AmeriSon Records releases on the charts

Peters Township resident Tom Breiding is one of my favorite Pittsburgh-area musicians, with talent to burn when it comes to songwriting, singing and guitar playing. His AmeriSon studio and record label is producing quality products. And he's a heck of a nice guy, to boot.

Tom sent this info about his latest album:

Tom Breiding's "The Unbroken Circle: Songs of the WV Coalfields" jumped 18 spots to #58 on the AMA charts with 97 spins this week! 471 total spins since the release date! Keep the requests coming!

Also:

Bill Toms' AmeriSon Records release "Spirits, Chaos and a Troubadour Soul" (produced by Tom Breiding) received its first spins this week.

From Tom:

More great news from AmeriSon Productions as "The Unbroken Circle" continues to get lots of attention. It received 97 spins this week on reporting Americana stations only. I have had several requests to service AAA stations and many non-reporting stations have included it on their playlists, so I can't keep track of them. But it is safe to say that the album is being heard in every corner of the U.S.

I received a fantastic five star review on the well known about.com this week. Check out folkmusic.about.com/.

Tom also is hosting the AmeriSon Ballroom Folk Series at Cefalo's Nightclub in Carngie. Tonight's lineup (7 to 10) includes Tom Breiding, Rick Malis, Bob Beach and headliner Beaucoup Blue,

Also, Tom Breiding and American Son is playing at 10 p.m. tomorrow at PD's Pub, Forward Avenue, Squirrel Hill.

Check out videos for Tom's 'The Longest Darkest Day' and 'Obituary of Joe Fry'

Flashes of creativity?

Two of my favorite musicians, Tom Breiding and Patti Spadaro, both Washington Countians, have been joining forces onstage every once in a while.

On Saturday night, they combined acts at a venue called Scooby's in South Fayette Township. Tom opened with an acoustic set, followed by the Patti Spadaro Band playing its second-ever show.

Patti and Tom played one song together, at the end of Tom's set, performing "The Balladeer's Son" from his album "Happy Hour in the Round Hotel." They previously had done the tune as a duo when Tom played last month at the Inspiration Cafe in Washington.


Scooby's has an area set aside specifically for enjoying music, complete with a sofa and a few comfy chairs. It's a nice atmosphere, with one minor drawback for the videographer: not-so-strong lighting. That's fine for the musicians and audience, and I thought it would be OK for my camera; it looked OK as I filmed it. But I ended up toning the finished product to up the brightness, and the end result looks a bit grainy.

During a good portion of "The Balladeer's Son," I was wondering around taking photos on an aging Nikon CoolPix. As a result, the video captures a series of flashes during the performance. What to do ...

It was a no-brainer to drop the resulting stills into the video at the appropriate spots. But to make the effect distinctive, I superimposed the stills over an old-fashioned, 35mm-film-type image. (Technically, I guess I should've rendered the stills as negatives in that case, but that would've looked truly bizarre.)

Anyway, if nothing else, the music speaks for itself in this video version of "The Balladeer's Son"