With a grin, Brian Baker refers to himself not as a guitarist but as a “guitar-ssionist; a percussionist on the guitar”. The trademark bold, cutting-edge percussion on the guitar, accompanying his unique blend of blues, jazz, classical, and world music give off his intense creative energy. Brian's masterfully crafted lyrics, live-looping abilities, multi-instrumental approach, deep passion for music, and the ability to carry audiences from comical high's to intense emotional lows, make Brian's performances unforgettable, and for many, cathartic. He is indebted to modern artists who cross genres and stretch boundaries. His musical influences range from Yo Yo Ma, Richard Stolzman, Keller Williams, Michael Hedges, Michael Franti, and the Grateful Dead. He also draws upon the sounds of Flamenco, Indian, and Middle-eastern music.
As with many musicians and artists, music transformed Brian's life dramatically. He went from being “Mr. Tech-head” studying engineering at the University of Hawaii, to studying music and music therapy at MSU. Upon graduation, he performed extensively throughout the US, Europe, and the Middle East. In time, Brian made California home where he continued to perform, and kick-started his career as a music therapist. His enthusiastic persona coupled with thousands of hours of clinical music therapy helped him master the art of motivating and transforming live audiences. During this early moment in his career, he played and/or collaborated with many notable artists including Mickey Hart and Bob Weir, Wynton Marsalis, Stanley Jordan, Christian McBride, and Arthur Hull.
As he continued down this natural career path, Brian immersed himself more and more into music therapy. He founded the award winning non-profit organization, Absolute Vibration in 1994. This organization has been a way to bridge the gap between his performance interests, and public service as a board-certified music therapist. Absolute Vibration has provided thousands of hours of music therapy services to a variety of individuals with special needs. It has won numerous awards, including, “Hometown Hero of the Week” by San Francisco's largest evening news station KCBS Channel 5 for its “Drums-Not-Guns” collaboration with SFPD and SF Unified School District.
In 1997, after recording his first EP “Guitarssionistic Impressions”, he prepared to tour in support of his new album and art form. At the same time, Absolute Vibration began to blossom into a thriving organization. This put Brian at a crossroads, and he had to make the difficult decision to put off touring and promoting his album, thus focusing all his time and energy into Absolute Vibration.
As Brian continued to develop the organization, he also took on the role of music director for Techno Cosmic Mass from 1999 to 2001. This was created by world-renowned author and ritualist, Matthew Fox. Brian coordinated and provided live music to over 500 people monthly.
Over time, Brian began to realize that although he had many great accomplishments, he had not allowed his deepest passion for music through performance to shine through and continue. Over the past few years, his motivation to do so, has led him to release some music therapy obligations in order to create a musical haven for himself and start performing again. He is endorsed by REMO, Inc. and is currently working on a new album, which he looks forward to releasing in May of 2008. Brian would be an outstanding fit for any festival or warm-up act for established musicians, bands, and artists. Whatever his approach is, Brian feels strongly about honoring the tradition of acoustic music as much as possible, while at the same time, honoring the rich technological advances of today's music scene. His performances clearly demonstrate that he has quite successfully, managed to merge these two.
Instrumentation
Guitars, percussion, vocals, harmonica, didgeridoo
Discography
Guitar-ssionistic Impressions: 1997
Believing is Seeing: To Be Released May 2008