JUNO award-winning pianist brings boogie-woogie mastery to Song Sparrow

Michael Kaeshammer’s Salmon Arm performance leads the way for new album

Pianist Michael Kaeshammer has spent more than 30 years in studios and performance halls across the globe mastering 12 notes across 88 keys. And Salmon Arm is about to get a taste of the acclaimed Canadian’s magic at a performance for the Salmon Arm Folk Music Society at Song Sparrow Hall Wednesday, November 30.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Michael to Salmon Arm,” says artistic director Kevin Tobin. “Michael has decades of experience creating beautiful music that brings together influences of classical, jazz, blues, boogie-woogie, stride and pop.”

The German-born performer got his start in clubs, theatres and festivals throughout Europe as a teenager before moving to Canada with his family in the mid- ‘90s. There, on the coast of the Canadian Pacific in 1996, Kaeshammer released his debut album, Blue Keys. Within four years, Kaeshammer’s prolific composing welcomed two more albums,Tell You How I Feel (1998) and No Strings Attached (2000), and launched the child prodigy into the international spotlight.

“When I play, I don’t worry about if it’s jazz or pop or classical or whatever; I just play what I hear and let the music decide what it wants to be,” says Kaeshammer. “Sure, there are different styles, different eras, different approaches, but when you really look at it, it’s all just music based on 12 notes.”

Kaeshammer’s feverish songwriting earned the pianist more than five JUNO nominations and the JUNO Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year for Days Like These in 2008.

His Salmon Arm performance leads the way for his anticipated pop crossover collection Turn It Up. Expected in 2023, Kaeshammer’s most ambitious and accessible album to datebuilds on his keyboard mastery and love of musical storytelling.

“I love writing lyrics. I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life and feel very grounded as an artist, a composer, and a performer, and the things I’m writing lately are conveying that – how lucky I am and how happy I feel and how grateful that makes me,” says Kaeshammer.

“I’m definitely looking forward to what’s coming up. It’s all been so good, and it’s only getting better. I just can’t wait to keep going, to keep making and sharing music with the people that enjoy it.”

And, Tobin says, Kaeshammer’s fans in Salmon Arm are in for a treat.

Tickets for this licensed, all-ages show at $35+tax. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the music starts at 7:30 p.m.

For more information, visit rootsandblues.ca.