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Joseph Akins is a relatively new name on the contemporary piano scene – or is he? A full professor at Middle Tennessee State University, Akins has been playing professionally since he was twelve years old. His most recent release, “Masterpeace,” has been generating a lot of praise and attention, and with good reason – it’s a great album! We chatted about his life and music recently, and I’m sure you’ll find this interview very interesting!
KP: Have you always lived in Tennessee?
Akins: I was raised in a small town in Georgia called Chickamauga, which is close to the Tennessee border at Chattanooga. When I began college, I moved to Tennessee for a few years, living in Chattanooga and Knoxville. I attended graduate school in Radford, Virginia and lived for a short time in Brooklyn, NY. For the past eight years, I have lived near Nashville, which has been my favorite location. There are lots of musicians and music industry activity here.
KP: I understand you started out as a musician playing in your father’s band. Let’s talk about that.
Akins: I was raised in a musical family. My father worked part-time as a performing guitarist and bandleader for local nightclubs. He mostly played country music, but would play anything that was danceable. When I was 12, I had been taking piano and alto saxophone lessons for about two years, so my father started teaching me songs played by his band. These were mostly classic country songs like “Tennessee Waltz” and “Country Roads.” My father didn’t read music, so he taught me these songs by playing one phase at a time while I echoed him. When I joined his band, I was primarily playing saxophone since he already had a pianist. The pianist had a honky-tonk Southern style that was similar to Floyd Cramer’s. I learned a lot from him, all by ear. In retrospect, the pianist probably shouldn’t have taught me so much, because, after a couple of years, my father put me in his place! So I became the saxophonist and pianist/keyboardist for my father’s band until I was 17, at which time I went on the road with a Top 40 band. That was perfect because I wanted to be a rock star, but after two years, I decided to hang up the road life and enroll in college to become a better musician. I loved it and attended full-time for eight years! During that time, I made the transition from rock star wannabe to budding jazz pianist and composer. I practiced at least four hours a day and began to play jazz gigs.
KP: Which instruments do you play besides the piano and sax?
Akins: I played sax in marching and concert bands for eight years. In addition to the piano, I eventually began playing other keyboard instruments such as the electric organ and synthesizer. The combination of sax, piano and keyboards worked great for me, but when I began getting really serious about jazz at about age 22, I decided to just concentrate on the piano. However, I continued to play electronic keyboards and still do. I am a fan of Moog and Yamaha synthesizers. In fact, I have one of the original keytars - A Moog Liberation - and play it in my electronic music trio!
KP: When did you start playing the piano?
Akins: I recall teaching myself simple melodies and triads as a very young child. I started formal lessons and reading music at age 10 with a really cool teacher for the first two or three years. I would play the music as written and then play another version with my own embellishments. This came naturally from being raised in a musical family where everyone played by ear. As a teenager, I took classical piano lessons on and off, but didn’t really fall in love with playing classical music. I enjoyed learning technique and reading, but what I really loved was improvising. When it came time for college, I found the best jazz teachers in the state and studied with them for several years - until about age 28. These teachers included Jerry Coker, the founder of jazz education, and Donald Brown, a pianist for Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.
KP: Did you always know you were going to be a musician?
Akins: From ages 7 to 12, I wanted to be a baseball star, but when my father put me in his professional band, I decided music would be my life’s work. I remember deciding that while onstage. That was probably a good decision since I have never been very good at sports!
KP: When did you release your first album?
Akins: Actually, I made my first album on vinyl record when I was about 20! It was all pop music. I was the singer, pianist, keyboardist, saxophonist, flutist, and drum machine programmer. I also wrote the songs. However, I decided not to continue with pop music and soon fell in love with jazz. My next solo album was several years later and was VERY different! It was titled “Keys to the Heart,” and was primarily new age with a couple of smooth jazz tracks. On this album, I only played piano and a few keyboard
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