The
Great Escape
by
Jody Ewing
Jim
Brickman taught me the meaning of the word escape. I don't mean by the ESCAPE -- the
Platinum-selling recording artist's debut album for the SLG label --
though it certainly contributed to my own "creative epiphany," a term
Brickman uses to describe how he came to record his new soundtrack for
busy lives.
Inspired
by a young couple who confided they used his music to relax and unwind
after a stressful day, the multi-talented composer and concert
headliner says he realized people need music for all kinds of reasons.
He acknowledged its value as a healing tool and soothing antidote by
gathering together some of today's brightest young rising stars to
create an original collection of romantic piano solos and inspiring
vocals.
Brickman -- who juggles his music career with his weekly radio show Your Weekend with Jim Brickman -- is now giving his fans the chance to escape with him as part of a five-month North American tour he began earlier this month that will bring him to Omaha's Orpheum Theater on Monday, December 4. Joining him onstage will be the young brilliant acoustic violinist David Klinkenberg and vocalist Jake Simpson, the latter whom Oprah Winfrey championed as a "promising discovery."
My
own epiphany, however, struck after speaking with Jim by telephone in
preparation for this article. I'd "interviewed" Jim once before -- nine
days after 9-11, in fact -- for an earlier
feature
on his first book Simple
Things,
and its same-titled CD. This time, though, felt remarkably different,
and one of Jim's comments helped me discover why.
"This
is like the best interview I've had in months and months," he confided
from the airport while waiting for his plane. "It's not really an
interview, but more like we're just having a conversation."
And
here I'd been worried he'd think I wasn't asking enough questions about
his new album. But, it wasn't my style to ask the same questions I knew
he must be asked over and over again. I like to dig deeper, to read all
the other interviews and then ask the unexpected, to find that one
question no one else has asked before.
Ironically,
this time when I sat down to write the article, I found myself staring
at a blank computer screen wondering how I possibly could distance
myself from this story. How could I make the writer "invisible" as my
professors taught so many years ago, when Jim Brickman's music -- and
how it came to seep into and wrap itself around my own family members'
lives -- had become so deeply personal?
In
addition, another rule beckoned: With Brickman's host of
accomplishments, where was my slant? His concert and latest CD? His
ability to seamlessly cross genres while keeping close the very essence
of what makes Jim Brickman's music unmistakably Jim Brickman's sound?
How he's changing not only the music industry but entertainment's
landscape in developing and opening up new paths connecting artists
directly with their fans?
Ultimately,
the slant came down to one universal theme: Jim Brickman's desire to
give something back.
I
spoke to Jim four days after the sudden death of Gerald Levert, who
appears on the Escape
album with Jim in the duet "My Angel." I'll let our conversation speak
for itself.
JE:
Hi Jim. Thank you for calling me.
JB:
Of course.
JE:
First, I wanted to offer my sympathies on the loss of your friend
Gerald Levert.
JB:
Yes, thank you. Very, very said. It's so sad.
JE:
It is. I was just listening to his song a little earlier, and though I
know it's a lullaby, it seems almost prophetic.
JB:
I know. I feel the same way. It's angels and everything, and it's
extremely poignant that way.
JE:
Will you be able to attend his funeral this Friday in Cleveland?
JB:
Unfortunately, no. I'm going to be on tour, and very sad I can't make
it.
JE:
How will Gerald's death affect your upcoming concerts, insofar as
addressing the loss with your audience?
JB:
I always feel like honesty is the best policy. When I talk about the
album and I talk about the duet partners I'm going to address it in
that area of the show. I'm not going to dedicate the song or anything
like that, though I may dedicate another song. I just don't want to set
a complete cast over the show because you can't do that. But I will
definitely address it, no doubt.
JE:
Whereas rather than being maudlin, it celebrates his life.
JB:
Exactly.
JE:
You've said loyal fans inspired the idea for Escape,
and with your Piano Sensations contest and new website and upcoming
cruise, you've actually set somewhat of a precedent for new ways of
artists getting directly involved with their fans. How will this change
the landscape of interaction between fans and musicians?
JB:
Wow. Wonderful question. I think because the music is so intimate, and
because it is a solo performance primary, it is by nature a more
personal experience than to listen to a band or something like that.
Because I write all the music myself, it's even more personal. And
people take it to mean whatever they happen to feel at any given time.
Some people find solace, some people find comfort, some find a
celebration of an important emotional time in their life, and the music
is really used in so many ways. People wake up in the morning to it as
their alarm clock. You can't get much more personal than that. And of
course we all use music as the backdrop of our lives. But, because it
is so intimate, I feel I have a responsibility to communicate with the
audience maybe a little more so than the average singer would.
JE:
What was it like working with Sara Evans?
JB:
It was great! You know, she's a sweet girl, and she's talented, and
when I recorded with her she was also training for Dancing with the
Stars so she was very busy but she loved the song and she loved the
tone and the meaning of the song, especially for her kids and things
like that because it's about wishing somebody close to you all good
things.
JE:
Now, the young acoustic violinist David Klinkenberg, you discovered him
in the Northwest?
JB:
I did.
JE:
Can you tell me a little bit about him?
JB:
He's very, very talented and he's going to be on the holiday tour with
me. He's just tremendous. There's a spirit, something about him, in his
playing that… I don't know…you hear it and it just transports
you. But live, he's especially poignant.
JE:
You've said you're not a great singer but do sing a bit in concert.
Will you be singing in Omaha?
JB:
I do. And I will. I've got a male singer on the tour, but I do some
group singing and I think I'm going to be singing one song from my new
Christmas album, the Christmas romance album.
JE:
I've noticed your website not only has a whole new look, but a host of
new features like the Media Center, E-cards, a Scrapbook and other
fan-related options. What new technology or design technique do you
find is most effective for interacting with fans?
JB:
Well, first and foremost, I want it to be easy. I want it to be really
easy. Easy to buy something, easy to do business, easy to have good
customer service, easy to write a fan letter or to communicate, easy to
find directions to a tour or city. I think the most important thing is
not trying to be so overcome with the ego of the site that you want it
to do all these things just to look pretty. I really want it to be
there to be used and to be where all of the audience can connect with
it.
JE:
It's set up very well, easy to navigate, and I've found the pages load
quickly, even with all the graphics.
JB:
I run a company [Brickhouse] that does web design for other artists,
and so I pride myself in that because we do the websites for Michael W.
Smith and Amy Grant and Mark Schultz and a lot of other people.
JE:
You also have your radio show, "Your Weekend with Jim Brickman." Can
you contrast the difference between being interviewed versus you doing
the interviewing?
JB:
Well, I'm so used to it because I've done the show for ten years, and I
love talking to other people about what inspires them and make them
create and all that, and I think it's fascinating.
JE:
Which one do you find easier?
JB:
If the interview is good – like you ask really interesting questions –
then it's fun to talk to you. If it's just the basic 4-11, then it's
not that fun. Because all that stuff you can find very easily on the
website. But I like both. After a number of years, you kind of get sick
of talking about yourself.
JE:
Well, that's a first. I haven't heard anyone
say that before.
(Laughter)
JB:
Well, you know, I mean I love doing what I do, and sometimes I like to
articulate it, but not always.
JE:
I was thinking about one of my favorite songs – The Gift – and I notice
that in a lot of your songs there's a metaphor of a gift. What was the
most unexpected or wonderful gift you ever received?
JB:
Oh wow. Well, I'm not very materialistic as is evident by the tone of
the songs. I really prefer gifts at non-gift times. Like one time I was
dating this person and I was sick with a cold but I was on tour, and I
got a knock at the door and it was the concierge of the hotel bringing
me all this flu and cold medicine in a basket with all kinds of stuff
they had called the hotel and arranged. Stuff like that, to me, is more
compelling than just an iPod or something.
JE:
That's an excellent answer.
JB:
It's not a present,
but it's a gift.
JE:
With the release of your album Grace
– and not just you but with other musicians as well – we're starting to
see songs about God and faith crossing over into mainstream sales
rather than just the Christian market.
JB:
Yes, you're right. You're right.
JE:
Do you attribute that to the war or is it just the timing is right or
is it people are just finally connecting with their faith?
JB:
I think it's all of those things. I think people want to believe in
something, and especially at a time when the world is so chaotic. It's
a time when people want to have a faith and want to believe in their
faith.
JE:
Is there any other Christian composer you'd like to collaborate or work
with on a song or duet?
JB:
I've always wanted to do something with Steven Curtis Chapman and
always wanted to do something with Amy Grant.
JE:
But you do Amy's website.
JB:
Yeah (laughter), and we've talked about doing something but the right
time hasn't come along yet.
JE:
When I talked to you in 2001, you said one day you might like to write
a theatrical production, like a stage musical or something. Are you
still thinking about that?
JB:
I am. I am. It's not in the works but is something I'm definitely
thinking about doing because I love theater. I love
live theater. I think there's nothing like going into a theater and
being entertained, and especially with the fact that music is comprised
these days where you don't necessarily have to be talented to make a
good record because of all the gizmos that you can use. The one thing
you can't fake is live performing.
JE:
Tell me a little bit about your Piano Sensations contest.
JB:
We had some great entries, and the winner is going to perform with me
on stage in Chicago during the Christmas tour. [The contest] was
specifically designed for pianists because singers always seem to be
the draw for things like American Idol and contests like that. As a
piano player and as somebody who has music books people take piano
lessons from, I felt like it'd be kind of cool if there was some sort
of mentorship going on somewhere in my career.
JE:
Why is it so important to you to give back to others?
JB:
Well, because I didn't really have anybody guiding me growing up, and I
had to sort of find my own way. And you know, we all have to in many
ways, but if I had had somebody who believed in what I was passionate
about in my career to ask questions of or to watch and learn from, even
if I didn't know them, I think it would have helped me.
JE:
But you've done very well despite that. You have a natural talent, kind
of an innate sense for the music.
JB:
Thank you.
JE:
But you don't see a lot of musicians who are willing to interact like
that with their fans and give back and draw them into the process. It's
like they are just slightly out of reach.
JB:
Yeah, well I want to have fun doing it, and if I become elitist, then
it's not really fun anymore.
JE:
When I last spoke with you, you said your favorite song was Angel
Eyes
because it "defined your style." With all the songs you've done since,
is it still your favorite?
JB:
It is. It is. And it's for the same reason.
JE:
I'm sure you've heard the old adage about how every person that comes
in and out of our lives teaches us something or somehow makes us a
better person. What lesson did you learn from Gerald [Levert]?
JB:
Again, I have to be honest about it. I've had a lot of duet partners
and singers, but Gerald was doing it for the right reasons. He was not
punching a time clock. He wasn't trying to fit in the vocal session
between [other things]. And I so admired that. And it was such a
pleasure. I remember in the session I asked if we could film something
for my website, something of him singing, and he said 'Yeah! Of
course!' And he was there by himself, no entourage, and it just
reminded me why I'm doing this, that there are really wonderful people
like him who are out there and just doing it to make music because it's
their gift and it's who they are. And you know, you can feel that in
people. He was very satisfied. You could tell after he'd sung that it
gave him joy to share his talent. I look at his picture on my website
and it's like this…such a joyful expression and so happy. And he lived
in Cleveland; he didn't live in L.A. He stayed in Cleveland and he had
kids and his wife, and…I don't know…it made it even sadder because of
it.
JE:
With some people, it never goes to their head. They never forget where
they came from, and they stay with it because they'd do it even if they
weren't getting paid for it.
JB:
Yes, of course, of course. I just think, well, I'm doing this because I
love it and for no other reason. So I think he taught me that, and it
makes me really sad to talk about it because he was just such a
wonderful soul, and it's just a terrible loss. And so young. Five years
younger than me. We were teasing about it that day, that we went to the
same high school, and he said "Yeah, but I'm way younger than you are,"
and I'm just thinking Oh God, and this banter on stage, I wish you
could hear it. I'm hoping we'll put [our intro banter] on our website.
He'd missed a soundcheck and I didn't know if he was going to show up
or not. I was on stage introducing him and I didn't know if he was
going to be there. And I said "And now, ladies and gentlemen," and it
was kind of like The Sound of Music … "and
now, the family Von Trapp,"
and sure enough, there he came.
JE:
I hope you do include it there.
JB:
I will work on doing that. Absolutely. Well, Jody, I'm just jumping on
an airplane but want to thank you so much for your time.
JE:
Thank you, Jim, and I look forward to seeing you December 4th.
JB:
Please make sure you come up to me, okay? I would be remiss in not
thanking you in person. Okay?
JE:
Okay. I will do that. I'll see you then!
JB:
Thank you so much.
__________________________
Jody
Ewing is a freelance writer based in western Iowa. She has had more
than 400 feature articles published and is the author of the book "One
Way: Bumps and Detours on the Road to Adulthood."
True
to her word, Jody -- along with her mother, daughter and two sisters --
attended
Jim's concert and met with him afterwards. Click
Here for the photos.
Copyright
© Jody Ewing
November
24, 2006
