America’s piano sensation Jim Brickman chatted with Digital Journal about his new holiday song „Christmas Where You Are,“ his duet with Five for Fighting.
Listen
|
Print
By Markos Papadatos
10 mins ago in Music
America’s piano sensation Jim Brickman chatted with Digital Journal about his new holiday song „Christmas Where You Are,“ his duet with Five for Fighting.
On collaborating with John Ondrasik from Five for Fighting for the new song, “ Christmas Where You Are,“ he said, „It was great! We have such a similar sensibility about our pop songwriting. We come from the same school of songwriting. We really think a lot alike, and we have a very similar point of view.“
Regarding his future plans, he said, „Right now, we are just playing the song live quite a bit and we are having a really good time.“
Each day, Brickman is motivated by „learning and growing.“ „I’m always trying to reinvent myself. You always try to get better, but not stay so far away from who you are. You try to create new music that has yet to be written really,“ he said.
On the key to longevity in the music industry, he said, „Authenticity has a lot to do with it. You need to be who you are. You need to show people who you really are, and what comes naturally to you. That’s the first thing people notice about you, and I think that makes a big difference.“
For aspiring musicians, Brickman said, „Play, write and collaborate with other people and work with them. Put yourself out there!“
When asked if he dressed up anything interesting for Halloween this year, he said, with a laugh, „I was retired Jim Brickman.“
He had nothing but the nicest remarks about working with country songstress Martina McBride on their smash collaboration „Valentine.“ „It was great. She has a beautiful voice. At the time, we were both up-and-coming, and not a lot of people outside country knew who she was. It was a great way for our audiences to introduce each other,“ he reflected.
Brickman also complimented the ever-talented Jeff Timmons, the founding member of 98 Degrees. „I love Jeff! He’s also from Northeastern Ohio. He was on my tour for two years. We are really close. In fact, I’m going to have him on my radio show in a couple of weeks,“ he said.
After being privileged to collaborate with Timmons, McBride and countless other great artists, he listed „Dolly Parton“ as his dream female duet choice in music.
He defined the word success as „connecting with people emotionally.“ „To me, it’s never about financial success, it’s about sharing the gift of music,“ he said.
Digital transformation of music
On the digital transformation of the music scene, he said, „You never know what’s coming. I’m actually pretty pleased with the turn that it took. What I do is a such niche thing, and these days, if you are a fan of a certain niche of music, there are certain places that you can find it. It used to be the radio. Now, if you ask Alexa to play relaxing music, then people might stumble upon my songs, when they wouldn’t have before.“
Regarding his use of technology in his daily routine, Brickman said, „I used to record on the acoustic piano and now I use the digital Roland piano to record. It is more efficient, and you can come up with any sounds that you want to.“
To learn more about pianist, songwriter and recording artist Jim Brickman, check out his official website .
