<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Regular readers of these <\/span>FTVs<\/span><\/i> will no doubt recognize the name Gary Tanin.\u00a0 Having name checked him enough times to enshrine his name in the WOAS FM Hall of Fame (if and when we get around to establishing one), it seemed that a proper introduction was well past due.\u00a0 Gary (and his work with his enterprise, Daystorm Music), was recently featured in <\/span>Shepherd Express – Milwaukee\u2019s Alternative News Source<\/span><\/i> (November 7, 2024). The article by Gary\u2019s old friend David Luhressen filled in a lot of the blanks about Tanin\u2019s long career in the music business.\u00a0 That was enough of a push to get the ball rolling for me to tell you more about him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My introduction to Gary Tanin and Daystorm Music almost did not happen.\u00a0 We receive a lot of music submissions when artists and producers send us new music.\u00a0 There are times when the volume of stuff in the old mailbag gets a bit overwhelming.\u00a0 While we make an effort to respond to all contacts and air all submissions, once in a while one slips between the cracks.\u00a0 Our long collaboration with Datolite Music in Los Angeles is a good example.\u00a0 When we first made contact with Lindsay Tomasic (the owner of Datolite Music), it happened because the word \u2018Datolite\u2019 is commonly associated with copper.\u00a0 Datolite is widely collected by those who hunt for that well known Copper Country commodity that answers to the chemical symbol \u2018Cu\u2019.\u00a0 I thought there had to be a local connection so I emailed Datolite when another musician I was researching mentioned they had played with Lindsay in Ann Arbor, Michigan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Tomasic\u2019s name seemed somewhat familiar so when we finally began emailing back and forth, the pieces finally fell together.\u00a0 Lindsay hails from Houghton (Dodgeville, actually) and eventually left this area for Ann Arbor and later moved on to California.\u00a0 It hit me like a flash – she had previously sent me the eponymous album by her band Trees and we had been spinning it for some time.\u00a0 Our increased communications eventually led to Trees appearing at the Porcupine Mountain Music Festival.\u00a0 They also have made numerous appearances at the Ontonagon Theater of Performing Arts including a matinee for the students from the Ontonagon Area Schools.\u00a0 When the WOAS FM West Coast Bureau was still in L.A., Lindsay, Elizabeth (from the WCB) and I even managed to \u2018do lunch\u2019.\u00a0 We met at The Newsroom when I was on one of my inspection visits there we and had a great visit.\u00a0 All of these opportunities arrived because she had been kind enough to send us a copy of the <\/span>Trees<\/span><\/i> album even though I had not requested it.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In Gary\u2019s case, he also made first contact when he sent us an album by a band called The Young Revelators (2015\u2019s <\/span>All I See<\/span><\/i>).\u00a0 In a follow up email, he asked if we received it and if we had\u00a0 previewed it.\u00a0 I dug through my \u2018get to these as soon as I have time\u2019 mail pile and there it was.\u00a0 I wrote back that, \u201cYes, we do have it and no, I have not had a chance to preview it yet but I will ASAP.\u201d\u00a0 Once the case was cracked open and I listened to it, it was on the air.\u00a0 It was a great CD so a quick email back to Gary confirmed we were now airing <\/span>All I See<\/span><\/i> at which point he asked if I would be willing to write a short review of the album.\u00a0 Reviewing new music in this space has been a constant thread for me so I told him, \u201cSure, I will give it a shot.\u201d\u00a0 Over the past decade, I have been privileged to preview many new Daystorm Music releases (Peggy James, Jack Spann, Michael Kessler\u00a0 Jim Eanelli, and (former member of The BoDeans) Sam Llanas\u2019s new single <\/span>I Am Not A Robot<\/span><\/i> that was released on 12-13-24 (to mention a few).\u00a0 While Gary and I have gotten to know each other a bit discussing music via emails, the <\/span>Shepherd Express<\/span><\/i> article, as I mentioned earlier, filled in a lot of pieces in the Gary Tanin puzzle that I had not known.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Luhrssen tells his readers that Gary Tanin\u2019s 55 year career in the music biz began in earnest in 1967.\u00a0 With the inner city of Milwaukee experiencing a riot that summer, the then 15 year old Tanin traveled via bus from his parent\u2019s West Side home to TPI Studio located at 27th and Fon du Lac.\u00a0 The studio was owned by Elmo Griffin and was home to soul acts like Vic Pitts and the Cheaters.\u00a0 With a riot going on and a white kid dropping in unannounced at a Black-owned studio, Luhrssen says, \u201c[Gary] summoned up his courage\u201d to be there under the circumstances.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Tanin explained he found Griffin smoking a cigar with his feet propped up on a green Army surplus office desk.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d like to record a record,\u201d Tanin told him.\u00a0 With a smile on his face, Griffin replied, \u201cYou\u2019ve got the gall to come here and ask to make a record.\u201d\u00a0 Griffin continued after a pause, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll give you a chance.\u201d \u00a0 When one is 15 and has a passion for music, there are very few things that can block one\u2019s path forward.\u00a0 One must just take the first step as Gary did when he landed a recording contract with Odessa Records.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Gary spent the early 1970s apprenticing as an audio engineer at ARCO recording studios while attending the University of Wisconsin – MIlwaukee.\u00a0 His chosen field of study was the Art and Science of Audio Recording and Production (what else?).\u00a0 By the mid-70s he had released a\u00a0 self-produced concept album (<\/span>Otto and the Elevators<\/span><\/i>) that garnered critical acclaim.\u00a0 The 1980s found Tanin working as a computer programmer for the Milwaukee-based defense contractor Astronautics. \u00a0 Gary\u2019s experience with ARPANET (the military precursor to what would become the internet) at Astronautics would further fuel his interest in electronic media.\u00a0 He also wrote software reviews for the Computer Musicians Coalition.\u00a0 According to Luhrssen, \u201c[Gary\u2019s] experience with Arpanet, ARP synthesizers, and the birth of music software gave him a vision for where music – and the world – was headed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A good example of \u2018where music and the world were headed\u2019 can be found in the album <\/span>Sublime Nation<\/span><\/i> from 1994.\u00a0 Gary and Milwaukee guitarist Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads, Modern Lovers) collaborated on the album, part of which was recorded in Tanin\u2019s living room.\u00a0 At the time\u00a0 he told Luhrrsen:\u00a0 \u201cPart of me feels I\u2019m on a mission.\u00a0 [With <\/span>Sublime Nation<\/span><\/i>] Jerry and I wanted to prove the technology is there to make a product that matches industry standards at home, on a budget a lot of people could afford.\u00a0 Technology has burst out of the container.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Tanin and Harrison used a DAT recorder, a sequencer, and other easily obtained equipment to record the CD\u2019s basic tracks.\u00a0 Harrison would add overdubs to the CD while keyboardist Junior Brantley (formerly from the band Short Stuff) downloaded his parts via a telephone line from his home in Las Vegas.\u00a0 Music distribution was a different game in 1994 so Tanin sold <\/span>Sublime Nation <\/span><\/i>via his website and an on-line music catalog.\u00a0 At the time, he prophetically told Luhrrsen,\u00a0 \u201cEventually the record industry will be musician-to-consumer.\u00a0 Record distribution as we know it will be out and the big labels are scared.\u201d\u00a0 Gary didn\u2019t mention he also foresaw musicians sharing tracks and making albums without being in the same place (or even on the same continent) as has become the norm for many artists.\u00a0 He was certainly on the cutting edge of the new industry standards.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Gary\u2019s ealy interest in electronics started with HAM radio.\u00a0 He later began working for Elmo Griffin at his TV repair shop, Colortronics.\u00a0 Gary said, \u201cElmo showed me that if you have the courage of your convictions, and by being kind and good, you can get good things done in life.\u201d\u00a0 TPI engineer Ed Sokol showed Tanin the ropes of working with their two-track Ampex studio.\u00a0 The famed Muscle Shoals studio in Sheffield, Alabama produced many classic 60s soul discs using similar equipment.\u00a0 The lessons Gary learned at TPI followed him when he began recording for the Vera label at Arco Studios.\u00a0 He had just turned 17 and was working as an apprentice engineer at the four-track studio.\u00a0 He recalled, \u201cAt Arco they needed a record label imprint for local artis, so they asked me to handle that business.\u201d\u00a0 Tanin recorded tracks at Arco that would appear on is first solo album, <\/span>Love Changes All <\/span><\/i>(1972).<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Working at Arco also put Gary in touch with musicians who would later play on his pop-rock album <\/span>Otto & Th<\/span><\/i>e<\/span> Elevator<\/span><\/i>s in 1975.\u00a0 Among them were members of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (earning extra cash cutting commercials for Boston Store and WTMJ-TV).\u00a0 Kronos Quartet violinist John Sherba also contributed to the album.\u00a0 Canadian composer Edmund Assaly arranged the strings.\u00a0 Assaly knew Beatles\u2019 producer George Martin which certainly made an impression on a young man entering the same field of musical enterprise.\u00a0 With a little outside help, a promotional campaign for <\/span>Otto & The Elevators<\/span><\/i> garnered a lot of local press while the album also collected accolades.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Tanin\u2019s career as a producer-engineer has found him working on a host of albums with talented musicians including Todd Rundgren keyboardist Roger Powell, David Bowie accompanist Jack Spann, Sam Llanas, The BoDeans, and fusion guitarist Daryl Stuermer (Phil Collins and Genesis guitarist).\u00a0 Local musicians like The Young Revelators, Dick Eliot, Jayne Taylor, Jim Eanelli, Victor DeLorenso (Violent Femmes), and Peggy James have all benefited from his expertise.\u00a0 Tanin\u2019s connections extend beyond the United States with his music being released in Japan on Mouse Records and Hard Disk International.\u00a0 RockIt Records handles the distribution of Gary\u2019s music in the U.S.\u00a0 The Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) organization named Tanin the Producer of the Year in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The 2010s kept Gary on the move with a host of projects.\u00a0 An abbreviated discography includes work with Sam Llanas (<\/span>4 A.M. (The Way Home) <\/span><\/i>(2011), <\/span>4 \/ 5 Live<\/span><\/i> (2013), <\/span>The Whole Night Thru <\/span><\/i>(2014),<\/span> and <\/span>Return of the Goya <\/span><\/i>(2018)), Jack Spann (<\/span>Time, Time, Time, Time, Time <\/span><\/i>(2016), <\/span>Beautiful Man from Mars <\/span><\/i>(2017), <\/span>Propaganda Man <\/span><\/i>(2019), David Fitzpatrick (<\/span>Parachutes in Hurricanes <\/span><\/i>(2018)), and a compilation of his own work entitled <\/span>Natural Selection <\/span><\/i>(2010).\u00a0 Tanin also released a 40th Anniversary edition of <\/span>Otto and the Elevators <\/span><\/i>in 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beginning in 2016 with The Young Revelators CD, I have been honored to preview albums by Jack Spann, Sam Llanas, Peggy James, and Jim Eanelli as well as some specialty projects Gary worked on with groups like Locate Your Lips.\u00a0 Along with his production duties, Tanin is a gifted writer in his own right and he has offered me many helpful tips on reviewing albums and artists.\u00a0 Dare we use the \u2018R word\u2019 to describe Gary Tanin\u2019s career (the \u2018R-word\u2019 being Renaissance Man)?\u00a0 Absolutely!\u00a0 Hearing stories about his association with the likes of David Bowie\u2019s longtime producer Tony Visconti extends his music career far beyond the confines of his native Milwaukee.\u00a0 When I found out about his friendship with Tony Visconti, I kiddingly told my evening DJs, \u201cHey, if I know Gary and Gary knows Tony Visconti, I am only two steps away from knowing David Bowie!\u201d (and yes, it was said very tongue in cheek).<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Here is to the new year and our anticipation of hearing more great music from Gary Tanin and Daystorm Music.\u00a0 The track record of what he has already shared with WOAS-FM hints that he will have a lot more to share with us in the future.\u00a0 In fact, I picked up my station mail just before posting this article and found another mailer from Gary.\u00a0 I can\u2019t wait to crack it open!<\/span><\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0 Jack Spann promotional video for his song\u00a0Fear or Loyalty<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Regular readers of these FTVs will no doubt recognize the name Gary Tanin.\u00a0 Having name checked him enough times to enshrine his name in the WOAS FM Hall of Fame (if and when we get around to establishing one), it seemed that a proper introduction was well past due.\u00a0 Gary (and his work with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bands-musicians","category-new-music","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3357"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3360,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3357\/revisions\/3360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}