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 Photo: Rachel Holland |
Glenn continued his study of saxophone into high school taking part in several school bands as well as a Dixieland band that performed regularly at one of the local tourist attractions. During the summers of 77, 78 and 79, Glenn attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts where he continued his study of saxophone and attended master classes with Donald Sinta. "We ate, drank, and slept music" he later recalled. "The only time we weren't practicing, performing, or studying was when we were going to concerts."
In college, Glenn attended Eastern Michigan University where he majored in music. His declared instrument was still the saxophone and he performed regularly with the E.M.U. Concert Band and Jazz Ensemble. Glenn also took on elective study of piano and violin. On the side, he began putting a lot of time into learning the guitar.
The move to the guitar put Glenn into the unfamiliar territory of performing and writing rock and pop music. He became involved in some local garage bands and then in 1982, he found a vehicle for own music when he joined Conditioned Response as the lead guitarist and song writer. The group was formed by bassist Larry Cepuran and included Tom Demerly on drums as well as singer and guitarist Amy Griffiths who contributed the bulk of the lyrics. The band spent two years playing all over the greater Detroit area and released a three song self-titled EP before disbanding in 1984. In 1985, they took two more shots at it briefly reforming as March 4th with slightly different personnel and then again as Conditioned Response with the original lineup. Both attempts were short lived though.
During the Conditioned Response years, Glenn also built the first of many home studios and began writing and recording music projects independent of the band. Between 1986 and 1991, he put all of his focus into these projects. Without the constraints of writing for a performing band, Glenn's music took on a more experimental tone and he began finding as much inspiration in movie scores as he did in songs. "I saw 'Blade Runner' and was really blown away by the score. Then 'The Bounty' came out and I just couldn't get enough Vangelis. I really started to take a lot of influence from his work back then and it opened up a whole new place for me to go looking for cool music." Constrained by lack of finances though, Glenn found it difficult to create the kind of music he wanted and started to develop a certain finesse with cheap technology using synths to create orchestrations and low cost digital delays to create loops and pads.
In 1992, Glenn was approached by guitarist Dan Holmes and frontman Mark Leahy to record and produce a demo for their new band Coup Detroit. After the demo was completed, Glenn became a permanent member of the band doubling on guitar and keyboards. That first incarnation enjoyed two very successful summers becoming known for their high energy performances in some of Detroit's more prominent party spots. "Coup was the first band I was in where the shows were like events" Glenn recalls. "We had a front man with a real flamboyant persona and a cast of backup singers who wore choir robes and choreographed their moves. People really went nuts over the whole presentation." Coup Detroit seemed to be on a fast track to success pulling in larger audiences and attracting the attention of local producer Mike Clarke as well as some of the acts who recorded with Clarke like ICP, Kid Rock and George Clinton. Ultimately, however, dissention within the ranks began to result in one personnel change after another plummeting the band back into obscurity. Over the next several years, the Coup personnel and material would continue to change leaving Glenn, along with founder Dan Holmes, as the only surviving members from the original lineup.
In 1999, Glenn began studying the Chapman Stick and right from the start, he was hooked on the new instrument. "I hadn't been that jazzed about playing since I first started learning the guitar back in 1980." By this time, Glenn was Coup Detroit's full time bassist. He brought the new instrument to a rehearsal to see how the rest of the band would react and the feedback was very positive. "I showed the Stick to Dan and right off I could see his wheels turning. The song writer in him saw the possibilities right away and he was eager to work with me on it." Immediately Glenn began to work the Stick into much of the Coup repertoire and in early 2000, he made his first public appearance with the instrument.
2000 also marked the first of what would become many Michigan Stick Seminars that Glenn would organize. "I couldn't really afford to travel to the other seminars happening at the time and I knew that Steve 'Oz' Osburn had held one in 98 so I contacted him about partnering up to do more." Glenn became the main organizer for these events and has held them annually ever since.
Over the next few years, Glenn resurrected his home studio projects and began revisiting some of the music he was recording during the 80s and 90s. Now playing much of the music on the Stick, he began performing some of his work live as a solo with the help of modern day looping devices and drum machines. In 2004, Glenn completely rebuilt his home studio using a new computer based setup and began working on his first official release naming the project 121normal after the location of his first studio. In the summer of 2007, the project's first self-titled CD was released.
In 2009, Glenn joined the staff at the Interlochen Center for the Arts getting the Stick accepted into their College of Creative Arts curriculum. The first official Interlochen Stick Workshop was held in August of that year and Glenn was named artistic director of the event.
Today Glenn continues to work with the 121normal project and still performs live both as a member of Coup Detroit and as a solo. His music has been played on local radio and has been featured in independent film. Glenn is also still connected with the Interlochen College of Creative Arts working on maintaining a Stick presence via demos during the guitar and bass workshops as well as biennial Stick workshops. He is a regular contributor to the official Stick Enterprises website and still finds time to play the piano every day focusing primarily on a small repertoire of classical pieces.