Draft:Tom Brier

This is an error on my part -- I transposed the 2nd and 3rd AfDs. As far as I can tell, what happened at the third AfD was that the content from the previous (deleted) article was copy-pasted into a new page, i.e. the sources from this draft were never evaluated in a deletion process. At any rate, I have basically no interest in resubmitting this draft for mainspace; the only reason I wrote it in the first place was to become familiar with the AfC process (and see if it really was as bad as people claim in policy discussions). jp×g 12:25, 25 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Parenthetically, I will note that your response here -- which was not only written in great detail, but made very quickly after my own comment -- has increased my opinion of the process a great deal (although I think there remain rather significant structural issues). jp×g 12:28, 25 October 2022 (UTC)


 * I saw this while looking for something else in my contributions, and I think I am missing something: this comment reads like a decline, but the draft wasn't submitted in the first place. At any rate: The first AfD closed "delete" based on a total lack of sourcing, the second AfD closed "delete" because the article was a word-for-word repost of the first iteration, and the third AfD wasn't an actual AfD (it was closed procedurally after two days due to the article being speedied in the meantime as another copy-paste of the first unreferenced article). I understand that AfC is a difficult area to work in (and the AfC reviews I've given have sometimes been more cursory than I'd hoped for), but I do not understand what you are talking about. Compare this revison with the present: there are eighteen completely new sources. It does not make sense to me that a draft should be declined on the basis that unrelated people wrote a separate, extremely bad article about the same subject six years ago. jp×g 08:52, 25 October 2022 (UTC)

Tom Brier (born October 1971) is an american ragtime pianist and composer.

Early life
Tom Brier was born in October 1971 in Oakdale, California, an agricultural society in the Central Valley south of Sacramento. When Brier was four, his parents bought him a player piano, and the next year he began taking piano lessons with a local teacher. By the age of eleven, he had composed over two dozen pieces.

After graduating from Oakdale High School, Brier studied computer science at California State University in Turlock, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1993 and working subsequently as a computer programmer.

Musical career
In 1985, Brier woke the interest of Larry Applegate, president of the Sacramento Ragtime Association. Brier was invited to perform at association meetings. Brier's interpretations of classics of ragtime music were described as aggressive and attracted the attention of the public. He was particularly noted for his in-depth knowledge of various genres of early ragtime music. By 1988, he was a "prolific composer" and in 1990 he had composed 45 rags; by 2002, he was mentioned as one of "the West's top ragtime pianists" by the Desert Sun.

Brier has given concerts across the United States, ranging from California (in Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Fresno, and Fullerton ) to Missouri and Wisconsin. He has been referred to as "The Machine" for his energetic playing style, as well as "the Mozart of Ragtime".

By 2005, Brier had composed over 150 pieces; by 2009, he had composed over 200, and was described by the Fresno Bee as "a long-standing Fresno Flats favorite" who brought "energy, skill, endurance, and high musicality to his every performance". In the 21st century, he became known on websites like YouTube for his "crazy-quick" playing.

In 2023, Brier received the lifetime achievement award by the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Federation.

Accident
While Brier played at ragtime festivals as late as May 2016, and was a featured pianist at the June 2016 Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, in August of that year he was injured severely in a debilitating car accident. In December 2020, the Syncopated Times said that "we all wish Tom well in his long recovery".

Discography
Tom Brier has released six albums, one with Nan Bostick.


 * Rising Star (1994)
 * Dualing at the McCoys (2002) - piano duets with Nan Bostick
 * Rewind (2006)
 * Blue Sahara (2009)
 * Constellations (2012)
 * Live in Concert (2015)