One of Canada's boogie-woogie stars is coming back to the city where his touring career began.
"Prince George wasn't one of the first, it was the first," said Michael Kaeshammer, the Vancouver Island piano phenom who has won multiple Juno and Western Canadian Music Award trophies.
He was just a teenager when he built up enough confidence to leave his Canadian hometown of Victoria (he was born and partially raised in Germany) and venture out into the world of show-biz. It was 1996 and his first tour date was right here.
"I actually just told someone in the band that story the other day," said Kaeshammer from a hotel room in the prairies as his latest tour wends westward. "I was so excited to get out of my town. It was $300 bucks in gas money. The guys in the band had done this much longer than I had and they wondered really? You want to drive all the way up there? But I was so excited."
The first one was for local promoter Tom Hathaway who had the Maximum Blues radio show at the time, and supplemented that with occasional concerts by the likes of Little Mike & The Tornadoes, Gary Primich, David Gogo, Frankie Lee, etc. Hathaway was proud to discover this young, vibrant teenaged talent so close to home.
Kaeshammer came back to Prince George to play at the Underground Blues Club a few years later, and his last visit was at Art Space in 2004.
He's put 10 albums together over that time, and although he dabbles in pop sounds, blues sounds and jazz elements, that boogie-woogie or stride style of piano playing is always forefront. No matter which stylistic choices he makes, his Kaeshammer voice is always what comes through.
"I don't think of styles, ever, when I write, because to me they are all the same, they are just what I love," he said. "I never sit down and think 'I have to write a song, I have to write about this...' I just work at the ideas in my head a the time. They are just snapshots of what I'm feeling."
The same principles apply to his live performances.
The musician is often split into a pair of creative directions - the solitary or at least private writing/recording process versus the highly public process of performing the stuff live - and Kaeshammer thrives in both realms. But, he freely admits, his passions ignite a bit more for the concert setting.
"It's such a crazy great feeling, an outlet. I've always loved it, but it gets better and better," he said.
"I think because I'm doing it for other reasons. When I came up to Prince George (in '96) I was very excited to play the piano, show people and show myself what I could do on the piano. As I started writing more, it became something else: therapy, a safe zone, my most comfortable place to be. Having that mindset gets rid of a lot of clutter about music, how you think it should sound, and that's when it just flows out."
His dedication to keeping a grounded attitude in music also applies to his personal life. He admits he might be too much of a hermit, but he enjoys his quality personal time alone or with small groups of friends and family at his rural home on Vancouver Island. He finds it helps his music and it helps his life.
And home is where he gets to focus on his other creative process. The one thing that sparks his passions as much as music is food. He loves to cook and embraces the culinary arts.
"I'm at the point where I have my business running so it works for me rather than my career, and in turn it works for my career," he explained. "If you don't take it too seriously, it becomes fun, and that helps the creative process too."
Kaeshammer will be at the Prince George Playhouse on March 3. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TicketFly.com or at the door on the night of the event.
