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{{other people|Brian Carpenter}}
{{Infobox musical artist
{{Infobox musical artist
|name = Brian Carpenter
| name = Brian Carpenter
⚫
| image = Brian Carpenter and The Confessions.png
|background = solo_singer
| image_size =
|image = Brian Carpenter performing live at Church of Boston Jan 2013.jpg
|image_size =
| caption =
|caption =
| birth_name =
⚫
| birth_place = [[Melbourne, Florida]], U.S.
|birth_name =
|alias =
| alias =
|death_date =
| death_date =
|genre = [[Alternative rock]], [[folk rock]], [[jazz]], [[alternative country]]
| genre = {{hlist|[[Alternative rock]]|[[folk rock]]|[[jazz]]|[[alternative country]]}}
|occupation = Singer-songwriter, [[producer (music)|producer]], [[radio producer]], [[engineer]], multi-instrumentalist
| occupation = Singer-songwriter, [[producer (music)|producer]], [[radio producer]], [[engineer]], multi-instrumentalist
|instrument = [[Singing|Vocals]], [[Trumpet]], [[Harmonica]]
| instrument = [[Singing|Vocals]], [[Trumpet]], [[Harmonica]]
|years_active = 1998–present
| years_active = 1998–present
|associated_acts = [[Beat Circus]]<br>Brian Carpenter & The Confessions<br>Ghost Train Orchestra<br>Beat Science
| associated_acts = [[Beat Circus]]<br>Brian Carpenter & The Confessions<br>[[Ghost Train Orchestra]]<br>Beat Science
}}
}}


'''Brian Carpenter''' is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and arranger. He is the lead singer and songwriter for the [[Boston, Massachusetts]] band [[Beat Circus]]. His primary instrument is the trumpet. He also leads and arranges for the Ghost Train Orchestra in [[New York City]]. He currently resides in [[Arlington, Massachusetts]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Monger |first=James Christopher |url={{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p675868|pure_url=yes}} |title=Allmusic Biography |date=2008-01-28 |accessdate=2008-01-28}}</ref>
'''Brian Carpenter''' is an American musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, producer, and radio host. He is the lead singer and songwriter for the [[Boston, Massachusetts]] band [[Beat Circus]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Monger |first=James Christopher |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p675868|pure_url=yes}} |title=Allmusic Biography |date=2008-01-28 |accessdate=2008-01-28}}</ref> In 2011, he formed Brian Carpenter & The Confessions and released its debut album in 2015. He is also a founder and musical director of [[Ghost Train Orchestra]] in [[Brooklyn]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Andrew |url=http://articles.boston.com/2011-09-11/ae/30142851_1_gto-carpenter-first-carpenter-lives |title=Ghost Train picks up speed |date=2011-09-11 |accessdate=2011-12-14 |work=The Boston Globe |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028044246/http://articles.boston.com/2011-09-11/ae/30142851_1_gto-carpenter-first-carpenter-lives |archive-date=2011-10-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Brian Carpenter was born in [[Melbourne, Florida]]. 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|WZBC-FM]] in [[Newton, Massachusetts]] and formed the band Beat Circus in 2002.<ref>{{cite news |last=Garelick |first=Jon |url=http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/music/giantsteps/multi_1/documents/04140010.asp |title=Music – To play is the thing |date=2004-09-24 |accessdate=2011-03-28}}</ref> In 2009 he revealed his son had [[high-functioning autism]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Thompson |first=Barry |url=http://thephoenix.com/Boston/Music/74605-Southern-exposure/ |title=Southern Exposure |publisher=Boston Phoenix |date=2009-01-06 |accessdate=2009-01-07}}</ref>


== Musical career ==
== Musical career ==
⚫
After the formation of Beat Circus, Carpenter began composing a "Weird American Gothic" trilogy of albums, starting with ''[[Dreamland (Beat Circus album)|Dreamland]]'', released on the [[Cuneiform Records|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 Gospel|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.<ref>{{cite news |last=Elliot |first=Richard |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/116388-beat-cicrus-boy-from-black-mountain/ |title=Beat Circus: Boy From Black Mountain |date=2009-12-02 |accessdate=2011-03-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://blurt-online.com/news/view/3294/ |title=Independent Music Awards Winners Named on Blurt Online |date=2010-01-27 |accessdate=2011-03-28}}</ref>


=== Beat Circus ===
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.<ref>{{cite news |last=Greenlee |first=Steve |url=http://www.boston.com/ae/music/cd_reviews/articles/2011/03/14/brian_carpenters_ghost_train_orchestra_hothouse_stomp/ |title=Brian Carpenter's Ghost Train Orchestra, 'Hothouse Stomp' |date=2011-03-14 |accessdate=2011-03-28 |work=The Boston Globe}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.npr.org/2011/04/07/135045403/brian-carpenter-eclectic-jazz-rooted-in-americana |title=Brian Carpenter: Eclectic Jazz, Rooted in Americana : NPR |date=2010-04-07 |accessdate=2011-04-21}}</ref>
⚫
After the formation of Beat Circus in 2002, Carpenter began composing a "Weird American Gothic" trilogy of albums, starting with ''[[Dreamland (Beat Circus album)|Dreamland]]'', released on the [[Cuneiform Records|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 gospel|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.<ref>{{cite news |last=Elliot |first=Richard |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/116388-beat-cicrus-boy-from-black-mountain/ |title=Beat Circus: Boy From Black Mountain |date=2009-12-02 |accessdate=2011-03-28}}</ref> In 2012 Carpenter began collaborating with the [[Berkeley Repertory Theater]] on a musical loosely based on [[Herbert Asbury]]'s Gold Rush saga The Barbary Coast.<ref>{{cite news |last=Brady |first=Shaun |url=http://thekey.xpn.org/2014/04/12/ghost-train-orchestra-resurrect-jazz-age-music-at-the-annenberg-center-tonight/ |title=Ghost Train Orchestra resurrect Jazz Age Music at the Annenberg Center |date=2014-04-12 |accessdate=2014-05-14}}</ref>


=== Ghost Train Orchestra ===
In 2011 Carpenter announced the formation of a new band called Brian Carpenter & The Confessions, which debuted in January 2011 in [[Biddeford, Maine]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Ponti |first=Aimsel |url=http://www.pressherald.com/life/go/reggae-brown-bird.html |title=Face the Music |date=2011-01-27 |accessdate=2011-03-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Andrew |url=http://articles.boston.com/2011-09-11/ae/30142851_1_gto-carpenter-first-carpenter-lives |title=Ghost Train picks up speed |date=2011-09-11 |accessdate=2011-12-14 |work=The Boston Globe}}</ref>
In 2006 Carpenter was hired as the musical director for a run of vaudeville shows at an historic theater in Boston, 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''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/04/07/135045403/brian-carpenter-eclectic-jazz-rooted-in-americana |title=Brian Carpenter: Eclectic Jazz, Rooted in Americana : NPR |date=2010-04-07 |accessdate=2011-04-21}}</ref> The ensemble went on to reconstruct and re-imagine compositions by idiosyncratic American composers from the late 1930s with the album ''Book of Rhapsodies'' and the music of [[Moondog]] with [[Kronos Quartet]] on the album [[Songs and Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Garelick |first=Jon |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2014/03/27/ghost-train-orchestra-deliver-unclassifable-mix-new-album/FiXf0bPr6I0ypMdUPycQwI/story.html |title=Ghost Train Orchestra deliver an unclassifiable mix |date=2014-03-27 |accessdate=2014-04-16 |work=The Boston Globe}}</ref><ref name="Cantaloupe Music">{{cite web |title=Songs and Symphoniques: the Music of Moondog |url=https://cantaloupemusic.com/albums/songs-and-symphoniques-music-of-moondog |website=cantaloupemusic.com |publisher=Cantaloupe Music, LLC |access-date=16 September 2023 |language=en |date=30 June 2023}}</ref>


=== Brian Carpenter & The Confessions ===
In 2012 Carpenter began collaborating with the [[Berkeley Repertory Theater]] on a musical loosely based on [[Herbert Asbury]]'s Gold Rush saga The Barbary Coast.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Kenneth |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/161556-Berkeley-Rep39s-First-Ground-Floor-Lab-to-Welcome-Dan-LeFranc-Michael-Mitnick-Amelia-Roper-Heidi-Stillman |title=Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor |date=2012-04-12 |accessdate=2012-12-02}}</ref>
In 2011 Carpenter announced the formation of a new band called Brian Carpenter & The Confessions which debuted in January 2011 in [[Biddeford, Maine]]. The band recorded their debut ''The Far End of the World'' with Rafi Sofer at [[Q Division Studios]] in [[Somerville, Massachusetts]] and mixed with [[Craig Schumacher]] in [[Tucson, Arizona]]. The album was released in 2015.<ref>{{cite news |last=Laban |first=Linda |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/music/exclusive-premiere-watch-brian-carpenter-and-the-confessions-new-video-for-savior-of-love-7831695 |title=Exclusive Premiere: Watch Brian Carpenter & The Confessions' New Video for 'Savior of Love' |date=2015-10-30 |accessdate=2015-11-04}}</ref>


== Selected Discography ==
== Radio ==
In 2001, Carpenter began hosting a weekly radio program ''Free Association'' on [[WZBC]] at [[Boston College]]. He then began producing lengthy [[radio documentaries]], starting with ''The Sound of Horror'', a four-hour study on sound design in horror and science-fiction film. Among other projects, Carpenter aired documentaries on jazz multi-instrumentalist and composer [[Sam Rivers (jazz musician)|Sam Rivers]] and composer, inventor, and electronic music pioneer [[Raymond Scott]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://puredenizen.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/a-primer-on-horror-and-sci-fi-sound-design/ |title=A Primer on Horror and Sci-Fi Sound Design |date=2010-10-29 |work=Pure Denizen}}</ref>
⚫
*2004: ''Ringleaders Revolt'' (Beat Circus, Innova)
⚫
*2008: ''[[Dreamland (Beat Circus album)|Dreamland]]'' (Beat Circus, Cuneiform)
⚫
*2009: ''[[Boy From Black Mountain]]'' (Beat Circus, Cuneiform)
*2011: ''Hothouse Stomp'' (Ghost Train Orchestra, Accurate)
⚫
*2012: ''Blind'' (Brian Carpenter & The Confessions, self-released)
⚫
*2013: ''Book of Rhapsodies'' (Ghost Train Orchestra, Accurate)


== Discography ==
In 2010 Carpenter contributed to tracks on the [[Swans (band)|Swans]] album ''[[My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gira |first=Michael |url=http://thequietus.com/articles/04724-michael-gira-review-new-swans-album-my-father-will-guide-me-up-a-rope-to-the-sky |title=Michael Gira on Swans' My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky |date=2010-07-30 |accessdate=2011-03-28}}</ref>
=== [[Beat Circus]] ===
⚫
*''Ringleaders Revolt'' (2004)
⚫
*''[[Dreamland (Beat Circus album)|Dreamland]]'' (2008)
⚫
*''[[Boy From Black Mountain]]'' (2009)
*''These Wicked Things'' (2019)

=== Brian Carpenter and the Confessions ===
*''Blind'' (2012)
*''The Far End of the World'' (2015)

=== [[Ghost Train Orchestra]] ===
*''[[Hothouse Stomp]]'' (2011)
⚫
*''Book of Rhapsodies'' (2013)
*''Hot Town'' (2015)
*''Book of Rhapsodies Vol II'' (2017)
*''[[Songs and Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog]]'' (2023) with [[Kronos Quartet]]

=== Appears on ===
*[[Swans (band)|Swans]], ''[[My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky]]'' (2010)
*[[Kronos Quartet]], ''[[Long Time Passing]]'' (2020)
*[[Thalia Zedek]], ''[[Perfect Vision]]'' (2021)

== Radio Documentaries ==
*''The Sound of Horror: Sound Design in Horror and Science-Fiction Film'' (2003, with Stephen Jay Schneider, Stephen Barden, Craig Henighan)
*''Rivers and Rhythms: A Sam Rivers Retrospective'' (2012, with Allan Chase, [[Steve Coleman]], [[Russ Gershon]], and [[Dave Holland (bassist)|Dave Holland]])<ref>{{cite news |url=http://thecm5.com/2012/02/28/rivers-and-rhythms-a-sam-rivers-radio-retrospective-friday-march-2nd/ |title=Rivers and Rhythms: A Sam Rivers Retrospective |date=2012-02-28}}</ref>
*''Imagination and Innovation: The World of Raymond Scott'' (2012, with [[Irwin Chusid]], Tom Rhea, [[Jim Thirlwell]])
*''Ennio Morricone: Magician of Sound'' (2020, with Alessandro De Rosa)


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


== External links ==
⚫
{{Authority control|VIAF=171203196}}
* [http://www.briancarpenterandtheconfessions.net/ Brian Carpenter & The Confessions]
* [https://www.briancarpenter.net/ Brian Carpenter - Official Website]
⚫
{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Carpenter, Brian
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1971-12-13
⚫
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Melbourne, Florida]]
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Brian}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Brian}}
[[Category:Musicians from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:University of Florida alumni]]
[[Category:University of Florida alumni]]
[[Category:People from Melbourne, Florida]]
[[Category:People from Melbourne, Florida]]
[[Category:People from Arlington, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Singers from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:21st-century American singers]]
[[Category:Ghost Train Orchestra members]]
[[Category:Satellite High School alumni]]

Latest revision as of 18:31, 21 December 2024

Brian Carpenter
Background information
BornMelbourne, Florida, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, producer, radio producer, engineer, multi-instrumentalist
Instrument(s)Vocals, Trumpet, Harmonica
Years active1998–present

Brian Carpenter is an American musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, producer, and radio host. He is the lead singer and songwriter for the Boston, Massachusetts band Beat Circus.[1] In 2011, he formed Brian Carpenter & The Confessions and released its debut album in 2015. He is also a founder and musical director of Ghost Train Orchestra in Brooklyn.[2]

Musical career

[edit]

Beat Circus

[edit]

After the formation of Beat Circus in 2002, Carpenter began composing a "Weird American Gothic" trilogy of albums, starting with Dreamland, 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.[3] In 2012 Carpenter began collaborating with the Berkeley Repertory Theater on a musical loosely based on Herbert Asbury's Gold Rush saga The Barbary Coast.[4]

Ghost Train Orchestra

[edit]

In 2006 Carpenter was hired as the musical director for a run of vaudeville shows at an historic theater in Boston, 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.[5] The ensemble went on to reconstruct and re-imagine compositions by idiosyncratic American composers from the late 1930s with the album Book of Rhapsodies and the music of Moondog with Kronos Quartet on the album Songs and Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog.[6][7]

Brian Carpenter & The Confessions

[edit]

In 2011 Carpenter announced the formation of a new band called Brian Carpenter & The Confessions which debuted in January 2011 in Biddeford, Maine. The band recorded their debut The Far End of the World with Rafi Sofer at Q Division Studios in Somerville, Massachusetts and mixed with Craig Schumacher in Tucson, Arizona. The album was released in 2015.[8]

Radio

[edit]

In 2001, Carpenter began hosting a weekly radio program Free Association on WZBC at Boston College. He then began producing lengthy radio documentaries, starting with The Sound of Horror, a four-hour study on sound design in horror and science-fiction film. Among other projects, Carpenter aired documentaries on jazz multi-instrumentalist and composer Sam Rivers and composer, inventor, and electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott.[9]

Discography

[edit]

Beat Circus

[edit]

Brian Carpenter and the Confessions

[edit]
  • Blind (2012)
  • The Far End of the World (2015)

Ghost Train Orchestra

[edit]

Appears on

[edit]

Radio Documentaries

[edit]
  • The Sound of Horror: Sound Design in Horror and Science-Fiction Film (2003, with Stephen Jay Schneider, Stephen Barden, Craig Henighan)
  • Rivers and Rhythms: A Sam Rivers Retrospective (2012, with Allan Chase, Steve Coleman, Russ Gershon, and Dave Holland)[10]
  • Imagination and Innovation: The World of Raymond Scott (2012, with Irwin Chusid, Tom Rhea, Jim Thirlwell)
  • Ennio Morricone: Magician of Sound (2020, with Alessandro De Rosa)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Monger, James Christopher (2008-01-28). "Allmusic Biography". Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  2. ^ Gilbert, Andrew (2011-09-11). "Ghost Train picks up speed". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 2011-10-28. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
  3. ^ Elliot, Richard (2009-12-02). "Beat Circus: Boy From Black Mountain". Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  4. ^ Brady, Shaun (2014-04-12). "Ghost Train Orchestra resurrect Jazz Age Music at the Annenberg Center". Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  5. ^ "Brian Carpenter: Eclectic Jazz, Rooted in Americana : NPR". 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  6. ^ Garelick, Jon (2014-03-27). "Ghost Train Orchestra deliver an unclassifiable mix". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
  7. ^ "Songs and Symphoniques: the Music of Moondog". cantaloupemusic.com. Cantaloupe Music, LLC. 30 June 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  8. ^ Laban, Linda (2015-10-30). "Exclusive Premiere: Watch Brian Carpenter & The Confessions' New Video for 'Savior of Love'". Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  9. ^ "A Primer on Horror and Sci-Fi Sound Design". Pure Denizen. 2010-10-29.
  10. ^ "Rivers and Rhythms: A Sam Rivers Retrospective". 2012-02-28.
[edit]
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