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Jim Wilson left Amarillo for L.A. not long after graduating high school to pursue his musical dreams. Planning on being the next Jackson Browne his career has taken turns that he could have never expected.

When he arrived in L.A. he first aspired to be a songwriter, but fate took him in a different direction. Wilson’s piano tuning service L.A. Piano Services, began taking off getting many celebrity clients. He became a piano tuner to the stars. With a client list including: Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits and even Placido Domingo.

It was not until his best friend died suddenly died from a heart attack at 37 that Wilson began to fully pursue his music. Wilson says, ”It completely shook my world and I completely got that if you have a dream, you have to pursue it with a vengeance.”
Within a few months Wilson was recording his first album, Northern Seascape. The first of 6 albums he has recorded. Three of which have entered the Billboard best sellers chart and national acclaim.

Wilson will return to the Amarillo Globe News Center February 23rd.

The Interview:

Your music is instrumental, but doesn’t quite fit into classical or new age. How would you describe it?
“Contemporary Instrumental” music. Reviewers have used neat phrases to describe it. One dubbed it “folk pop meets film score”, which I liked. “Classical soul” was kind of neat..

What is the reason you write and perform?
I can honestly say that music was sort of my salvation, in many respects. The best songs seem to come from a place of needing to express some deep emotion that I might not even be consciously aware of. Even now I’m fascinated at the process of creation – specifically, how experiences and feelings ultimately morph into music. Equally fascinating to me is how music has the potential to evoke that same emotion in others. It’s incredibly gratifying to perform the music live and take people to another place aesthetically-if even just for an evening.

You performed to one of the first sold out crowds in the Globe News Center here in your hometown. What was that experience like?
Amazing. That night was truly magical I have to say. There were a few standing ovations after the show, so I guess we must have connected with the audience! We were all on such a performance-high after the show.

This performance was also recorded for and is airing on PBS affiliates around the country?
Yeah. KACV taped it and I co-produced it with Jackie Smith (of KACV). I have to say, they knocked themselves out. They shot it in SD-1 (this kind of hi-def format) and it just looks stunning. The DVD of that show, by the way, is now available on my website.

NPT (the Nashville PBS affiliate) picked it up and is presenting it to all the other affiliates around the country. It’s been rolling out over the last few weeks and will continue for the next month or so. It finally aired here in the Los Angeles area, which was really exciting – L.A. is a tough nut to crack!

Aside from performing you have worked on the technical side of the piano as well. What are some of the experiences that created?
Ages ago, I helped to develop a midi-adapter for acoustic piano that allows you to hook up synthesizers to your piano. It was pretty revolutionary at the time and for many years, I was the only guy on the planet you could get it from. Needless to say, it was an exciting time and I got to meet just about every hero I ever had. I definitely had some great experiences and couldn’t believe my good fortune.

I’ve read that you actually sung Beatles song’s with Paul McCartney?
Yeah. Producer David Foster had just worked with him in England and told Paul he had to get this cool adapter for his piano. Cut to a few weeks later and I’m in the U.K. working on his piano!

I was surprised to find that when I opened my mouth, I was in fact still able to form words and have them leave my lips – I mean, this guy and his mates literally changed the world with their music!

We spent about 30 minutes together that day, then the next day we hung out for 4 hours – most of that time sitting on the same piano bench. He was in that post-Wings, pre-solo tour period and had been kind of holed up in his studio in Icklesham for months.

We had this great rapport and we had one of those non-stop kinds of conversations that covered two-dozen topics. And yeah, he played me a couple of new tunes, and then finally a Beatle song and I joined in.

I would travel to England many times in the coming years and went to his home or studio each chance I got – at least a dozen times over a 10 year period. Getting to hang with him and be that close to his creative process was an experience that had a deep effect on me.

Coming from Amarillo, to LA and then to become business associates even friends with some of music’s greats. This had to be somewhat overwhelming at times.
I’ve been very blessed, there’s no doubt. When you’ve worshipped artists since childhood then get a chance to meet them, you find yourself pinching yourself to see if it’s all a dream. At some point you just go, OK, for whatever reason, I’m in this situation at this

Who were some of the other artists?
Elton John, Jackson Browne, Peter Gabriel, Lionel Richie, Keith Emerson, Phil Collins, seriously, it was kind of crazy at one point. I thought it couldn’t get any better, then the phone would ring and Dan Fogelberg would have me flown up to his ranch. We co-wrote the title-track to Northern Seascape – quite an honor, especially when he told me that he’d never co-written with anyone!

Carole King called your album, Northern Seascape, “a romantic classic” that’s a pretty great compliment. Do you see the Valentines holiday as a time for your music to take on a real shine?
Yeah, Carole dished out some pretty kind words there, for sure. Very humbling coming from her! As far as the Valentine’s tie-in goes, there is a certain romantic quality to my music, so I guess you may be on to something there.

You have a concert coming up here in Amarillo. What are some of the details?
It’s a Valentine’s Concert at the Globe-News Center. It’s Feb. 23 at 7:30pm. Definitely a fun night on the town! Barnes Jewelers is donating a beautiful $1,000 diamond necklace that will be given away to some lucky winner that eve. I’m flying in my string trio from Los Angeles and I’ll also be joined by Scott Nelson on bass, Jerry Thompson on guitar and the indubitably inimitable Jay Weeks on drums. George Tortorelli is a master of the woodwinds and I’m flying him in from Florida. He makes his own flutes from bamboo he grows himself! They sound amazing.

You really go all out on this show to make it a memorable evening, what is in store?
Well, a cornerstone of my show is my “performance videos” – they’re movies and images that are coordinated with the music projected on a huge 25-foot screen behind us. The evening is kind of a musical travelogue and we journey together to some of the most beautiful places in America. It’s pretty cool, actually!

How does it feel to come home and to perform?
I seem to do more and more concerts around the country every year, but there’s something deeply gratifying about coming back home to one’s roots, you know? Also, there are some very supportive folks who sponsor the show so we’re able to pull out all the stops and present the full production show.

Tickets are available through the Globe News Center box office [378-3096] and Panhandle Ticket outlets @ Randy’s Music Mart and United Supermarkets.
Website: jimwilson.net