Forty Miles of Bad Piano Road

No, I didn't have to play this jewel of a piano.

But it's not beyond imagination (sadly) that a client would say, "Oh, it will be fine---just do what you can with it.  No one will know."

(When they say that, and I've heard it often over the years, I always want to say, "YOU, Mr. Client, may not notice anything amiss because YOU are a moron. But don't underestimate your guests.)

This mangled piano was in a fancy wedding venue in the mountains of North Carolina, not far from Cashiers. It's a fancy place.

I'm hoping that this piano is just there for atmosphere.

But, looking at it, you have to wonder what this piano has seen. Was it beat up this way in a middle-class living room? Not likely.

In a holy-roller church, where it was played by enthusiastic piano-pounders? In a raunchy mountain beer joint where the band set up behind chicken wire? By Jerry Lee Lewis wannabes?

Who knows? It's fun to imagine, but it was more fun to see it and know I didn't have to sit down and fight to make music come out of that box!

Nothing to Do With A Piano, But . . .

Well, it's been months since I posted to The Brick Piano. Negligent. Badly negligent.

It's not a good thing to ignore your own blog for months.

But I can explain. I've taken an odd new (or maybe old) direction and spent the last several months writing children's books. Talking dog variety. Chapter books.

This is not, I hope, as odd as it seems, because my goal in life is to be creative in a positive and happy way. Playing the piano for people is a wonderful way to do this.

And now, so is writing books about Perdita Whacknoodle. Actually, they're books BY Perdita Whacknoodle. She's a dog author. I'm just her scribe.

I'll quickly explain. Back when I was in college, my plan was to be an English professor, so I spent my time reading, writing, and made it through the MA (English) level before I discovered that playing the piano was a LOT more fun than arguing about literary minutia in increasingly irrelevant classes. And there weren't any good college-teaching gigs out there, anyway. So I bailed from academics, taught high-school English for a couple of years (in a wonderful school, and to wonderful kids), and have been playing the piano ever since.

Always, though, the reading/writing bug has stayed with me. Then the Kindle and the ebook revolution arrived. It's no longer necessary to go through the agonies of self-publishing (and 'real' publishing) as I did in the 1980's with my books on music. Ebooks are easy, immediate, and a real revolution.

Thus arrives Perdita Whacknoodle. Her blog is here (and I ask you: how many dogs have their own blogs?). And her Amazon books, which are doing great, selling well, and garnering terrific reviews from kids, are here. Or, they're listed in the Amazon box at right, down below the last CD.

The piano isn't going away in my life. Couldn't and never will. But that wonderful creative outlet has been joined by this one.

I'm happy. And I hope readers around the world are, too. So far, so good.