I'm primarily searching for other classical music composers and musicians, and people that may also have a need to hire me to compose classical music or do orchestral arrangements for them.
My company "The Music Shoppe", rents Sound & Light equipment in the Akron/Canton/Cleveland area of Ohio. I specialize in small to mid size club sound and light system rentals for bands, parties, business meetings, schools, churches, and spe
I have been a full time working musician since I was 16 years old, and play Keyboards, Guitar and bass, all at a pro level. Through the years I've studied at 5 colleges, read music well, and I'm experienced at performing any type of music.
Gerald Gary Braden, Musician, Composer 's Companies
Thanks for visiting my MySpace, Gerald (Gary) Braden, Composer, Musician page! The piece of music I have playing on this page, is one of my compositions entitled "Sextet In D Major" (for Piano and String Quintet), and was recorded live in the spring of 2007 at a chamber music concert in Florida. I am playing the piano, and the string players are some of my old friends from The Cleveland Institute of Music, and Eastman School of music that I used to do commercial recording sessions with 20 years ago. This is only the introduction to the piece, and it was recorded with a cassette deck, so that's why there is "tape hiss". This past year, I've spent almost all of my time preparing for this huge move I've made back to the state of Ohio. Other than sheet music and written scores, most of my music is on my "music computer", which I still have not set up yet. When I get more settled, find work, and get back to my composing, I'll put more of my music samples on my other MySpace music page, that you can get to by clicking on my photo below in the "Favorite Friends".
First off, I would like to start by telling you that my full name is, Gerald Wilhelm Braden, or, Gerald W Braden. When I compose classical music, I use my full formal name instead of, Gary Braden, which is the name I've used most of my life as a working musician in bands. So, if any of you Rock Music lovers out there that know me, ever happen to see or hear of any Classical Music compositions written by Gerald Wilhelm Braden, ...well, it's just me again!
I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1954. When I was 6 years old, my family moved to Mentor, Ohio, so that my father could begin a new job as a builder of sailboats. I came from a working class family, with my fathers family being from Scotland, and my mother being from Vienna, Austria. In grade school, my family was told that I showed a great amount of musical talent at a very young age, but my family could not afford the cost of formal music training for me. My mother always used to tell me that I had the "Weiner Blut" (Viennese blood), when it came to having a feel and understanding of music. It was unfortunate, but there were very few programs at that time to help educate talented or gifted children from families that could not afford training.
My parents divorced when I was 10, and I moved from our family owned home in Mentor, to a rental house with my father, his new wife, my sister Karen, and 4 step brothers. My fathers 2nd marriage only lasted about 1 year, and then my father and I moved to Grand River, Ohio for about a year and a half. My sister Karen decided to go live with our mother at this point. While we were living in this apartment, I would always hear loud music, and the sound of parties coming from the 2nd floor apartment right next to ours. When I finally met these tenants ("Dave Smalley" of the future Rasberries fame, and his friend "Ray Jezinowski"), I discovered that they were members of a local rock band called "The Choir". I was, of course, mesmerized by this fact! They were always having people over, playing music, and bringing home pretty girls. This was exciting to me, and definitly something I wanted to be part of....Ha! Anyway, I used to talk with them every chance they had. I had a cheap accoustic guitar that only had 4 strings, because the top 2 strings were broken. One day, I brought it over (thinking that they would be impressed that I was also going to be a musician...Ha!). Dave Smalley picked it up and said to me; "You know..., these 4 lower strings are the same as a bass guitar, only tuned an octave lower". From that point, I never fixed those top 2 strings, but started to learn my scales as a bassist on that old guitar (before I actually bought an electric bass later).
About a year later, I moved to East Cleveland with my father. We were living in a very small 1 bedroom apartment, and my father was working alot, and beginning to date other women. Most of the time, I was pretty much alone, and I got into the habit of sneaking out of the apartment late at night. I was intrigued by this Jazz club in East Cleveland on Euclid Ave that was located in a hotel. I think it was called Nighttown, but I'm not sure. Anyway, it was a Jazz club with a primarily black audience, and many great jazz artists used to play there. Even though I was only 12, I used to sneek in through the kitchen entrance, and find a really dark corner to stand in to listen to the music. A lot of great players used to perform there, such as; Roland Kirk, Abe Laboriel, Max Roach, Herbie Hancock...ect. I didn't even know who those people were at that time, but the music was exciting and different! I got up the nerve to speak with Roland Kirk one night during his break, and I asked him how he got the idea to play 2 saxes at the same time. He told me that when he was a little boy, they didn't have any money, and they would find and use just about anything for fun to pass the time. He then went on to say that he picked up a broken garden hose one day, and started to blow into it. When he discovered that he could make different pitches when he moved his lips, well, this is what he says was his first true instrument....Ha! Of course, I thought he was just pulling my leg, because even though he was blind, he somehow knew I was a young white boy!
About a year later, we moved to Cleveland Heights, Ohio. I started mowing lawns and doing other odd jobs to pay for music lessons, and I also started to play in my first band when I was 13 years old. I used to play basketball at the court across the street from my house, and as the weather grew warmer, I started to hear beautiful music coming from the apartments across from the court. I was fortunate to have a number of great musicians from the Cleveland Orchestra living in the old, large, brick apartment buildings on the street where I lived. In warm weather they would open their windows, and I would hear the beautiful sounds of their instruments as they practiced, and played chamber music. It became a habit for me to sit on the front steps of these apartments listening to all of these wonderful musicians whenever I heard them playing. As they came and went from the buildings, they would see me sitting there, and many of them would smile and say hello, and stop to talk as they got to know me. One day when I was sitting there, I was invited to come up to listen to them performing chamber music. When they started playing, I sat there, wide eyed, in awe of the beauty and emotion of the music I was hearing. From that point on, I would always take advantage of the opportunity to ask questions of all of these fine musicians. I was invited on a regular basis to many of their homes, to receive the gift of their knowledge and talent, that they would share with me. This continued for a few years, and during that time I had played with a few other bands.
By the time I was 15 (1969), I was playing 3-4 nights a week, and earning a living performing as a bassist/vocalist in a few local bands. I was still in school, and all of the musicians I was playing with were much older than I was. It was also during this year that I had the pleasure of playing quite a few gigs as a bassist with the great blues guitarist "Robert Lockwood Jr" around the Cleveland blues clubs. Playing with him at such a young age, really helped me to develop a sound foundation for understanding what a bass players function should be. I would definitly say that Robert was another one of my musical "mentors". Even though I did not become a blues musician, the things I learned from Robert Lockwood Jr have become part of who I am musically, and helped me have a better understanding of music in all it's styles.
During the summer of 1970, I was 16 and I ran off in the middle of the night while I was on vacation up in Canada with my father, step-mother (dad's 3rd marriage), my sister Karen, and "Dan Brittan", the son of my fathers former employer. I hitched hiked the next 24 hours to arrive in Toronto, and that's where I lived for the next 7 months. While I was in Toronto, I was living on the streets, earning my living by playing Beatle songs on an accoustic guitar with another guitarist named "Paul". We would just find a busy location, put a hat on the ground, and pretty much play and sing all day. We actually lived pretty good, and ate well on what we were earning...for a couple of homeless guys....Ha! It was another interesting chapter in my life, but that's another story! When I returned home, I met up with a bunch of local musicians from the Mentor area of Ohio, and we formed a band called "Bluestone Union", that would play around the Northeast Ohio area for the next 4-5 years at local well known clubs. Bluestone Union played mostly "British Pop" music, and the members were:
Ron Sucalac / lead guitar & vocals;
Bill Callaghan / rythym guitar & vocals;
Mike Kwitowski / lead vocals & keys;
Kirt Campbell / lead vocals, bass, guitar, keys;
Wally Gunn / drums & vocals;
Gerald (Gary) Braden / bass, keys, guitar, vocals;
We were primarily a cover band, but we began to do original music, and I got the fever to compose music. Towards the end of Bluestone Unions time, Ron, Mike, Kirt and Bill decided to move on to pursue the careers that they had been studying for in college. Wally and I were the only remaining members, and the bands new line-up was:
Mark Avsec / keyboards & vocals;
Al Retay / guitar & vocals;
AJ Robey / lead vocals & sax;
Wally Gunn / drums & vocals;
Gerald (Gary) Braden / bass & vocals;
The band dropped down to 5 pieces, changed their name to "Bluestone", and started playing a heavier more progressive musical songlist. At the end of the Bluestone band, I left to play with a 7 piece R&B horn band, and this was the last band I played bass with, before switching to playing guitar fulltime. Bluestone once again got new members, and changed their name to "Lovers Lane" adding local musicians Neil Giraldo, of future "Pat Benatar" fame, and drummer Tommy Amato, who years later went on to play in "Beau Coup" with my future keyboardist "Dennis Lewin". Mark Avsec later went on to produce, compose, and play with Wild Cherry, and Donnie Iris, and also went to law school to become an entertainment attorney.
After secretly practicing diligently on the guitar for a few years, I switched to playing lead guitar, and went on the road for 6 months with a jazz group to develop my chops. When I returned to Cleveland, I got a job playing guitar with Sonny Geraci & Climax ("Precious and Few" hit record fame, and the "Outsiders" band hit "Time Won't Let Me" hit). After this job I decided to put together a band called "Rhapsody" that would play a good blend of progressive cover music and original music. The members of this band were:
Dennis Lewin / keyboards & vocals;
Gus Oswald / drums & vocals
Robby Bell / lead vocals & keyboards;
Ron Puzzitello / bass & vocals;
Gerald (Gary) Braden / lead guitar & keyboards, lead vocals;
After another band experience with good regional recognition, "Rhapsody" went through some member changes and changed their name to "Bustin' Loose".
It would be a few more years before I finally began college to study music seriously. I started studying music at Lakeland College, and also at the Willoughby School of Fine Arts, and then went on to The Cleveland Institute Of Music. I really didn't begin college until I was 25 years old, and was working as a full time musician throughout the entire time I was in school. This was a very intense schedule for quite a few years! It became "normal" for me to go to school during the day, rush home to grab some dinner and to clean up (for the nights gig), do some homework on the way to the gig (usually sitting in the back seat while someone else drove), set-up and play for 4-6 hours, tear down and drive home (once again doing more homework..... with a flashlight), sleep for 4 hours, and get up to start the process all over again!
Although I never achieved "super-star" fame, I had the pleasure of working with many wonderful and talented artists and musicians, in many recording studios and gigs throughout the years. During the weekdays, I was also working on a regular basis as a guitarist and keyboardist, writing, producing and playing, on radio and television commercials. It was common for me to meet other famous artists in the studio while I would be on a coffee break. There were quite a few times when I was invited to join them and lay down a few tracks, but it was unfortunate that I never received any playing credits when these well known records were released. The reason for this, was probably so they would not have to pay me royalty points from the albums sales. I won't mention names here, because it was a long time ago, and there's no need for childish "finger pointing". That's the music biz, and I have no-one to blame but myself....Ha! Really, I was happy to just contribute to these projects.
In 1989, after many years working as a studio musician, and performing around Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan and New York, I decided to move to Florida to pursue building a commercial recording studio. I moved to Florida in February of 1990, and after finding a good location, began construction of my studio. Within 6 months, I completed the construction and opened "The Music Shoppe".
Finding new clients was a little slow at the beginning, so I decided to earn a little income performing again. After playing with a few bands, I decided once again to put together my own band, and I chose the name "Bustin' Loose" again. The reason I chose this name was simple and slightly humorous...it was because I still had a lighted and very nicely built sign from the former "Bustin' Loose" band in Cleveland, Ohio to hang on the stage! The members of this band line-up included:
Paul Glynn / drums & lead vocals
David Bodenhamer / bass & lead vocals
John Geubtner (McKuen)/ keyboards & lead vocals
Gerald (Gary) Braden / guitar, keyboards & lead vocals
After a few years, "Bustin' Loose" started to gain a reputation in the Tampa Bay Area as a band that played good music, and also for the "Steely Dan" songs that we performed. As the studio gradually gained new clients, "Bustin' Loose" was going through some changes, and we started to play quite a few of my original compositions. We changed our name to "The Generators" (not the be confused with the Cleveland, Ohio "Generators" of the 1980's), and we hired a new drummer and bassist. "The Generators" line-up was:
Donnie Sharbono / drums & lead vocals
Russ Bertilino / bass & lead vocals
John Geubtner (McKuen)/ keyboards & lead vocals
Gerald (Gary) Braden / guitar, keyboards & lead vocals
After a few years, our keyboardist John left, and "The Generators" stayed together as a trio. We became well known for having a big sound, even though there were only 3 of us playing live. I had a nice keyboard set-up on stage, and used to go from guitar to keyboards, depending on the songs we played. It was around this time that I started to gravitate back to my first love, which was classical music. I started to study and practice in my free time, and also started to compose classical music. "The Generators" played together as a trio for a few more years, and then I left to play guitar for 6 months at Innisbrook Resort in Florida, with a wonderful keyboardist/vocalist named "Billy Martin", and a constantly revolving door of wonderful well known jazz musicians.
When this job ended, I took a position playing guitar and keyboards with a band from Sarasota, Florida called "The Love Bugs". They were a hard rock/pop band that included 2 former members of a well known Tampa, Florida band called "Julliet" (Jimmy Dilissi), that recorded a few good albums, and had attained semi-national success. After playing with "The Love Bugs" for about 6 months, I left to take a position at "Shephards Resort" in Clearwater, Florida. I remained at Shephards playing keyboards, guitar, and bass for the next 9 and a half years.
About a year into my job at "Shephards", I went back to school to study the piano formally with a wonderful professor named "Jeff Donovick" at St Petersburg College. I studied with Jeff for awhile, and then was very fortunate to have the honor of studying briefly in informal sessions with "Robert Helps" at USF before his untimely passing due to cancer. At all the schools I attended in the past, my major studies had always been either for the bass, or the guitar. Although I had been playing the piano since I was a teenager, I was self taught. I discovered that I had picked up a lot of bad habits that had to be fixed, if I ever wanted to be a serious composer, it was important to fix as many of those bad habits as possible, even though I was already 42 years old!
When Robert passed away, I was so depressed. I was so thankful that I had found such a wonderful talent as he was to share the knowledge he gave me, even if only for a short time. I started to study and compose day and night, whenever I was not at my job playing at Shephards. Even at Shephards, it was common to see me during our breaks sitting at my keyboards with my headphones on, studying, practicing, or editing music I was writing.
After a few years at Shephards, I started to buy season tickets for "The Florida Orchestra" every year, and went to as many concerts as possible, trying desparetly to fill my head and spirit with the sounds of the music I loved so much when I was younger.
I used to always walk down to the stage after the concerts to compliment the musicians and ask questions about the music. I also would attend many chamber music recitals to listen, and talk to the musicians afterwards. When I would go to these concerts, I would always make sure I brought some of my own music with me, and would constantly try to get some of the musicians to read some of my compositions. After a few years, I received a call from a Florida Orchestra member who was also associated with the local Chamber Music Society. He invited me to join him for lunch, and took time to look over quite a few of my compositions. He then asked me to arrange a few of my piano pieces for chamber music performance, and told me what type of instrumentation he wanted. After I finished the arrangements, they performed 2 of my compositions in the Autumn. I was heart broken that I could not be there to hear them, because I could not get time off of my job to attend the performances. For well over a year, I had also been working on my first full Symphony (Symphony #1 In C Major), and then started to compose a 15 minute long String Quintet, "Fanasty In F Major". I started writing this piece for the Florida Orchestra's Chamber Music group, and was hoping that this was going to be the first piece I would be able to actually hear performed live.
In a few more months, it became very aware to me that after 9 years, my job at Shephards was probably close to coming to an end. Having a mortgage and bills to pay just like everyone else, I decided to put my composing on hold and make some plans to move back to my home state of Ohio. I started looking on the internet, and found a very nice brick "Cape Cod" house in Akron, Ohio that was very sound, but needed a lot of work done inside. This house had been used as a group home for retarted individuals for about 5 years, and was being sold "as-is". The house was strong and built well, and also has all new double-pane storm windows, as well as a new furnace, central AC, and a few other things that the owner had replaced. The inside of the house was a mess, and it took me about 3 months of working 10 hours a day to plaster, paint, pull upp all the old carpeting, sand, stain and re-finish all the hardwood floors, take all of the old tile and linoleum out of the kitchen and breezeway, install ceramic tile in those 2 rooms, and then a bunch of plumbing and electrical repairs.
Well, now I'm here in Akron, Ohio, the house is looking pretty good, and it's very comfortable. It's time for me to get back to work on my music, and also to find a band that will start bringing in a little income for me! As I re-establish old musical friendships here, I'll also be looking at meeting new musical friends in the classical music community of Northeast Ohio. There are about 6 Symphony Orchestras within an hour or two from my home here. My goal is to get to know these people over the next few years, and to make them aware of my compositions. Until then, anybody out there in the Cleveland/Akron/Canton area of Ohio that's looking for a keyboardist....you know where to find me!
.......Thanks for visiting! More to come later....!
Who I'd like to meet:
Gerald Gary Braden, Musician, Composer 's Friend Space (Top 40)
Gerald Gary Braden, Musician, Composer has 61 friends.
How are you? How is your day going so far? Are you keeping busy? Hey, I just wanted you to know how much it means to me that you joined SKSOS. It's nice to have you be part of the group. Your participation - has meant so much to me. It feels good to know that you are showing up with your thoughts and we have common feelings and ideas.
I know times are busy and we barely have enough time to check our email or bulletins or return comments on here, muchless participate in the group. But one of the reasons I created it is so that we all have a simple way to share what's going on in our heads and hearts all in one place.
SO A BIG THANK YOU! I just posted a new topic today on FRIENDS. It's a fun one, lots of different ways to go with it. :) Enjoy!
Thank you - for being my friend, for showing your support, for joining the group and above all for sticking by me. I don't take your friendship for granted, and glad you are still here with me.
Hey Gary, first thing first, THANKS FOR THE TOP! Unexpected surprise that is!! I was just passing by here, so why not stopping by?.. ;) Have a nice week! Maxxx
Hey Gary, we have much in common here my new friend! Love to play Cliffs of Dover! No way people sit still when you pull that out! And I also, used to live in Florida, just recently moved here in January from West Palm! I was 16 years in Columbus,about 5 in Cleveland (parma) a couple in cinci, and Born in Youngstown Ohio! Went to Florida back in 84 when 100 pounds of bass bin fell on my lap when loading the truck outstide the "Sugar Shack", it was and icy nite!! I have not played with Yngwie,(wish I could) but he and Patrik were at a gig of mine, and HE complimented me on Summer song by satch! I was absolutly floored! By the way, Yngwie is the biggest hearted fellow to tour with, I was told by his drummer..I can only say, that He and Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani, was one of the best concerts I have seen in my life! And they may be the only ones he would EVER do that again with.. I have an electronics degree, and repairing vintage tube amps is my specialty.. check out macon music and amp repair on my page. I dispensed of my sound system to help finance my move...thats another story I bet you could dig some old Deep Purple, or perhaps Uriah Heep, maybe Kansas, or Zepp?? Well, nice to meet you, please keep in touch Dave
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