Tom Brislin – Musician | tombrislin.com

After living, eating, and breathing Abbey Road for the past month or so, we finally performed it on July 25.  And it worked!  The next day, I found myself still wanting to listening to the album.  Would that be considered the musical equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome?

I’m starting to see some audience videos and photos showing up online.  Here are some clips:

“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” (with me singing & playing piano):

“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” (I’m on Hammond organ for this one)

“Because” (I play the Minimoog Voyager on this one)

Thanks to all who came out and made it such a special night…

Just completed the last of a series of all-day/night rehearsals with Glen Burtnik and Friends for the “Jersey Summer Beatles Bash III” this Saturday at The State Theatre in New Brunswick.  Finally got to hear what it’s going to sound like playing the Beatles’ Abbey Road album with the band plus the string- and brass sections.  Inspiring!  Every musician on this gig has really done their homework, exploring all the nuances and subtleties throughout the album.  I mentioned before that I get the rare opportunity to play a rock show with a concert grand piano and majestic Hammond B-3 organ.  Well, there are also few spots on Abbey Road (specifically “Octopus’s Garden” and “You Never Give Me Your Money”) where Sir Paul played an upright “tack” piano (aka honky tonk piano).  Inspired by the thoroughness of my fellow musicians, and also by an interview I recently did with Imogen Heap for Keyboard Magazine (more on this next week), I went on a little quest to find samples of this fabled piano.  Sure enough, I found the website of UK producer Steve Levine, who offered sample recordings of EVERY NOTE of the very piano which still lives at Abbey Road studios.  SCORE!  I loaded the sounds into my Nord Electro 3 (oh yes, we geek out here at tombrislin.com), and I can’t stop playing it!  Maybe I’ll post some audio samples next week.  Now if only I had a Moog Modular system…

Today was my first rehearsal with Glen Burtnik and friends for the big “Jersey Summer Beatles Bash III”.  We’re playing the entire Beatles Abbey Road album from beginning to end at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ on July 25.  You can find more info about the show and get tickets here. I’m looking forward to joining the cast of excellent musicians to re-create this legendary album, not to mention getting to play the State Theatre’s 9-foot Steinway grand.

This is not the future we were promised…

Those are the first lyrics from “The Future” from Spiraling’s Time Travel Made Easy CD, and for the last few months, it appears that lots of people have been searching the web for them.  Why?  Probably because the song is featured in promos for The Best Years, a TV show on The N.  Happy to oblige, we’ve posted the lyrics at spiraling.net/thefuture.  So get ready for some good old campfire singalongs.  Maybe we should release a karaoke version…

One of the joys of playing solo is that I can do it pretty much anywhere.  The months ahead are real proof of this; in August I’ll be playing another house concert, and in October I’ll be playing a set at this year’s Calprog festival.  I’m looking forward to both environments, and will be adding more dates soon. Interested in hosting a house concert? Send me a message from the Contact page for info.

Here’s a radio ad for Calprog with clips of the other featured artists:

Calprog 2009 Radio Ad

Welcome to my official website.  I’m no blogger, and I’m certainly no web designer, but I am eager to share what musical endeavors I have in store.  To create this site, I’ve enlisted the help of Joel Watson, creator of the hilarious web comic Hijinks Ensue.  As you can see by his site, he’s quite web-savvy.  I, on the other hand, am often preoccupied with performing my music and session work.  In other words, it will take a little time before I’ve populated these pages with all the bells and whistles you come to expect from a musician’s website.  Look for music, video, photos, and news all coming soon.  You can see where I’m playing on the Shows page, and I also encourage you to sign up for my mailing list.  Last but not least,  you can find music and news of my band Spiraling here.  Thanks for visiting…