Brian' Pickle's' last name is
GERKENSMEYER----
GHERKINS=PICKLES
And the name stuck.
Brian was born in Omaha, NE 1969 and was adopted by a farm couple near Seward, Ne in the Blue River Valley. He got his musical roots in grade school in Seward, where musical was always a large part of the curriculum. He began playing violin at 6, piano at 8, and trumpet at 11. He began guitar at 16, jazz bass at 17, Euphonium horn and trombone as well in High School. Playing in rock and roll bands and performing with the high school jazz ensemble, and also in concert, marching band, and ensembles in college led him to love the blues, and many other styles of music.
Since his basic musical education, Brian has performed on hundreds of stages with dozens of bands
nationwide, using guitar and bass as his cornerstone, drawing from influences such as James Jamerson, Jaco Pastorious, Leo Kottke, Chet Atkins, Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, Albert King, Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Stephen Bennet, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Byrd, John Coltrane.
"Much of my exposure to the blues I can give credit to the Zoo Bar and KZUM 89.3 FM in Lincoln, NE, for thrilling me with their rich culture of music when the corporate radio stations were feeding me the same old oats." Says Brian.
All the hard work from these folks at the Zoo and KZUM have enriched our culture here in Lincoln by keeping alive traditional music, our very roots of who we are.
Brian also performs regulary playing guitar, acoustic and electric and enjoys fingerstyle guitar playing. He also loves to play bluegrass, flatpicking and playing the upright bass.
He feels that everything plays a part in his music and how it comes out, "Everything in life is a balance, the sun and the moon, the seasons of the year, sleep and consciousness, and music is that way too. Anything excessive can be bad for you, as well as not enough of something. So I try to take that approach to playing, the fine art of knowing the boundaries of my limitations and also the beauty of my freedoms."