Brianland

the Best in Kerouac & the Beats, Adventure, Politics, Music, Movies, Poetry & other Lifejoys

Brianland header image 3

About

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Brian Hassett

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email —

karmacoupon@gmail.com

social media —

https://www.facebook.com/Brian.Hassett.Canada

YouTube channel —

https://www.youtube.com/user/BrianHassettVideos/videos

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Toronto   and   New York City

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Author:

Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy — Adventures in Politics 1980 – 2020,  April 2020, introduction by The Beat Museum’s Jerry Cimino — completing the Five Books in Five Years mission

Holy Cats!  Dream-Catching at Woodstock, May 2019

The Beat Trilogy:

On The Road with Cassadys, and Furthur Visions, Sept. 2018, introduction by S.A. Griffin

How The Beats Begat The Pranksters & Other Adventure Tales, Sept. 2017, introduction by George Walker

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jack Kerouac: The Adventure of the Boulder ’82 On The Road Conference — Finding Kerouac, Kesey and The Grateful Dead Alive and Rockin’ in the Rockies,  April 2015, introduction by John Cassady

Plus —

Kerouac On Record: A Literary Soundtrack, Bloomsbury, 2018 (central piece on The Grateful Dead’s connection to Kerouac, Cassady & the Beats)

The Rolling Stone Book of the BeatsHyperion, 1999  (2 keynote essays & consultant)

The Temp Survival Guide, Citadel Press, 1997  (“searingly funny” Village Voice)

From The Ancestors: Poems and Prayers For Future Generations, Trancemission Press and sonaBLAST! Records, November 2020 (Canada’s representative joining poets & healers from 20 other countries)

Stairway to Heaven, Wenner Books, 2005, photographer

Another Pious Frenzy – Collected Poems 1977 – 2013;  ongoing Leaves of Grass

Howling Naked On The Road;  script for Beat documentary on their connection to music, 2001

Don’t Be Denied;  father & son screenplay, adventure/musical/romance, 2000

Published as a feature writer, short story writer, poet, essayist, critic, columnist, reviewer, and songwriter in places like . . .
The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Complete Woman, Woman’s Own, Penthouse, High Times, Relix, Beat Scene, Dharma Beat, Arizona Republic, Brooklyn Eagle, Toronto Star, Vancouver Sun, Winnipeg Free Press, Minetta Literary Review, Gallatin Review, and others, as well as poems painted onto art gallery walls.

Here’s the story behind and recording of the song I wrote with Guess Who founder Chad Allan.

Published Online @ RockPeaks.com (over 200 live music reviews), Ken Kesey’s IntrepidTrips.com, Literary Kicks — LitKicks.com, the Beat University, Poetry.About.com, PoemBeat.com, Monster.com & numerous others, 1996 – present

Photographer:  Stairway To Heaven: The Final Resting Place For Rock Legends;  Wenner Books/Hyperion Books, 2005

Performer of spoken-word-with-music shows at writers conferences, festivals, nightclubs, schools, bookstores and such in the U.S., Canada & Europe, in places like the The Beat Museum, Lowell Celebrates Kerouac, The Prankster Family Reunion, the Knitting Factory, CBGB, Wetlands, The Bitter End, the Central Park Bandshell, the Bowery Poetry Club, St. Mark’s Poetry Project, the Woodstock Mothership, the Howl Festival, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, The Living Room, Tsunami Books (Eugene), the 6th & B Garden, the Red Lion in London, the Winnipeg International Writers Festival, the Blue Note Cafe, the West Cultural Centre, St. John’s Ravenscourt, Kelvin High School, Barnes & Noble, Borders, McNally-Robinson, Starbucks, etc. etc.

Actor:  played Jack Kerouac in the Merry Prankster play “A Secret Space of Dreams

Producer and Production Coordinator:  themed multi-hour multi-artist celebrations in New York, L.A., London & Canada, 1978 — present
… including … the June 12th International Disarmament Rally in Winnipeg — the largest No Nuke protest event in Canadian history;  all the concerts at NYU for 3 years;  the Kerouac 50th Anniversary of Writing On The Road Shows in New York and L.A. (with S.A. Griffin);  the LitKicks Poetry Happening;  Earth Night at The Bitter End;  the “Catcher in The Rye” 50th Anniversary at Central Park Bandshell;  numerous other poetry & music shows at various clubs in Manhattan;  The Winnipeg Reunion 2009

Stage Manager:  at all the Production Coordinator gigs, plus Assistant Stage Manager at the concerts on the pier in New York;  at the “On The Road – The Jack Kerouac Conference” in Boulder, Colorado, 1982;  the Bear Mountain Folk Festival;  all the Music Business & Technology concerts at NYU;  A Midsummer Night’s Social, etc.

Concert Director:  NYU 1981-83;  Programmer of the Year (twice)

Assistant Production Coordinator:  to Bill Graham on The Rolling Stones ’81 tour

Production Assistant on numerous rock videos filmed in & around New York City, including Stevie Wonder’s Part-Time Lover (filmed at the late great Palladium on 14th Street) and Steve Winwood’s Freedom Overspill (shot at Hempstead House in Sands Point), among many others.

Band Manager:  One Life, 1983 – 1985

Owner:  Spirit Productions & Management, for independent projects, 1983 — the present

Executive Aide-de-Camp:  at MTV Networks – to Tom Freston, Judy McGrath, Van Toffler, John Popkowski & others 1996 – 2002

Editor-at-Large:  RockPeaks.com, 2007 — the present

Reporter:  ThatMedia.com, political correspondent for U.S. politics, 2007 — the present

Election Research/Polling: CBS Election & Survey Unit, 1988

Researcher:  Billboard Magazine, Charts Dept., 1985 – 1987

Inductor:  of Jack Kerouac & Neal Cassady into The Cultural Hall of Fame in Amsterdam, 1999

Teacher:  The Learning Annex, taught Temp Survival courses, 1996 – 1998

Publicist:  Ren Grevatt Associates, primarily for concert promoter John Scher and Abrams Publishing accounts, 1984-86

Assistant to Press Secretary:  Paul Tsongas’s New York campaign for President, 1992

Edgamacation:  NYU — B.A. in Writing, Lit & Beat Studies

After touring with Yes and other major bands at age 17, moved from Winnipeg Manitoba to NYC, and was on the road with The Rolling Stones by 20;  lived in Manhattan for next 27 years;  appeared on numerous TV & radio programs in both the U.S. & Canada;  had many adventures and produced many shows in many venues in many cities;  wrote about a lot of it.

“Brian is the horse of a different color you’ve heard so much about.”
                                                                                                 the Wizard of Wonder

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email —

karmacoupon@gmail.com

social media —

https://www.facebook.com/Brian.Hassett.Canada

YouTube channel —

https://www.youtube.com/user/BrianHassettVideos/videos

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11 Comments

11 responses so far ↓

  • 1 John Cassady // Jul 31, 2012 at 7:08 PM

    Geez, this web site is HUGE!
    I’m not half way through it — where do you find the time (or energy) to add so much content? I should be so creative with mine, to which I haven’t added a word since 2007!
    Oh well — future projects abound.
    Keep up the good work,
    JC

  • 2 Brian // Aug 1, 2012 at 6:15 AM

    Hey Johnny!
    Glad to see you’ve been checkin it out!
    Yeah — you know me . . . Gets Things Done, as your Mum always says. 😉

    Things are going well over here in England.
    She’s keepin me busy. 🙂

    Did you catch my latest on Paul Simon in Hyde Park?
    😉

    https://brianhassett.com//2012/07/paul-simon-and-graceland-in-hyde-park-%e2%80%93-july-2012/

  • 3 Scott // Sep 23, 2013 at 11:23 AM

    Brian – Do you have other ways to follow you and keep up with new posts other than RSS? Do you have Twitter or a Feedburner account to follow?
    You have some great stuff here and I don’t want to miss your future posts. You’ve really done a great job with your blog and content.
    Scott

  • 4 Brian // Sep 23, 2013 at 10:52 PM

    Hey Scott!

    Thanks!

    The RSS should work — upper right of this screen — but besides that here’s my Facebook account, which is use somewhat regularly —

    https://www.facebook.com/Brian.Hassett.Canada

    Or here’s my Twitter feed, which I use less frequently —

    https://twitter.com/Brian_Hassett

  • 5 Lani Jo Leigh // Jun 29, 2017 at 12:54 PM

    Heard about your tour from Albert Kaufman. I own a small independent art house theater. In addition to film we also host scores of live events. Please contact me about playing at the Clinton. (222 seats)

  • 6 Brian // Jun 29, 2017 at 11:08 PM

    Hey Lani Jo!
    Sounds perfect! I’ll send you an email.
    George Walker & I are doing a Kerouac & Cassady Ride Again show that seems to be pretty popular.

    Here’s a page on it to give you an idea of some of the shows / venues / clips / setlists etc. 😉

    https://brianhassett.com//2017/08/george-walker-brian-hassett-kerouac-cassady/

  • 7 Robert Stone // May 10, 2019 at 12:21 PM

    Great website, Brian!

  • 8 Rachel Anne // Jul 25, 2020 at 10:18 PM

    Quite a life you’re living for sure!

  • 9 Dave Olson // Jan 19, 2021 at 12:15 PM

    This is a “creative life archive.”

    We are kindred spirits.

    Same places, same times, parallel worlds. Looking forward to more and more and more.

  • 10 Muzza Deano // Apr 17, 2021 at 2:03 PM

    Wow! Broad and VAST and a deep fast flowing dive into all the hippy happy Freak-Freely feelings.
    I like this Information-Bus you’re driving, Brian… I’m getting On!
    You’ve done so much good work here. A real treasure of an archive!

    Thanks for having done all the things you’ve done here, and for sharing them with us.

  • 11 Patrick Depauw // May 9, 2021 at 8:16 PM

    This is a gold mine!

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