 'A Tie-Dye Medicine for

Techno-Hicks' was coined by Italian music reviewer Stavros Moschopoulos in

his May 2000 review.

Before joining Comstock, Back to the Dirt was marketed mainly through

acoustic and folk music radio programs in USA, Canada, Australia and

Europe. Distribution in Canada is through Indiepool, and in the USA through

Efolk. Legendary Texas DJ Eddie Russell featured tracks from Back to the

Dirt on his global 'Outlaws for Peace' radio programs, and contacted Brian

immediately to advise 'I had a ball reviewing this rustic masterpiece. So

much I could say...but love it..& will be airing on my shows. ..... you

are certainly some fresh air to the mix. .' Then Russell assisted to

present 'Back to the Dirt' to his established pipelines of prominent radio

people all over the world. "The feedback I got from the radio networks was

positive, enormous and immediate," comments Gladstone. "I got emails, phone

calls, even hand written letters from the radio community. It was apparent

the response was overwhelming, and needed the focus and expertise of a

dedicated label. When Frank Fara contacted me, I was thrilled, and knew it

was as a result of seeing my name on playlists all over the world. It was

obvious he had taken time to listen and learn the CD, was able to discuss

the tunes and sales aspects in good detail, and spoke with experience and

confidence about the markets and strategy to place the CD. It seems

Comstock is connected perfectly to the niche marketplace to promote Back to

the Dirt - our partnership is extremely complimentary."

Comstock did not advise particulars of plans for European distribution at

this time, and details will be decided in the near future. European tour

dates scheduled for the summer of 2001 will be announced when they are

available. Fara stated "A label is only as good as its artists and Comstock

is proud that it has the best. In 1998 Comstock was awarded Indie label of

the year in Europe by the ECMA. <comstockawards.htm> In the words of one

DJ...Comstock has succeeded because of its quality - it's the Mercedes of

Indie labels." Comstock artists previously have won many awards including

song of the year, vocalist of the year.

Gladstone is now recording his next CD, tentatively titled 'Psychedelic

Pholk Songs' and states "Comstock became involved with 'Back to the Dirt'

as a mature product. The new CD will allow the opportunity to get involved

at the time of product launch."

Frank Fara can be reached for comment at Comstock Records, Fountain Hill

Arizona. Telephone 480-951-3115, Email fara@comstock-records.com. Contact

information for Brian Gladstone is brian@backtothedirt.com or visit the

website at www.backtothedirt.com.