Tom Brislin – Musician | tombrislin.com

Catch me on tour this summer playing keyboards for Renaissance, as we hit the road joining Procul Harum or Steve Hackett on select dates.  There’s even a free show in NYC on June 23!

Full tour info and updates at renaissancetouring.com/wp/tour.

June 12 – Atlantic City, NJ – Tropicana

June 16 – Kennett Square, PA – Longwood Gardens Amphitheatre

June 20 – West Hampton Beach, NY – West Hampton Beach P. A. C.

June 22 – Arlington, MA – Regent Theatre

June 23 – Battery Park, NYC – River to River Festival

June 24 – Falls Church, VA – State Theatre

June 25 – Greensburg, PA – Palace Theatre

June 29 – Chicago, IL – Park West

June 30 – S. Milwaukee, WI – South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center

July 1 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues

July 2 – Rochester, NY – Water Street Music Hall

July 3 – Albany, NY – The Egg – Hart Theater

July 4 – Trois Rivieres, QC – Festivoix

July 7 – Toronto, ON – Club Mod (***Note Change of Venue***)

July 8 – Ottawa, ON – Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest

July 9 – Montreal, QC – Place des Arts Theatre Maisonneuve

July 10 – Sherebrooke, QC -Theatre Granada

July 12 – Quebec City, QC -Quebec City International Summer Festival Pigeonnier Park Stage

July 14 – Norfolk, CT

July 16 – Tarrytown, NY – Tarrytown Music Hall

August 21 – Tokyo, Japan – Kawasaki Club Citta

August 22 – Tokyo, Japan – Hibiya Open Air Theatre

I’ll be appearing this Saturday, April 17, in a duo setting backing up Francis Dunnery in Titusville, New Jersey. Following that, I’ll be back with Renaissance as we perform at this year’s RosFest on May 1 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. As always, details can be found at the Shows page. Here are some video clips with both acts:

Duo with Francis Dunnery:

Can’t see the video? Click here.

With Renaissance:

Can’t see the video: Click here.

Catch me at this year’s South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas.  On Friday, March 19, I’ll be kicking off the Austin Roadhouse Records Launch Party, hosted by Infinite Response.  Come see me demo their new keyboard, the VAX77, and if you play keyboards, come up and jam on one.  The show is free, with free beer and barbeque too; contact me for an invite to the show.  Check my Shows page for details.

The VAX77. I do unfold it when I play, though.

I recently posted a spontaneous quiz on my Facebook music page.  In my profile photo (from which my banner photo was derived), I am surrounded by six keyboards.  The quiz?  Name five of them.

Here’s the photo:

photo by Kira Smith

Congrats to the keen eye of Jason Kresge (keyboardist from the band Orpheus Nine) who correctly identified my pets, from the bottom-left corner: Moog Rogue, Yamaha SK-20, Moog Little Phatty, Wurlitzer 200A Electric Piano, and Realistic Concertmate MG-1 (aka the “Radio Shack Moog”).  The other keyboard would be practically impossible to identify, since all you can see is keys.  Here’s another photo from the same session where the mystery board is visible:

photo by Kira Smith

Yep, it’s my trusty old Hohner Clavinet E7 (which you can see in action here).  Also pictured are: Novation K-Station (top left), Moog Voyager (top), Rhodes Mark 1 Stage Piano (top right), and Roland Jupiter-6 (right).

I don’t share these pictures to show off or anything; many of you who know me are aware that I’ve been collecting this stuff since I was a paperboy.  And for all the geeking out, it’s looking like my upcoming solo album is going to be primarily a piano-and-vocal affair.  Gear is fun, though, and there’s a story behind every instrument.  In fact, I’m considering adding a gear page to my site.  What do you think?  Do you want to know more about the equipment I use?  Please comment away!

Here are some videos from the Who Tribute concert with Glen Burtnik at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ.

“Baba O’Riley”

“Getting In Tune”

Now that “Who’s Next” is done, what’s next for me?

Some of you may know that I am currently writing a SOLO album.  I’ve played a couple of the new songs live, and am digging in for more.  It’s looking to be piano-heavy; possibly just my piano and voice.  Maybe more.  Collaborations?  Yes, but they might go on a separate release.  Still figuring it all out.

I’ve also got a few shows coming up where I’m playing with Francis Dunnery, in duo format (February) and the first U.S. shows with The New Progressives (March).  See my shows page for more info.

I’m also going to be appearing solo in Austin, TX for SXSW in March!  Details soon.

Getting closer to the big Who tribute show!  Here’s a clip of the “Won’t Get Fooled Again” organ break.  I programmed the sound on my trusty Alesis Andromeda synth, which I also used on the Yes Symphonic tour and Spiraling’s “Transmitter”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuFutXxOueM

http://www.statetheatrenj.org/glen_burtnik

Happy Holidays!  There’s a sale going on over at spiraling.net/store with every single thing we sell for $5 each.  Every CD, T-Shirt, and download album is $5 plus shipping.  Sale ends Friday, January 1.

What better way to end a tour than to have one of the biggest rock legends in history come up on stage and sing a song?  That’s exactly what happened at the final gig of the fall tour with Francis Dunnery and the New Progressives, this past Friday in Oswestry UK.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Mr. Robert Plant.

If you can’t see the video, follow this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRG7gPwPGCo

We’d been touring throughout the UK and have had some great musical guests sit in for a song or two, on any given night.  The buzz among the band was that for the last show, Robert Plant would come and sing  “Calling To You” with us (we recorded a new version of the song on Francis’ new CD).   Mr. Plant had fun with it, complete with stream-of-consciousness jokes about progressive rock that you can hear at the beginning of my keyboard solo.

It went something like this:

“It’s getting really ‘prog’ now.  Ooh.  Mountains come out of the sea and they just stand there.  I used to know Jon Anderson, you know.  And I worked with Jethro Tull too.  It was fantastic!  All that standing on your own like that with a flute….”

Less than 24 hours later, we were on a plane back to the US, a bit exhausted but still laughing about it all.  Thanks to all the friends, old and new, who came to see the tour, and thanks to Francis, Dorie Jackson, Brett Kull, Jamie Bishop, and Paul Ramsey for being such a great band to be a part of.

Tom Brislin and Robert Plant, November 2009

I can’t believe that the first tour with Renaissance is over. It went by way too fast. It was great to see so many familiar faces, and thanks to the fact that nearly every show was sold-out, we’re likely to be back on the road next year.
Not 24 hours after getting home, I’m heading to the U.K. and manning the keys for Francis Dunnery’s New Progressives. This is my first trip to England since I toured with Yes in 2001. We’re there supporting Francis’ new CD There’s A Whole New World Out There, on which I recorded keyboard tracks.  You can find all the tourdates at tombrislin.com/shows .