Photo courtesy Cavanaugh Productions
Michael Cavanaugh met pop-rock maestro Billy Joel’s manager in a piano bar in Las Vegas about 15 years ago. They became friendly, and eventually the Piano Man himself appeared at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino and played alongside Cavanaugh, who tried to not lose his cool. A couple months later, Joel tapped the pianist to lead a musical loosely based on his songs, called “Movin’ Out,” which ran for three years on Broadway. Since then, Cavanaugh, 45, has released music of his own (“The Way I Hear It,” his latest CD, dropped in April) and continues to pay tribute to his musical hero by covering songs such as “All for Leyna” and “She’s Got a Way,” along with pop hits from other rock icons. The Cleveland native talks about rocking out with strings, why people still like Billy Joel songs and whether the Piano Man knows what he’s up to.
Richmond magazine: What can people expect from your show with the Richmond Symphony?
Michael Cavanaugh: I perform with a rock ’n’ roll band in front of the stage, and we perform stuff in a similar way that Billy [Joel] and his band would, but we play along with an orchestra, and it’s pretty amazing. A lot of Billy’s music lends itself very well to that anyway. If you hear “New York State of Mind,” or “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,” there’s already a lot of orchestration there. What’s really cool is when we do a song like “Pressure,” which is very classical sounding in the first place, but it’s done on synthesizers. [Cavanaugh plays the intro to the song on piano.] If you listen to that, it sounds like Beethoven. When we do it, we have the orchestra play that part, and it sounds really cool.
RM: Has Billy seen the show with the orchestra?
MC: I have a feeling that by now, he probably has heard it, because I have so many YouTube videos and stuff. I’m always told by his people that he’s always checkin’ up on me, which is great.
RM: What do you think it is about his music and lyrics that resonates with people?
MC: I think he puts pictures in people’s heads. I think people can picture the story; I think they can relate to it a lot. I also think his music is very eclectic, so it reaches all kinds of people. “Don’t Ask Me Why,” is kind of mellow, kind of a Latin feel, [while] “You May Be Right” sounds like The Rolling Stones, you know? He kind of brings it all together. He attracts different people because his music is so diverse.
RM: When you sing a Billy Joel song, how much of it is your interpretation?
MC: I’m not an impersonator. But at the same time, I’m not trying to re-create something that to me is pretty great in the first place. A lot of the inflections may sound similar, because I grew up listening to the stuff so much. I’m not trying to impersonate him, but some people say I sound just like him.
On Jan. 27 at 8 p.m., Cavanaugh gives Billy Joel’s hits a classical touch in a performance with the Richmond Symphony at the Dominion Energy Center's Carpenter Theatre.
