‘Jim Brickman: A New Year’s Celebration’
Songwriter and pianist Jim Brickman has two concerts booked on New Year’s Eve at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. Sure, it’s great for the audience, but it seems like it would be a drag for the star attraction. After all, he’s working on the biggest party night of the year.
“Believe me, it actually suits my sensibility to have something like this to do on New Year’s Eve,” Brickman says during a phone call. “There’s this expectation about holidays in general: ‘OK, go have fun now!’ I’m not good at the party element like that. I think you should be able to spend your time how you want to spend it.”
And there you have the appeal of the shows. Do not expect colorful hats, streamers and drunken revelry. Instead, there will be some of his hits — lovely soft-pop staples such as “The Gift” and “Valentine” — plus holiday hymns and carols of a more traditional nature.
“This is sort of the antidote for that ‘Happy New Year!’ kind of thing,” he says. “Sometimes a lot of us stay home or don’t engage in that. I kind of prefer to have a peaceful, beautiful celebration that is intimate.”
It certainly will be fun. Brickman, 55, boasts a charming stage presence. He’s got a quick, unforced wit and a knack for telling engaging stories. He’s a natural at the latter; for more than two decades, he’s hosted his own syndicated radio show.
“It’s just great,” he says. “I get to have these longform interviews with other musicians. Just yesterday, I had a great conversation with Bette Midler. Talking to other musicians about music — I just loving doing it.”
An introvert
For someone who is When: 6 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 31. Where: Musical Instrument Museum, 4725 E. Mayo Blvd., Phoenix. Admission: $43.50-$58.50. Details: 480-478-6000, themim.org. known primarily as an instrumentalist, Brickman actually has to talk a lot in his line of work. He holds annual weekend events, dubbed Brickman Bashes, in which he performs as well as spends one-on-one time with Brickheads, as his fans are dubbed. He says the latter half of the equation didn’t always come easy.
“By nature, I’m an introvert,” he says. “Well, I guess I’m really an ambivert, because onstage I’m extremely extroverted. But it’s gotten easier, because I’ve done it for a while and I’ve grown up with it. I’m less concerned with the things that come out of my mouth. I used to edit myself more. But I find the more I’m myself, the easier it is. The more I try to be the expectation of who people think Jim Brickman is, the harder it is.”
So what is the expectation? Well, there is that funny and charming thing. And he’s always looked rather dashing and swoon-worthy
The people that have turned him into a one-man industry are a diverse lot, he says.
“It’s couples. It’s young people who play the piano. It’s people who used one of my songs at their wedding. It’s massage therapists and some ethereal, new-agey kind of people. There’s a spiritual side, with people who play the music at church. I’ll have a Harley biker guy show up, and I’ll think he’s in the wrong place or his wife brought him, and he’ll go, ‘No, man, I’m the one that introduced your music to her!’”
He has a theory about why people connect with him.
“The music itself is so personal and so intimate,” he says. “People use it for celebratory things or intimate moments, so it could be a wedding or it could be for a bubble bath. But if you look at the ways people use my music, they’re very engaged and feeling things out. They understand the music is there to take to you to a calm place or to set up a mood. The people who listen feel they understand me and know me. In a fashion, writing is the way I make friends. It’s like speaking, but it just happens to be melody instead of talking.”
Mr. Soothe
In recent years, he’s even written a book, “Soothe: How to Find Calm Amid Everyday Chaos,” and released a series of accompanying discs. That project came about after he was scheduled to get an MRI, and the medical technician informed him that they normally play his music to help people relax.
“That made me go, ‘Wow’,” he says. “My music helps people to calm and heal, and I’m a totally neurotic person. It made me start thinking about how I could attempt to dial it down a notch. I’m extremely driven and ambitious and have a million ideas, and I can’t get my brain to shut off at night. Yet, at the same time, speaking through my music is my heart, and that helps people.”
But what does Mr. Soothe turn to when his brain won’t slow down?
“Exercise helps,” he says with a laugh. “I like to hike and swim. I don’t drink. The only substance I really abuse is chocolate. I don’t know. I have a lot of exciting things coming and I just am very stimulated by that, and it’s hard for me to sleep.”