Pianist and singer Jim Brickman's performs songs of the season at the Dominion Energy Center's Carpenter Theatre. (Photo courtesy by Jeff Klaum)
Jim Brickman calls his holiday tour, "A Joyful Christmas," an “antidote to the chaos of the holiday season.” His lighthearted, warm and intimate show has been entertaining people around the country for the past 22 years. “For many, my show has become a holiday tradition,” he says. “It’s theater. Everyone is in a celebratory spirit.”
The Dominion Energy Center's Carpenter Theatre is one of his favorite places to perform. “The environment of the theater is another character in the show,” he says. “Its history and beauty contribute to the feeling of the entire experience.” Brickman, 56, has performed in Richmond many times and is no stranger to Virginia. His father lived in Virginia Beach for 30 years, and Brickman has family ties to Norfolk, Tidewater and Hampton Roads. He spent a lot of time in the state while growing up and still visits relatives in Richmond and Charlottesville.
Brickman says that much of his career was built upon local relationships in small cities all over the country. “I did a kind of music that at the time was difficult to penetrate on a national level because it was a niche,” he says. Radio stations didn’t play it much at the time and so he worked hard to build local markets such as Richmond, Norfolk and Frederick, Maryland. Over time, these local markets grew into national exposure.
Brickman’s perseverance paid off. With a career that, to date, has brought him six gold and platinum albums, two Grammy nominations, a syndicated radio show, three best-selling books and four TV concert specials, he has certainly come a long way from his beginnings in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where his first piano teacher pronounced that he “didn’t have the knack for piano.” His teacher at the Cleveland Institute of Music, however, was the greatest influence of his professional life. “He opened my mind to songwriting,” says Brickman. “He let me play songs on the radio, which is the advice I always give to parents of kids who are talented but don’t want to practice. If you’re playing what you like or can play for your friends, it’s more inspirational.”
Brickman thinks of himself as a songwriter who plays the piano. “My style is unique because I am playing my own songs.” He says it is his way of speaking. “If I have trouble articulating my feelings, it’s much easier if I play them.” He cites his musical influences as Carole King, Paul Simon, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Carly Simon and the Beatles. “Not jazz musicians, not classical musicians. Straight-up singer-songwriters.”
Brickman is excited about two plans for the future. The first involves what he calls musical advocacy. This past summer, for the first time, he conducted a boot camp for aspiring songwriters. Sixty people from all over the country gathered in his studio in Cleveland. It was so well-received that he plans to run two Brickman Boot Camps for Songwriters next summer, one in Cleveland and one in Phoenix. His second plan is to make his performances more theatrical or to write a musical along the lines of classic Rodgers and Hammerstein.
“I like well-written music that is smart, clever, familiar, comfortable and emotional,” he says.
Jim Brickman performs at the Dominion Energy Center's Carpenter Theatre on Nov. 25 at 3 p.m. $37 to $77. Etix.com 600 E. Grace St.
