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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 21st 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.
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