UPDATES FROM THE BEAUTIFUL WORLD TOUR!
"A Day In The Life" Webisodes - What it's really like on the road!
2009 BEAUTIFUL WORLD HOLIDAY TOUR SCRAPBOOK
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TOUR BLOG
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12/14/2009
It's been a while since I had a chance to sit down and write a blog.
I was thrilled to learn that my CD FAITH was nominated for a Grammy. I have a concert in Cincinnati the night of the award show, so don't look for me on the red carpet.
I hope you've been enjoying the video blogs we've been sending. The tour has been going great. I've had some wonderful guests. Orla Fallon packed up her harp and joined me on several concert dates. Everyone enjoyed hearing her perform. And I'm always happy to have Victoria Shaw in the concert as well. I even had a chance to do some song writing with her while we had some free time. Of course, Mark Masri was on the first weeks of the tour and will be back for a few more shows. His solo "Caruso" is really bringing down the house! Anne, Tracy and Garrett are here... and its so much fun performing with them. I've heard from a lot of you that you enjoy hearing Garrett play the instruments no one's ever heard of. And you love Anne's gowns, of course! And as usual - Tracy rocks!
It's been great seeing so many of you at the concerts! I feel like its a new holiday in every city. It never gets old, because you bring so much energy to the theatre!
I'll be in my hometown this week.... and I'm looking forward to dropping by the office, and celebrating the holidays with my friends and staff.
See you soon!
11/20/2009
I got off the bus at 8:00 this morning in Rockford Illinois. With all the traveling we've been doing, I almost forget it was my birthday. But I was happily reminded when I walked into the theatre for sound check. I was shocked to see balloons and streamers wishing me a happy birthday! VIPs Vicki and Linda were there and decorated the catering area! There were posters, a birthday cake and lots of other goodies (some were even healthy)! WOW!!!! Thank so much!!! And also, I want to thank everyone who sent me birthday cards, emails and greetings on the message board and facebook. you have no idea how much that means to me. you guys are great!
11/16/2009
I always enjoy visiting the New England states. It's so picturesque.. well... the view from the tour bus is, but then I really don't get to see much past the dressing room and theatre. The tour bus is cozy as usual. I'm glad we all get along so well, because there's no where to hide if we didint. It's just like talking a car ride with your entire family. Lots of snacks, lots of staring out the window, not too much whining. But I really dont think my Mom or Dad would survive it. Matthew is our bus driver again.. and he's pretty used to our schedule and personalities after so many years.
People always think traveling is the time to go crazy eating junk food. but you have to remember that we have to stay healthy too. And if Anne was constantly eating chocolate chip cookies, her costumes - I mean wardrobe wouldn't fit by the second week of December. So, we packed a lot of healthy snacks we picked up at Whole Foods. Dried fruits, nuts, popcorn and sugar free cookies.
11/12/2009
You probably know that bad weather always seems to follow or precede us on tour. So, hurricanes, rain, snow and ice storms are nothing we can't deal with. We'll always be at the theatre waiting for you! In fact, we're driving to Baltimore right now and the storm is right overhead! (Obviously I'm not driving)
Opening night in Newport News was fantastic. The audience loved the new music from Beautiful World, and as promised some Christmas tunes got everyone in the holiday spirit. It was great seeing so many of you there.
11/11/2009
We are in Newport News getting ready for the tour. Claire is here setting up interviews and making sure I get to them on time. I've been to radio stations, and on TV twice. Even my dad got in the act.
Wendy is here to put together the show. Last night and this morning, the crew started loading in the technical stuff like lighting, sound, and scenery. I stay out of the way for that.
The rehearsal room is open and in a few minutes we're going to start rehearsing. I'll be at the piano while Anne, Orla and everyone else will be standing around singing, figuring out harmonies, and working out Tracy and Garrett's parts. I'm anxious to hear how we all sound together.
Gotta run.. looks like they are waiting for me!
Holiday Tour Review!
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It is one thing to create pop-style instrumentals for the piano and come up with an album titled “No Words” that doesn’t have any words.
It can definitely help, however, if someone has the words in mind of how to market the music. In Jim Brickman’s case, he knew who to turn to: Jim Brickman.
Brickman is a composer, songwriter, pianist and vocalist who also happens to be thoughtful and creative about the business side of things. The man, whose latest album is “Beautiful World” and who will be coming to the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts to perform a concert at 7 p.m. Sunday, is also the founder of Brickhouse Direct, which describes itself as an “online marketing, Web site-design and fulfillment business, which creates Web sites and offers marketing tools to the entertainment industry.”
“I happen to be interested in both,” Brickman said of creating music and marketing during a recent telephone interview. “It (the business side) is not out of necessity. It interests me.”
He acknowledged that some people may regard talking about business as getting in the way of creative idealism. But Brickman certainly has his ideals. “When you’re doing it for yourself and your ultimate goal and prize is doing what you want to do … there’s the incentive. The ultimate thing I’m after is to write the music I want to write and share it with people.”
It could be said to have worked out beautifully. Since the release of “No Words” in 1994, there have been six gold- and platinum-selling albums, 26 adult radio hits, a Grammy nomination, numerous awards, many vocal collaborations (with such diverse stars as Donny Osmond, Martina McBride, Olivia Newton-John, Michael W. Smith and Kenny Loggins) and lots of touring.
Brickman has said that he loves live performing the best, and he has performed all over the world. “Beautiful World,” released earlier this year, was inspired by the places he’s traveled and seeing the way music connects people worldwide.
If he likes travel, he should be happy right now. He’s commencing a tour that will take him to more than 40 cities over the next three months. He’s no stranger to Worcester, packing them in at Mechanics Hall (to good reviews) on two previous visits.
Brickman emphasized that while he’ll be playing songs from “Beautiful World” Sunday, the Hanover Theatre appearance will also be a show — given the time of year — when people can expect to hear some holiday music. Among his guests will be the harpist and vocalist Orla Fallon, vocalist Ann Cochran and violist, violinist and keyboard player Tracy Silverman.
Brickman seems to be able to move quite comfortably in a number of genres. New Age, pop, romantic pop, country, Disney — he’s been there, always conveying a suave and melodic sound.
“Inspiration comes from within, culture, environment — all these things,” Brickman said. But there is a constant: “Optimistic music has always been my core message,” he said.
Which gives him a marketing point, as well.
“I think whatever you do, you have to find your niche and what you do best,” Brickman said.
The 47-year-old sounds like the confident sort — the sort of person you perhaps wouldn’t mind managing your career if you were a songwriter who did not know one end of a business plan from another.
It may not just be a coincidence that Brickman cut both his musical and business chops as a writer of commercial jingles. Born in Cleveland, he studied music at the Cleveland Institute of Music and then founded his own advertising music company, writing commercials for advertisers such as McDonald’s, Pontiac and Kellogg’s.
Was this a good musical apprenticeship? “Oh yes, amazing,” said Brickman, who now lives in the Los Angeles area. “It’s trial by fire. It’s creativity on deadline. It’s very intense pressure — you get a call at five in the morning and it needs to be on the air by the end of the day. It’s also very competitive.”
This wasn’t the type of music, however, that Brickman wanted to write for the rest of his life. After putting together an album of his music, Brickman’s plan was to go from radio station to radio station. In a previous interview, he said that his was a career that “funneled up.”
“I don’t use anyone else as a model. I attempted to find my own niche. I tried to be consistent with my message,” he said. People have believed in it, he said, because “it’s authentic.”
By Richard Duckett
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
JIM'S MUSICAL GUESTS
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ANNE COCHRAN
“All These Years,” the hit that took Anne Cochran to Madison Square Garden with Stars on Ice and to NBC’s Golden Moment, applies quite nicely to her ongoing affair with accomplice Jim Brickman. For more than a decade, Cochran has vocalized with Brickman on stages across the country, including Cleveland’s Severance Hall and celebrated Carnegie Hall, sometimes with a 30-piece orchestra in tow. She charms on Jim’s yearly Escape Cruise, is a frequent co-host to his popular radio show, and has appeared on all four Brickman PBS Specials, her personal favorite being “Beautiful World,” taped in Niagara Falls in June, 2009.
Cochran also holds her own at NYC's Birdland and has been known to deliver a stirring “Star-Spangled Banner” at the NCAA Women’s Championship Basketball Final, perform at Hollywood’s gala CAMIE Awards,
and co-host a gala fund-raiser for breast cancer with comedian Bob Newhart. Her earthy alto never fails to pull audiences to their feet.
To sample her music on CD, indulge in the new Close To Me, a diamond-cut jewel of all-original tracks including “Wishing Well,” co-written and recorded with Brickman. Then choose from Cover Girl ’s winning 60s cover songs, upbeat Lucky Girl, All My Best, featuring “Destiny” in duet with Donny Osmond, or her holiday opus, This Is The Season, with “Someone Is Missing At Christmas,” another hit single in her crown.
When not performing, writing, recording or co-hosting NBC’s “Good Company Today,” Cochran is a regular mom, gratefully grounded by her husband and sons… and her yoga class.
For more information visit www.annecochran.com
TRACY SILVERMAN
Lauded by the BBC as “the greatest living exponent of the electric violin,” Juilliard graduate Tracy Silverman has redefined the violin with his instantly-recognizable trademark sound. His groundbreaking work with the 6-string electric violin has transformed violin playing the way Hendrix redefined the electric guitar. Silverman single-handedly legitimized the electric violin with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Adams’ electric violin concerto “The Dharma at Big Sur,” written expressly for him.
Tracy has performed it all over the world and his recording of it on Nonesuch Records with the BBC Symphony has received rave reviews and landed on The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Boston Herald’s Top Ten Recordings of 2006. The LA Times raved, “Inspiring. Silverman is in a class of his own.” The Chicago Tribune wrote of Silverman’s “blazing virtuosity. You will be astonished that anybody can play a fiddle like that.” Silverman’s own “Electric Violin Concerto” has been called “the ideal piece for today’s symphony.”
Tracy has toured with Jim Brickman for 10 years and produced and performs on Jim Brickman’s hit CDs Simple Things, Love Songs and Lullabies, Escape, Homecoming and Beautiful World. Tracy also performs on all four of Jim’s popular TV specials as well as arranging Jim’s popular symphonic program.
Tracy teaches jazz violin at Belmont University in Nashville, TN and gives frequent workshops and clinics around the world.
Tracy’s new CD with his band, Eclectica, is called Streaming Video Soul and is available along with Tracy’s other CDs at www.tracysilverman.com
GARRETT VIGGERS
Garrett picked up his first guitar in 1996 and began leading worship at a local church. A few years later he heard the hammered dulcimer being played by Rich Mullins and was in awe of the melodic and percussive dance. For the past ten years, Garrett has sought to connect the ancient sounds of the hammered dulcimer within the modern world of music. Garrett is also proficient on the lap dulcimer and guitar.
He enjoys credits on Randy Stonehill’s Edge of the World album, which features legendary artists such as Phil Keaggy, Barry McGuire, Noel Paul Stookey and Sarah Groves. In 2007, Garrett recorded his first CD in the studio of world-class hammered dulcimer player Dan Landrum. Landrum (who toured with Yanni) also collaborated with Garrett on several of the tracks. Most recently, Garrett was invited by Third Day and Brandon Heath to record an impromptu acoustic version of “Creed” by Rich Mullins. He is currently preparing to release Emmanuel – a joyous revival of Christmas melodies – featuring the lap and hammered dulcimer, which includes unique and eclectic arrangements.
Garrett is currently on his first tour with multi-platinum recording artist Jim Brickman, and will return home to his beautiful bride (Tara) and their three children (Judah, Gabriel and Scarlett), one bassett hound mix (Elmer Fudge), one cat (Snow Leopard), and one bearded-dragon lizard (Skipper).
For more information visit www.garrettviggers.com
ORLA FALLON - Formerly of Celtic Woman
Orla Fallon is a singer / harpist who comes from the village of Knockananna in Co.Wicklow, Ireland. Orla gained worldwide acclaim as a lead soloist in the hugely successful Celtic Woman.
During her time with Celtic Woman, the group sold more than 4 million CDs and DVDs, played seven US tours, and Órla performed for more than 800,000 people – including His Holiness the Pope, US Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and Irish President Mary McAleese. Meanwhile, Órla has been seen on 685 PBS stations nationwide – as part of the three Celtic Woman specials – more than 13,658 times, covering 97% of US television households.
Named the #1 Top World Music Artist by Billboard magazine, the Celtic Woman albums – featuring Órla – (Celtic Woman, A Christmas Celebration and A New Journey) held the #1 position on the magazine’s World Music chart for 90 consecutive weeks.
Órla’s brand new solo release, Distant Shore, is currently available at records stores everywhere. The album features 13 newly-recorded tracks.
Additionally, Órla’s version of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” will be released to radio and retail this month.
For more information www.orlafallon.com
MARK MASRI
A native of Toronto, Mark Masri is the son of a pastor and a gospel singer. His own vocal talent was apparent at a very young age, and at five he began singing at his fathers church. Knowing his passion for music was still there as an adult, In 2000 he released his debut album Mark Masri,which garnered a Juno nomination for Best Gospel Record.
The passionate vocals and emotional delivery that enchanted listeners on
that cd, were also the hallmark of his next project, SEE MY FACE, released in early 2008. In November 2008, Mark released CHRISTMAS IS. The collection featured EVERYTIME IT SNOWS, a duet with Olivia Newton John; and YOUR LOVE, a collaboration with Jim Brickman.
The Brickman tour was the Canadian singer’s first foray in front of US audiences, and the overwhelming response was unanimous. The Boston Daily Standard described his performance as " melting the hearts of female audience members like chocolate in the palm of warm hands".
The upcoming LA VOCE, will be his first international release due out in stores in January 2010 on Green Hill-EMI records. LA VOCE , produced by Mark, along with EMI Recording artist Amy Sky,and Los Angeles based hitmaker Jochem Vander Saag(Michael Buble, Andrea Bocelli, Seal) is a collection of romantic,soulful orchestral pop. M
For more info visit www.markmasri.com
VICTORIA SHAW
Victoria’s songs have been staples on the charts since the early ‘90s. Her Number 1 compositions include Garth Brooks’ “The River” and “She’s Every Woman,” Ricky Martin’s “So'lo Quiero Amarte,” Doug Stone’s “Too Busy Being In Love,” Jim Brickman’s “Sending You A Little Christmas,” and “I Love The Way You Love Me,” recorded by John Michael Montgomery and Boyzone. Other hits include Ricky Martin and Christina Aguilera’s duet “Nobody Wants To Be Lonely” and the Garth Brooks/Trisha Yearwood duet “Where Your Road Leads.”
Victoria is the recipient of an ACM award for Song of the Year, two daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Original Song, 4 Emmy nominations and numerous ASCAP and SESAC awards. She has performed throughout the world, including opening for Garth Brooks in Central Park, playing the London Palladium and most recently touring with her friend and frequent collaborator Jim Brickman.
In addition to writing and performing, Victoria co-produced the platinum-selling country trio Lady Antebellum on their debut Capitol Records release. Victoria’s passion is music, but the loves of her life are her husband Bob and daughters Ruby and Ava.
Victoria’s latest CD, Bring On The Love, is available at www.cdbaby.com. For more info visit www.victoriashaw.com
