By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal pop music writer
Jim Brickman is an international piano pop star who does things a little differently than most “pop” stars.
In an undated publicity photo Jim Brickman a Cleveland native began playing piano at the age of five and studied music at the prestigious Cleveland Institute of Music. Brinkman, America's romantic piano sensation will play the Palace Theatre in Canton on Sat. Feb. 11, 2012. ( Photo by Rob Waymen)
Brickman’s music, spread across 24 albums, goes down easy with an emphasis on pretty hummable melodies, traditional pop music structures and a supple, friendly playing style that is neither flashy nor obviously complex. Aside from his solo music, which has garnered him four gold records, Brickman has become a big-time collaborator, having recorded hits with a variety of artists, including Martina McBride, Michael Bolton, saxophonist Dave Koz, Wayne Brady and Lady Antebellum. Nearly all of the collaboration songs landed in the Top 25 of the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts.
He’s never toured with a band, preferring to play solo or with some “guests” onstage to sing some of those hit collaborations. For the current tour, he’ll have vocals provided by his Shaker Heights high school buddy Anne Cochran and former Indianapolis Colts tight end Benjamin Utecht (and, yes, Utecht does wear his Super Bowl ring onstage).
Brickman, 50, is not a high-profile pop star because his videos get little airplay on traditional music cable stations and while many of his collaborations have been hits, only a few of his solo songs make the top of terrestrial radio station playlists.
Calling his music unique, Brickman has a clear sense of himself as a composer and artist and a dedicated fan base that he has carefully built through years of strategic touring in smaller markets and now happily serves by consistently giving his fans what they want.
“To me, the way to get the music out there was through touring and to connect live with people,” he said. “I just started to go everywhere to do that and I always thought it was important to not just play New York, Chicago and L.A. I think it’s important to do both.”
When it comes to his music, Brickman has no artistic/commercial conflicts. He is acutely aware that his fans’ love of his music keeps him in business so when he writes he often contemplates how his songs will be heard and used and he doesn’t understand the mentality of artists who profess that they make music to please themselves first and hope fans jump on board.
“I don’t understand that kind of thinking,” he said dismissively. “Then why is it a product? If you’re just doing it for yourself, then you should be happy if it’s just sitting on your shelf and you can play it for your friends. If it’s something that you’re going to put out there as a body of your work, then it has to serve a greater purpose than yourself.”
“People use [artist’s music]. But I’m also not a 22-year-old alternative band [member], so context is important, but I think fans of those kinds of bands want the band to say things like that because it’s hipper, but that’s not the audience I’m serving.”
And, unlike some other area pop/rock/rap stars, Brickman, who spent several years living and working in Los Angeles while trying to get his career going, has always kept his home base in Northeast Ohio. Brickman splits his time between homes in New York and Cleveland, where he keeps his office, tour operations and staff — some of whom have been with him for nearly 20 years.
“It’s where it began for me and it’s where I had a really wonderful foundation of people around me that were incredibly supportive and advocates and a great staff of people and its always been that way,” he said from his New York home.
“I find that it’s a better environment for my particular career to be based in the Midwest and with that mentality rather than southern California and the vibe and the tone of the work ethic. It’s just a more comfortable environment,” he said crediting the blue-collar Midwestern “thing” for helping to keep his head on straight.
The prolific composer often releases two or even three albums a year. He is touring behind his most recent 2011 albums, Romanza, Love, and All Is Calm, and the fact that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner isn’t a coincidence.
Brickman has been called the inventor of the “New Age Pop Song” a label that would surely ruffle the feathers of some less self-assured artists, but which Brickman only finds a little confusing.
“I just write songs and the only reason you might call them new age is because I wrote them; I don’t know that there is such a thing,” he said, chuckling.
Brickman may get credit for the new age pop song, but the pianist, who began classical lessons at age 5, credits his time at the Cleveland Institute of Music and specifically his former professor (now dean) Marshall Griffith for helping him to develop his own style.
“He noticed at a young age that I was really a composer/songwriter and not a pianist, so he nurtured my writing and my creativity and less of my technique. He cared more about how I played than what I played. That it came from within and not just a result of technique,” he said. “I didn’t know it was happening at the time, because I was 13 when I met him … but it opened my world to an amazing opportunity to trust my instincts.”
Brickman also credits his many collaborators for allowing his homegrown piano style to continue to grow and change to reflect the times and the fans.
“I just think of myself as a songwriter who writes on piano, but one of the things that’s great about being a songwriter is that, if you really work hard at collaborating and you listen a lot, then your style tends to grow if you’re aware … [and] will continue to reflect a contemporary vibe.”
During the 1990s, his writing and production style was “very power ballady,” while his more recent songs have more of a lilting, airy feel and a pleasant groove to them driven by his own muse and the tough times, Brickman said.
“I think when there’s economic concern, despair, whatever you want to call it, pop songs tend to make a comeback. So if it’s Katy Perry or Bruno Mars, everything in the pop world has a very happy-go-lucky, poppy confectionery sound,” he said. He mentioned other artists such as Jason Mraz, Michael Buble and Lady Gaga, and pointed out Adele as the exception to the current rule.
Aside from his success as a composer, Brickman, who has written two books — Simple Things and Love Notes — and his team are no slouches at niche marketing his and others’ music. He has separate distribution deals for exclusive release with Target, an album that is licensed exclusively with romance novel publisher Harlequin and an upcoming lullaby album for Fisher-Price that will be available for purchase in toy stores and Baby Gap, among other child-friendly places.
He is looking for help from fans to help name the latter album, and suggests fans tweet him @JimBrickman to offer suggestions.
If that isn’t enough, since 1997 Brickman has hosted a syndicated radio show, Your Weekend With Jim Brickman, where he interviews celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise and Jennifer Aniston. It can heard locally on Sundays at WHOF (101.7-FM) from 8 a.m. to noon and WDOK (102.1-FM) from 7 to 11 p.m. He said he enjoys the show because it allows him to really be himself and share his thoughts and feelings and gives him a chance to talk to famous folks.
Since 2006, he has also offered the annual seven-day Brickman Cruise, which brings him face to face with his fans (and his parents have become regular guests stars and fan favorites). He founded Brickhouse Direct, a Cleveland-based digital marketing and commerce firm run by his brother, Michael, which has evolved into a theatrical marketing production company that currently has a tribute to the music of the Carpenters on tour and is in the works to produce a Janis Joplin tribute show.
“I love all of these spokes of the wheel, but I’m not really business savvy when it comes to numbers,” he said. “I’m vested to the creative side of wanting to get the music out there … and I still love performing more than anything else.”
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
