Robert Carty and Jim Brenholts at Saguaro National Park in Tucson before the Steve Roach/Jorge Reyes concert.     Jim Brenholts and his wife Linda at command central.

Editors note: Jim Brehnolts passed away in 2009 but I'm leaving this bio up on the site as a memorial to all the reviews that he contributed to Ambient Visions over the years. Jim you will indeed be missed. My name is Jim Brenholts.  Hello to all ambient/space/electronic music fans!  And thank you, Michael Foster, for the opportunity to meet you! Whenever I write my own bio, I am hesitant to do so.  My humility (I hope and pray that I have some!) and ego (I know that I have that in large quantities!) are in constant conflict.  So, I write it like I write reviews.  I just put the pencil on the paper and trust that God will guide my hand! I am a native of Pittsburgh, PA, having been born here on March 4, 1956 (3/4/56 - cool!).  I have never seen fit to stray beyond the boundaries of southwestern Pennsylvania except for vacations and business trips.  After graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1974, I took a circuitous path through college and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh (where else?) in 1981 with a B.S. in business administration.  After graduation, I held various sales, sales management and sales training positions until 1987. After several family tragedies (including my own divorce) in 1987, I became a management consultant.  I stayed in that career through 1994.  At times I prospered and at times I floundered.  I always persevered! My greatest turning points, however, have been my introduction to 12-step recovery in January of 1988 and my marriage to Linda on July 29, 1989.  Those events have led - directly and indirectly - to my current position as a drug and alcohol rehabilitation counselor at Gateway Rehab Center.  After earning a certificate in counseling at Carlow College I started working at GRC on June 5, 1995. My electronic music journeys began in the early 1970's with Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Kraftwerk, Jean Michel Jarre and - of course! - Tonto's Expanding HeadBand.  The irony of the whole journey is my intro to the music.  I used to listen to electronic music as a background to misguided indiscretions and my futile attempts at mind expansion.  In short, I missed the boat completely! Those of you who have come to know me, either through electronic or personal communication or through reading my reviews, know that I now take a completely different approach in my deep listening.  I absolutely embrace the spiritual and emotional currents of the music and I look for ways to connect with the artists!  It is a very rewarding practice. Have a great day and God bless you!