Brian Carpenter (musician)
Encyclopedia
Brian Carpenter is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and radio producer. He is the lead singer and songwriter for the Boston, Massachusetts band Beat Circus
. His primary instrument is the trumpet. He also leads the Ghost Train Orchestra in New York City
. He currently resides in Arlington, Massachusetts
.
. He first attended the University of Florida
in the mid-1990s, where he studied engineering and became part of the burgeoning music scene in Gainesville, Florida
. He moved to Boston in 2000 and began hosting a radio show on WZBC-FM
in Newton, Massachusetts
and formed the band Beat Circus in 2002. In 2009 he revealed his son had high-functioning autism
.
, released on the Cuneiform
label in 2008, a song cycle loosely based on the Coney Island theme park of the same name. Boy From Black Mountain
followed in 2009 with Southern folk songs
inspired by his son and his father's life growing up as a farmer in the Florida Panhandle
. The album won the Independent Music Award that year for Best Alt/Country Album.
In 2006 Carpenter was hired as the musical director for a run of vaudeville shows at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, Massachusetts
, then celebrating its 90th anniversary. He formed a 9-piece band called the Ghost Train Orchestra to perform the event and in 2011 released an album of rearranged music from obscure late 1920s Chicago and Harlem bands called Hothouse Stomp on Accurate Records.
In 2011 Carpenter announced the formation of a new band "centered around the voice and words" called Brian Carpenter & The Confessions, which debuted in January 2011 in Biddeford, Maine
.
In 2010 Carpenter contributed to tracks on the Swans
album My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
.
Beat Circus
Beat Circus is a band from Boston, Massachusetts fronted by multi-instrumentalist / singer-songwriter Brian Carpenter, who has been its only constant member since its inception.-Musical style:...
. His primary instrument is the trumpet. He also leads the Ghost Train Orchestra in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He currently resides in Arlington, Massachusetts
Arlington, Massachusetts
Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston. The population was 42,844 at the 2010 census.-History:...
.
Personal life
Brian Carpenter was born in Melbourne, FloridaMelbourne, Florida
Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. As of 2009, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 78,323. The municipal area is the second largest by size and by population in the county. Melbourne is a principal city of the Palm Bay – Melbourne – Titusville, Florida...
. He first attended the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in the mid-1990s, where he studied engineering and became part of the burgeoning music scene in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
. He moved to Boston in 2000 and began hosting a radio show on WZBC-FM
WZBC
WZBC is a radio station broadcasting an Alternative format. Licensed to Newton, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves Boston and its western suburbs. The station is currently owned by Boston College....
in Newton, Massachusetts
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
and formed the band Beat Circus in 2002. In 2009 he revealed his son had high-functioning autism
High-functioning autism
High-functioning autism is an informal term applied to autistic people who are deemed to be "higher functioning" than other autistic people, by one or more metrics. There is no consensus as to the definition. HFA is not yet a recognised diagnosis in the DSM-IV-TR or the ICD-10.The amount of...
.
Musical career
After the formation of Beat Circus, Carpenter began composing a "Weird American Gothic" trilogy of albums, starting with DreamlandDreamland (Beat Circus album)
Dreamland is the second studio album by American band Beat Circus. It was released on January 29, 2008 by Cuneiform Records, and shares its title with the turn-of-the-century Coney Island theme park which burned in a devastating fire in 1911. The album is a 150-page score for 9 musicians composed...
, released on the Cuneiform
Cuneiform Records
Cuneiform Records is an independent record label based in Silver Spring, Maryland.The label releases a mixture of musical styles, including progressive jazz, modern fusion music, progressive rock, the Canterbury Scene and electronic music...
label in 2008, a song cycle loosely based on the Coney Island theme park of the same name. Boy From Black Mountain
Boy from Black Mountain
Boy From Black Mountain is the third studio album by Beat Circus. It marks the second release in songwriter Brian Carpenter's Weird American Gothic trilogy. Several songs on the album were inspired by Carpenter's response to his son's autism. Larkin Grimm provides guest vocals throughout the...
followed in 2009 with Southern folk songs
Southern Gospel
Southern Gospel music—at one time also known as "quartet music"—is music whose lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music...
inspired by his son and his father's life growing up as a farmer in the Florida Panhandle
Florida Panhandle
The Florida Panhandle, an informal, unofficial term for the northwestern part of Florida, is a strip of land roughly 200 miles long and 50 to 100 miles wide , lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia also on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Its eastern boundary is...
. The album won the Independent Music Award that year for Best Alt/Country Album.
In 2006 Carpenter was hired as the musical director for a run of vaudeville shows at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, Massachusetts
Arlington, Massachusetts
Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston. The population was 42,844 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, then celebrating its 90th anniversary. He formed a 9-piece band called the Ghost Train Orchestra to perform the event and in 2011 released an album of rearranged music from obscure late 1920s Chicago and Harlem bands called Hothouse Stomp on Accurate Records.
In 2011 Carpenter announced the formation of a new band "centered around the voice and words" called Brian Carpenter & The Confessions, which debuted in January 2011 in Biddeford, Maine
Biddeford, Maine
Biddeford is a town in York County, Maine, United States. It is the largest town in the county, and is the sixth-largest in the state. It is the most southerly incorporated town in the state and the principal commercial center of York County. The population was 21,277 at the 2010 census...
.
Discography
- Ringleaders Revolt (Beat Circus, 2004)
- DreamlandDreamland (Beat Circus album)Dreamland is the second studio album by American band Beat Circus. It was released on January 29, 2008 by Cuneiform Records, and shares its title with the turn-of-the-century Coney Island theme park which burned in a devastating fire in 1911. The album is a 150-page score for 9 musicians composed...
(Beat Circus, 2008) - Boy From Black MountainBoy from Black MountainBoy From Black Mountain is the third studio album by Beat Circus. It marks the second release in songwriter Brian Carpenter's Weird American Gothic trilogy. Several songs on the album were inspired by Carpenter's response to his son's autism. Larkin Grimm provides guest vocals throughout the...
(Beat Circus, 2009) - Hothouse Stomp (Ghost Train Orchestra, 2011)
In 2010 Carpenter contributed to tracks on the Swans
Swans (band)
Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in...
album My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky is a studio album by Swans released on September 23, 2010; it is their first studio recording in 14 years...
.