“That’s how I got Johnny Matthis and Kenny Rogers at the time. “Always be closing - of course,” he says with a laugh. It seems like he took a certain salesmanship lesson from “Glengarry Glen Ross.” Perry was on this time to promote the recent holiday album “The Season” and admitted there is no Sade appearance to be found. During an earlier interview, he floated the idea of them collaborating - Perry had told Brickman he was a fan and especially loves the “Soothe” albums - but Perry said Brickman would have to get in line somewhere behind Sade. In fact, he says an hour before this conversation he was interviewing onetime Journey frontman Steve Perry, whom he’d had on the show before. “A country-music audience would never normally buy a solo-piano record if they’re really just into country,” he saidĪnd how does he find these music-making partners? Well, in part through guests he interviews on the long-running syndicated radio program “The Jim Brickman Show” - also available as a podcast, in part for markets (including Cleveland) where it isn’t carried. The collaborations are a good way to bring people to his other music, he says. That helps to explain how among his accolades is a Canadian Country Music Award - late 1990s single “Your Love” featured vocals by Canadian country artist Michelle Wright. Smith, Michael Bolton, Donny Osmond, Olivia Newton-John, Kenny Loggins and Five for Fighting. There also have been myriad collaborations with artists including Martina McBride, Carly Simon, Lady Antebellum, Michael W. Along with solo-piano and Christmas albums, there are collections designed to relax (the “Soothe” series”), releases for Valentine’s Day and covers albums - something he says he avoided until people thought of him as a songwriter.
His music career has proved to be, if not all that difficult, quite eclectic. Way harder.” Jim Brickman is playing three shows in three days this weekend at the Hanna Theatre at Playhouse Square. Well, maybe not for local clients such as Northfield Park (“And every 19 minutes, the place goes crazy!”) but more for the likes of McDonald’s, Kraft, Keibler or Schwebel’s (“We want Schwebel’s! We want Schwebel’s! No other label will do!”). I learned so much, and I basically got paid to write songs and play different styles of music and create productions.”Īnd, he says, it was very competitive. “I thought that was always going to be my career,” he says. How did he initially use that skill? To write commercial jingles. He credits his direction largely to Marshall Griffith, a member of the faculty who retired earlier this year after more than 50 years and who helped Brickman learn to write songs. But for somebody who really wants to study in an advanced program, you need to be in some sort of conservatory where they can advocate for you and point you in the right direction.” “It wasn’t like taking piano lessons from the lady down the street - not that that’s bad, obviously. “It changed my life because of the levels of teachers,” he says of CIM. He attended the Cleveland Institute of Music, where a scholarship is named for him. He’s also close to where he received his music education. Whenever he plays downtown Cleveland, he’s only a few miles from where he grew up - he calls his upbringing in Shaker Heights “typically suburban,” stopping himself from using the word “Idyllic,” however much it may sound that way. (Courtesy of Jim Brickman) Back in the day Pianist Jim Brickman grew up in Shaker Heights and attended the Cleveland Institute of Music.