Brad Tolinski
Encyclopedia
Brad Tolinski is the Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World Magazine
(1989–present). He also serves as Editorial Director of Future US
’s music division, which also includes Guitar Aficionado and Revolver
.
. He studied Journalism
and Philosophy
at Wayne State University
(1976-1981). In 1985, Tolinski moved to New York City
and started working at We Buy Guitars, a guitar shop on 48th Street. He left after a few months and started working at the Digital Music Center, one of the first recording studios in New York that used Apple computers to sample, sequence and record.
While working at the studio, Tolinski started writing for an independent music magazine called Music, Computers and Software. He interviewed musicians such as Roger Waters
, Stewart Copeland
and Joe Jackson
. In 1986, Tolinski became the Managing Editor of the magazine. In 1988, he was recruited to work on a short-lived electronic music publication called Modern Keyboard that folded after just a few issues.
as Associate Editor to help straighten out circulation problems. When the Editor-in-Chief Joe Bosso left in March 1991 to pursue a record industry A&R job, Tolinski was installed into his position.
“I wanted the magazine to convey to readers that we understood what it means to play guitar and be in a band,” said Tolinski in an interview with Rockcritic.com, “And that, above all, it is fun. Taking a dry, technical approach to things has its place, and we certainly are committed to teaching the guitar, but Guitar World
wouldn’t be as popular as it is if that’s all there were to it. Our readers relate to us – so much so that when they complain about something in a letter or an email, it’s with the kind of vehemence you usually reserve for a relative. That’s a good sign. We work together like a band – everyone feels like they play important roles in a creative collective, not like some industrial cog. There’s lots of pressures at times, but it’s also fun – and I believe our readers are intuitively hip to that, because it shows up in our writing design, headlines and photographs.”
’s music division, which includes Guitar Aficionado and Revolver
. He was heavily involved in the launch of Revolver
in the spring of 2000, when it was launched as a general interest rock
magazine. After that was discontinued by then-owner Harris Publications
, Tolinski decided to turn Revolver
into a heavy metal
magazine. He says, “My reasoning was that there would be less cost, it would be a more focused audience and there would be more endemic advertising. There was also a gap at the newsstand for an entertaining, well-designed, well-edited hard rock magazine. I wasn’t particularly overjoyed at pulling the plug on the original Revolver – Tom [Beaujour] and I loved making those first issues – but I think Revolver Mach II turned out well, and current editor Brandon Geist is doing really good work."
Tom Beaujour, Greg Di Benedetto, and Tolinski were deeply involved in creating Guitar Aficionado. He says, “[We] noticed that as players matured, their tastes in music and how they viewed the instrument changed. Guitar Aficionado is just a reflection of that. It’s not necessarily ‘high-end.’ You don’t have to be a millionaire to be interested in travel, food, fashion or beautiful guitars.”
, violin
and mandolin
. He taught himself to play guitar
in the ‘70s. He studied and played classical
and jazz violin
through college and beyond. He spent a couple years working at a folk
and bluegrass
music store called The Gitfiddler in Northville, MI, where he taught fiddle
and mandolin
. He has also played in many bands. Early bands include the progressive rock
five-piece October, a new wave trio called The Picture Phones, an industrial rock
band called Crash. He currently plays occasionally with Australian singer-songwriter Phillip Foxman. He played the mandolin
and violin
on Foxman’s album West 4th & Charles.
: Deep Purple – Machine Head
.
He hosts a special interview Guitar World
Sessions with Slash
.
Tolinski is interviewed at Revolver
's Golden God Awards in 2011.
Tolinski was on the panel of judges for Guitar Center
’s King of the Blues Contest in 2011.
Tolinski wrote program notes for the 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
induction.
Tolinski's latest book is Light & Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page
for Crown Publishing and is due out in September 2012.
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
(1989–present). He also serves as Editorial Director of Future US
Future US
Future US is a United States media corporation specializing in targeted magazines and websites in the video games, music, and technology markets. Future US is headquartered in the South San Francisco with offices in New York City and Los Angeles...
’s music division, which also includes Guitar Aficionado and Revolver
Revolver (magazine)
Revolver is a bi-monthly rock and heavy metal magazine published by Future US. Before covering heavy metal, rock & hard rock solely, it was a more mainstream oriented magazine. The magazine is structured in a manner similar to publications such as Spin while covering many avenues within the heavy...
.
Early career
Tolinski was born in the suburbs of Detroit, MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. He studied Journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
and Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
(1976-1981). In 1985, Tolinski moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and started working at We Buy Guitars, a guitar shop on 48th Street. He left after a few months and started working at the Digital Music Center, one of the first recording studios in New York that used Apple computers to sample, sequence and record.
While working at the studio, Tolinski started writing for an independent music magazine called Music, Computers and Software. He interviewed musicians such as Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
, Stewart Copeland
Stewart Copeland
Stewart Armstrong Copeland is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band The Police. During the group's extended hiatus from the mid-1980s to 2007, he played in other bands and composed soundtracks...
and Joe Jackson
Joe Jackson (musician)
Joe Jackson is an English musician and singer-songwriter now living in Berlin, whose five Grammy Award nominations span from 1979 to 2001...
. In 1986, Tolinski became the Managing Editor of the magazine. In 1988, he was recruited to work on a short-lived electronic music publication called Modern Keyboard that folded after just a few issues.
Guitar World
In September 1989, Tolinski joined Guitar WorldGuitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
as Associate Editor to help straighten out circulation problems. When the Editor-in-Chief Joe Bosso left in March 1991 to pursue a record industry A&R job, Tolinski was installed into his position.
“I wanted the magazine to convey to readers that we understood what it means to play guitar and be in a band,” said Tolinski in an interview with Rockcritic.com, “And that, above all, it is fun. Taking a dry, technical approach to things has its place, and we certainly are committed to teaching the guitar, but Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
wouldn’t be as popular as it is if that’s all there were to it. Our readers relate to us – so much so that when they complain about something in a letter or an email, it’s with the kind of vehemence you usually reserve for a relative. That’s a good sign. We work together like a band – everyone feels like they play important roles in a creative collective, not like some industrial cog. There’s lots of pressures at times, but it’s also fun – and I believe our readers are intuitively hip to that, because it shows up in our writing design, headlines and photographs.”
Future US Music Division
Tolinski is also the Editorial Director of Future USFuture US
Future US is a United States media corporation specializing in targeted magazines and websites in the video games, music, and technology markets. Future US is headquartered in the South San Francisco with offices in New York City and Los Angeles...
’s music division, which includes Guitar Aficionado and Revolver
Revolver (magazine)
Revolver is a bi-monthly rock and heavy metal magazine published by Future US. Before covering heavy metal, rock & hard rock solely, it was a more mainstream oriented magazine. The magazine is structured in a manner similar to publications such as Spin while covering many avenues within the heavy...
. He was heavily involved in the launch of Revolver
Revolver (magazine)
Revolver is a bi-monthly rock and heavy metal magazine published by Future US. Before covering heavy metal, rock & hard rock solely, it was a more mainstream oriented magazine. The magazine is structured in a manner similar to publications such as Spin while covering many avenues within the heavy...
in the spring of 2000, when it was launched as a general interest rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
magazine. After that was discontinued by then-owner Harris Publications
Harris Publications
Harris Publications Inc. is an American consumer-magazine publisher in New York City, New York, that publishes over 75 titles, including Juicy, XXL, King, Dog News, 0-60, Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement, Small Business Opportunities, Men's Workout, Exercise & Health, Celebrity Hairstyles, and...
, Tolinski decided to turn Revolver
Revolver (magazine)
Revolver is a bi-monthly rock and heavy metal magazine published by Future US. Before covering heavy metal, rock & hard rock solely, it was a more mainstream oriented magazine. The magazine is structured in a manner similar to publications such as Spin while covering many avenues within the heavy...
into a heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
magazine. He says, “My reasoning was that there would be less cost, it would be a more focused audience and there would be more endemic advertising. There was also a gap at the newsstand for an entertaining, well-designed, well-edited hard rock magazine. I wasn’t particularly overjoyed at pulling the plug on the original Revolver – Tom [Beaujour] and I loved making those first issues – but I think Revolver Mach II turned out well, and current editor Brandon Geist is doing really good work."
Tom Beaujour, Greg Di Benedetto, and Tolinski were deeply involved in creating Guitar Aficionado. He says, “[We] noticed that as players matured, their tastes in music and how they viewed the instrument changed. Guitar Aficionado is just a reflection of that. It’s not necessarily ‘high-end.’ You don’t have to be a millionaire to be interested in travel, food, fashion or beautiful guitars.”
Music
Tolinski’s primary instruments are guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
. He taught himself to play guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
in the ‘70s. He studied and played classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and jazz violin
Jazz violin
Jazz violin is the use of the violin or electric violin to improvise and perform utilizing scales and chord progressions unique to the compositions of Jazz musicians . The earliest references to jazz performance using the violin as a solo instrument was during the first decades of the 20th century...
through college and beyond. He spent a couple years working at a folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
music store called The Gitfiddler in Northville, MI, where he taught fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
and mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
. He has also played in many bands. Early bands include the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
five-piece October, a new wave trio called The Picture Phones, an industrial rock
Industrial rock
Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused...
band called Crash. He currently plays occasionally with Australian singer-songwriter Phillip Foxman. He played the mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
on Foxman’s album West 4th & Charles.
Media Appearances
Tolinski appears in the documentary Classic AlbumsClassic Albums
Classic Albums is a documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.-Format:...
: Deep Purple – Machine Head
Machine Head (band)
Machine Head is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California. Formed on October 12, 1991, the group was founded by Robb Flynn and Adam Duce. There have been 4 member changes since their inception. The current lineup of the band comprises Flynn , Duce , ex-Vio-Lence guitarist Phil Demmel ,...
.
He hosts a special interview Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
Sessions with Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
.
Tolinski is interviewed at Revolver
Revolver (magazine)
Revolver is a bi-monthly rock and heavy metal magazine published by Future US. Before covering heavy metal, rock & hard rock solely, it was a more mainstream oriented magazine. The magazine is structured in a manner similar to publications such as Spin while covering many avenues within the heavy...
's Golden God Awards in 2011.
Tolinski was on the panel of judges for Guitar Center
Guitar Center
Guitar Center is the largest chain of musical instrument retailers in the world with 223 locations throughout the United States. Its headquarters is in Westlake Village, California....
’s King of the Blues Contest in 2011.
Tolinski wrote program notes for the 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
induction.
Books
| Date | Title | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 1995 | Guitars That Shook the World: A Star Studded Collection of the World's Most Famous Guitars | Brad Tolinski, Harold Steinblatt, Tom Beaujour |
| Sept 1, 1997 | Guitar World Presents Stevie Ray Vaughan | Jeff Kitts, Brad Tolinski, Harold Steinblatt |
| Nov 1998 | Guitar World Presents Alternative Rock | Jeff Kitts, Brad Tolinski, Harold Steinblatt |
| Jun 1, 1999 | Guitar World Presents Classic Rock | Jeff Kitts, Brad Tolinski, Harold Steinblatt |
| Apr 1, 2002 | Guitar World Presents Nu-Metal | Jeff Kitts, Brad Tolinski |
| Jun 1, 2002 | Guitar World Presents Pink Floyd | Alan Di Perna, Jeff Kitts, Brad Tolinski |
| Oct 1, 2002 | Guitar World Presents the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time: From the Pages of Guitar World Magazine | Jeff Kitts, Brad Tolinski |
| Sept 30, 2004 | Classic Hendrix: The Ultimate Hendrix Experience | Sally Crick, Brad Tolinski |
| Apr 15, 2010 | Guitar World Presents Metallica | Jeff Kitts, Brad Tolinski, Harold Steinblatt |
| Apr 15, 2010 | Guitar World Presents Van Halen | Jeff Kitts, Brad Tolinski, Harold Steinblatt |
| Sept 27, 2011 | The Faces, 1969-75 | Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagan, Kenney Jones, Brad Tolinski |
Tolinski's latest book is Light & Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
for Crown Publishing and is due out in September 2012.