When Jim Brickman started thinking about his eighth Christmas album, he kept returning to the idea of how people utilize his music.
As an instrumental pop pianist/composer known for his adult contemporary status and genre-spanning collaborations with Lady Antebellum, Donny Osmond, Martina McBride and Michael W. Smith, Brickman understands that he’s often background music at cozy events — trimming the tree, a night by the fireplace.
So he wanted the album to feel meaningful, and he liked the idea of approaching some country singers because, “They’re the best suited to telling a story, because that’s what country is — and it’s homey,” Brickman said during a recent visit to Atlanta.
The resulting work, "On a Winter's Night: The Songs and Spirit of Christmas," is available as an exclusive on Amazon.com through the end of the year, when it will likely expand to other outlets.
At this point in his 20-year career, and with more than two dozen adult contemporary hits including “The Gift,” “Valentine” and “Simple Things” on his resume, Brickman is focused on working with artists who inspire and challenge him. He name-checks a wish list of musical maestros that includes Burt Bacharach, Carole King and Joni Mitchell and leans forward on the hotel couch on which he’s sitting.
“I want to work with people who, when I was growing up, made me think, how did I learn that song structure? What made me get the chills when I listened to it? What was the definitive pop song that made me want to be a pop songwriter?”
The idea of working with Kenny Rogers entered his thoughts, and he refused to let go until he landed “The Gambler.”
Brickman, an Ohio native who now splits his time between his home state and New York, never met Rogers, but visited him backstage after a concert in Cleveland.
The country music titan “could not have been sweeter,” Brickman said.
While the first batch of songs he sent Rogers for consideration was met with a wrinkled nose — “He said, ‘I need to sing a song that has a story I can tell,’” Brickman said — Rogers gave a thumbs-up to “That Silent Night.”
They recorded the romantic ballad in Nashville, Tenn., and, said Brickman, “From the first lyrics, you know it’s Kenny Rogers singing.”
Brickman opened his sphere of country music collaborations to Jana Kramer, the former “One Tree Hill” star who is readying the release of her second album.
The “Why Ya Wanna” singer offers a sweet contribution to “On a Winter’s Night,” a cover of the song “Clouds.” The heartfelt pop tune was written by Zach Sobiech, the young singer-songwriter who released the song — which became a viral video sensation — before his 2013 death from cancer.
Brickman is friends with the Sobiech family and is directing proceeds from his and Kramer’s version of “Clouds” to the Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund.
Another noteworthy guest on Brickman’s seasonal collection is John Oates, who lends a gravelly touch to “Night Before Christmas.”
“He’s another example of someone I admire so much,” Brickman said.
While Brickman is on a whirlwind holiday tour through New Year’s Eve, he doesn’t have an Atlanta date on the itinerary, but hopes to return for Christmas 2015.
He’s already mulling ideas for a more theatrical show next season called “The Gift,” which would explain, in song and presentation, the evolution of the piano.
The ever-busy Brickman still hosts his weekly radio show, “Your Weekend With Jim Brickman,” in more than 80 markets nationwide (it airs in Macon and Savannah but not Atlanta; I am a recurring guest on the show). And he is also working on a new project for the spring.
"I started thinking about the way people use my music and asking them, and most people say they use it to relax. Someone once asked me, 'How do you relax? Do you play your own music?' And I thought, oh my gosh, I'm known for soothing people, but I am not a soothed person!" Brickman said with a laugh.
He began noting some thoughts in a journal and recently finished a manuscript for a book called “Soothe,” which he plans to release with a companion album.
“I wrote about my challenges about being one of those people who wakes up in the morning and (grabs the phone) and I went to experts, a lot of people I have on the radio show, talking about what kind of food helps you sleep better, things like that. Each chapter will have a focus, like ‘soothe your home,’ ‘soothe your family,’ ‘soothe your work life,’” he said.
Brickman is scheduling a “Soothe” spring/summer tour with speakers and music — sort of an Oprah-lite event — and is envisioning the gatherings as a pleasant detour.
“As a songwriter, these days I can only really have a monster hit if I write a Katy Perry song or something that’s a pop phenomenon, which I am capable of doing. But I don’t know if that’s my legacy,” Brickman said. “I feel like there’s less of a place for what I do. I’m not in the mode of, I’ve got to write the next biggest hit.”
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