Brent Magstadt began playing drums at age 15. He found the instrument thrilling and physical and gratifying. Boston had just pressed their first self-titled album and he learned the entire release on kit. After about a year (and as these volume-oriented things tend to manifest occasionally...) a time came when a vociferous request was put forth to perhaps be a little... quieter.
So, in the wan fading light of a winter day, an old plastic body guitar was uncovered from the very back of the closet. And near the turntable leaned the latest vinyl release from Kiss. Oboy...
Two years later, High School finally - thankfully - became part of history. Gigs were prevalent, attitudes were edgy, and power chords figured quite heavily in the continued advancement of the young Brent's playing.
Through the Metal Years (MY) he lived, somewhat surprisingly; he and his band opening for the likes of Black Oak Arkansas, Badfinger, Rail, and other even less noticable entourages. Until one day he awoke with a start to a new musical phase. He moved, to the lung-clogging air of Los Angeles, where he studied Jazz, never played one gig (but wow did he learn a lot), and consistently overdrew his bank account. As age so often does, it made him wiser. He moved out of LA and landed back in the world of the sky - Montana. One college degree, a string of big band performances with the likes of Randy Brecker, Paul Mckee, Steve Houghton, Carl Fontana and hundreds of solo and small ensemble gigs later... found him taking off for the quaint shire of Victoria, BC; and thus eventually migrating into the Seattle acoustic scene.
These were the Republican Years (RY), culminating in the current infuriating administration(s). As these dark days progressed, Brent became more deeply entrenched in his one true passion: music. (And he began dabbling in photography as well...) He penned charts for the small ensembles he played in; writing scores for everything from CD-Rom software sales pitches to series of Rounds, composed on his commutes; imagining on a slightly larger scale.
With the release of his first solo CD in July of 2005, Brent realized the only way to fully replicate the tracks live was with a full band. Unable to levy commitment from the chosen musicians, he opted for the low-impact route and began surfing the Seattle acoustic singer/songwriter scene.
And now, with the advent of 2008, Brent has found his way into the Hawaiian Islands, not only looking for more musical inspiration, but in an effort to physically distance himself as far as possible from this pathetic excuse of a government (fingers crossed for change, please...). In Hawaii Brent resumed his role of singer/songwriter, formed The Elementals with Sherri Thal, and even took up the sideman chores again, playing guitar for the Eco-educational Lava Jam Band, opening for Jack Johnson on Keiki Day at the Kokua Festival in Honolulu. What comes next is still a question, but with his wonderful & exceptional musical partner Sherri (vocalist/violinist/percussionist/composer/arranger), it's bound to be invigorating.
And so the Journey of Brent continues. A journey of imagination. Not only the music in his head, but hope for the world to exist as a peaceful centered place, where people are equals, the instruments are tuned and ready, and money is not a fools tool of measurement...
Stay tuned...
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