Finding Pleasure in the Simple Things

very pianist has a distinctive style and voice. If you listen to Yamaha artist Jim Brickman’s latest album, Simple Things, you’ll hear a message that’s soothing, inspiring, and simple. Which is just how this admired and gifted pianist-composer likes it.

Brickman, who performs in more than 150 cities across the U.S. each year, has soared to success by composing music that’s honest, timeless, romantic, and beautiful. Now this Ohio-born musician, who performs, practices, and records on his Yamaha C7 conservatory grand piano, adds author to his credits. His soul-searching book, also called Simple Things (Hay House Publishing), jumped to the number-one spot on self-help book lists as quickly as it hit the book stores.

According to Brickman, the inspiration for this book, co-written by Cindy Pearlman, grew out of the realization that his own life was anything but “simple.”

“I do lead a complicated life that’s divided between writing new music, playing concerts, and dealing with a thousand things in one day,” says Brickman. He says the genesis for the companion book to the CD happened quite serendipitously after a phone conversation with Pearlman.

“My tour schedule had me on a plane to Vancouver,” he explains. “Cindy, who works for various newspapers, was stuck at Los Angeles International Airport. We missed dogs, homes, and our comforters. It was old friends talking on the phone, moaning about life. ‘We’ve just got to simplify things,’ I said. It was a simple longing, but an important one.”

Music has always been the great equalizer for Brickman, who seems to feel most grounded and at peace when his fingers are dancing across the piano keys of his Yamaha and a song just happens.

“One day, I had a five minute window in between satellite interviews for a series of local TV feeds,” says Brickman. “There I am, sitting at the piano, waiting around, so I did what I always do. I started writing. In that environment, things will come to me that ordinarily wouldn’t if I was sitting at home.”

For most of us, home is where the heart is, but since Jim Brickman doesn’t get to be home as much as he likes, for this composer and performer, “home” is where the music is. It’s that simple.

 

Jim Brickman