Pianist, composer and vocalist Michael Kaeshammer's coast-to-coast tour is making a stop at The Grand Theatre in Kingston next Friday. Kaeshammer’s music draws from several different genres including jazz, boogie-woogie, classical, rock and more.
“I see the whole thing as just my thing, my style. I see myself as a piano player, not a jazz piano player, not a boogie-woogie piano player, just a piano player,” says Kaeshammer.
Kaeshammer adds the influences on his piano playing come from styles he grew up listening to:
He adds he is also a fan of hard rock and pop music which influences his songwriting.
“I was a huge AC/DC fan…Phil Collins…whatever was on the radio at the time, MTV was a big thing, for songwriting, all those different styles have influenced me. I’m a big fan of the traditional verse, pre-chorus, chorus, Beatles, Tom Petty, that kind of songwriting, I love that.”
Kaeshammer is currently on a tour across Canada to promote his upcoming album Turn It Up, which is set to be released in March.
“I reconnected with a producer friend of mine from Toronto, Ron Lapada who used to play keyboards with Jacksoul…We started working on songs that I wrote during the pandemic, he took my songs and packaged them into something more current….all originals, except we did a cover of “Crazy Little Thing Called Love… going through the record collection that seemed like something that stuck out and would translate very well,” says Kaeshammer.
He says the live shows will include selections from his earlier albums along with songs from Turn It Up.
“I have a pool of songs that work from past recordings in front of an audience and with the band, but there’s a whole bunch of new songs from this Turn It Up record that we’re previewing on tour and trying out in front of an audience,” says Kaeshammer.
Kaeshammer says this is his longest Canadian tour. He is currently in New Brunswick, and will begin the Ontario leg of the tour in Ottawa at Shenkman Art Centre on Friday, Nov. 18. His Kingston show at The Grand Theatre on Nov. 25 will be his final Ontario stop before heading west.
Listen to the full CFRC interview with Michael Kaeshammer below: