A Rockin’ Production By Gail Dexter, Institutional Advancement
Rocker-turned-M.B.A. Brian Coombes ’05 is combining creativity and business savvy at his recording studio in Pittsfield, N.H. Brian Coombes ’05 is rockin’ the countryside. A musician turned producer, Coombes is using his creative instincts and the business knowledge he obtained at SNHU to make a name for Rocking Horse Studio, a high-tech recording venture tucked away in the countryside of Pittsfield, N.H. Brian Coombes in studio with Brooks Young of the Brooks Young Band.
Playing in the Band A Nashua, N.H., native, Coombes began playing piano at age 15 and bass guitar at 16. He was always something of a writer, mostly short stories and poetry. Then a friend turned him on to progressive rock.
Rocking Out “I started listening to early Genesis, Pink Floyd, the Beatles and the Doors,” he said. A beautiful place to record, Rocking “I loved the surrealistic poetry of people like Horse Studio provides a professional Jim Morrison and Syd Barrett and thought I atmosphere for musicians. could do something similar. So I took a few 10 | The Extra Mile | Fall 2009
piano lessons and started writing music for some of my poetry.” In 1986 he helped found a progressive rock band called Tristan Park, for which he sang and played bass and keyboards. The band enjoyed great success in Europe and was signed to the British record label GFT Ltd., recorded four albums, and toured throughout Europe and North America. “It was surreal, watching non-Englishspeaking audiences in places like Holland and Belgium singing along to our tunes,” Coombes said. Breaking Out After Tristan Park went into hiatus in 1998, Coombes left full-time creative for full-time corporate work. He held several senior management positions in marketing and in product management and development at Lilly Software Associates (now Infor) in Hampton.