The Keyboard Chronicles

17/01/2025

We had the pleasure of catching up with the brilliant Mark Shusterman at his gig with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats this week, and what a show it was.

Aside from Mark's playing chops, his backing vocals and all round energy matches that of the amazing band he's in. They have a huge year this year and if you've never seen them, do yourself a favour and buy a ticket because you're in for a night of superb musicianship combined with a lot of joy and damn good rock.

Mark Shusterman is keys player and backing vocalist for Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats. We had the huge pleasure of seeing Mark in action at a Sydney gig at the Hordern Pavilion on 16th January 2025. Mark is arguably one of the hardest working keys players in rock and roll, hope you enjoy it,...

15/01/2025

The hands of the greats - explains a lot...

Don't ever accuse us of not being educational ;)

10/01/2025

We're not one to look back too much, but when you get guests of the calibre shown in this video, it's hard not to be a little inspired. Here's to another great year and thank YOU for your ongoing support and encouragement.

The Keyboard Chronicles covers each guest's life story and career in music. We talk to some of the world's greatest, as well as to up-and-coming talents and...

03/01/2025

We can't think of a better person to kick off 2025 with than the erudite and insightful Rob Gentry. We cover his time with David Gilmour, working with Giorgio Moroder, Quincy Jones, his extensive production work and a whole lot more. A huge thanks to Rob and hope you enjoy the chat as much as we did.

Rob Gentry is a keyboardist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist with over 20 years of experience. He has performed at iconic venues such as the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Albert Hall, and the Hollywood Bowl, collaborating with musical legends like Quincy Jones, Pete Tong, Giorgio Moroder, and Da...

01/01/2025

Thanks to everyone for their support during 2024 and we hope 2025 is full of creativity and fun gigs. For those that haven't checked out our end of year wrap episode, here's some facts on our most popular episodes of 2024:

Top 5 most VIEWED episodes released this year (YouTube)

5. Jamie Hilboldt
4. Larry Mullins
3. Thomas Dolby
2. Mikey Rowe
1. Anna Lapwood

Top 5 most LISTENED to episodes released this year (podcast streaming platforms worldwide):

5. Bob Fridzema
4. Thomas Dolby
3. Mikey Rowe
2. Jim Sheridan
1. Damon McMahon

Every single one of these, and all our other guests during the year, have provided brilliant insights and inspiration and for that we owe an enormous debt of gratitude. Check comments for links to all of these episodes and if you're playing a gig this NYE, enjoy!

20/12/2024

It's end of year wrap time and we're thrilled to have a guest co-host join us for this episode. Dewi Evans is based in Wales and is an amazing musician as well as being responsible (as you'll hear), for writing a book on rock keyboards.

We reveal 2024's most popular episodes, talk on the busy year in new gear releases and lots more. Hope you enjoy it!

Something a little different for the last show of 2024. We do a review of the year that was, with special co-host, Wales-based Dewi Evans, who amongst many other things has authored a book on rock keyboard playing. We look over the most watched and listened to episodes of 2024 and talk a little on.....

13/12/2024

Our latest show is now live and it features the prolific and amazing Greg Bieck, a Nashville-based player and producer who has been involved in amazing musical collaborations as diverse as Daryl Hall, Dave Stewart, Jennifer Lopez and Savage Garden to name just a handful.

Greg has some great insights into the industry, a brilliant train wreck story and a whole lot more. Enjoy!

Greg Bieck is an accomplished pianist and music producer who has has collaborated with numerous high-profile artists, including Jennifer Lopez, Hall and Oates, Ricky Martin, Beyonce, Tim McGraw, and Savage Garden to name just a few. We try to cover as much of Greg’s amazing work as we can, so stra...

12/12/2024

We only have one thing to say: thank you for taking the time to watch our shows.

08/12/2024

Hand on heart, I've had a (small) number of people ask me to do my own rig tour. So here it is! Features the Yamaha Music Australia - Music Products MODX7+ , the Arturia Keylab 61 mk 3 and the Radial Engineering Ltd. KL-8. Enjoy!

05/12/2024

Sick of the whole end of year sale thing? Then stop reading now ;) We have a 20% discount on first month of Patreon membership for anyone that signs up between now and December 31st. Given that the base tier is $3 a month anyway, it's a bargain and you get early access to content, heads-up on future guests and ability to provide questions for future guests. Get on it :) Discount code is DF072

creating a podcast for keyboard players

30/11/2024

We love the diversity of our guests and our latest two guests are no exception. Back in the mists of time (the 1990s), music-making on the internet emerged. At the forefront was the Res Rocket Surfer project, heralding what is arguably the world's first virtual band. Steve Gregory, Mike Wilcox (and host David Holloway) were three members of that cohort of people wrangling dialup modems and midi modules to create some great music.

If you love a bit of internet history mixed with some insights from two great musicians, then you'll enjoy this. There's even some discussion on a MIDI drum suit - yes you heard that correctly.

In a slightly different episode to our usual format, we chat with two guests who were part of arguably the world’s first virtual band, Res Rocket Surfer. This is a laid back chat on the mid 1990s and the emergence of internet-based music creation. To listen / watch: Audio-only: click on the play b...

23/11/2024

It's coming up to the gifting time of year again for a lot of us, so as part of our never-ending mission to be of service, we have some suggestions for us keyboard players to suggest to the loved ones (who are likely to be pulling out what's remaining of their hair deciding what to buy us).

1. For the price of less than a coffee a month, you can be part of our Patreon community. You get early access to podcast episodes and previews, early warning of upcoming guests and the ability to ask questions of said guests, and if you're one who likes a chat, we also have supporters join us on our live streams.

All the details here: https://www.patreon.com/keyboardchronicles/gift

2. Our merch store is newly updated and expanded and ships worldwide (with reasinable postage as both providers ship from local locations in a lot of cases)

Spreadshirt: Spreadshop (currently 15% off) - https://keyboard-chronicles-merch.myspreadshop.com.au

Redbubble: https://keyboardchronicles.com/merchandise/

Your support is enormously appreciated and helps us keep this little ship afloat :)

We sell artwork and clothing related to keyboards, synthesizers and music production. Ships from the US and Australia worldwide.

16/11/2024

We're super pleased to release our latest podcast episode, and it's another special one. We speak with the brilliant Jim Moginie on his must-listen latest album (Everything's Gonna Be Fine), his insights on a lengthy career as a solo artist, producer and of course with Midnight Oil . Highly recommended listening / viewing and do check out show notes in the link for all the details on Jim's new album and tour.

https://keyboardchronicles.com/2024/11/17/jim-moginie-midnight-oil-solo-artist/

10/11/2024

In the next week, episode 130 of the show is out, and it features the amazing Jim Moginie . We cover a lot of ground, and as homework before the show I strongly recommend Jim's latest release, Everything's Gonna Be Fine. A brilliant work worth many listens.

https://jimmoginie.bandcamp.com/album/everythings-gonna-be-fine

03/11/2024

It's only been a week but we're pleased to release another episode into the wild. This time it's Mr Mic Michaeli from that iconic outfit called Europe. Mic was extremely generous with his insights and there's lots to enjoy and also some great encouragement for those of us plodding away as weekend warriors and the like. Enjoy!

Mic Michaeli has held down keyboard duties with iconic act Europe for nearly the entirety of their ongoing career. We cover that career in some detail and also discuss other projects Mic has been able to complete in between sell out arena and stadium shows. To listen / watch: Audio-only: click on th...

01/11/2024

Pleased to announce we have some new designs available! Unleash your inner synth master and help keep the podcast running!

https://keyboard-chronicles-merch.myspreadshop.com.au/all

27/10/2024

Our latest episode has hit the feeds and it features the brilliant Dennis Atlas. We talk on Dennis' stellar solo career to date and his successful addition to the iconic band Toto as second keys player alongside Greg Phillinganes. We also talk about his love of Styx, Queen and a lot more.

Lots to enjoy in this episode, not least Dennis' positive outlook and huge passion for learning and playing new music. Enjoy!

Dennis Atlas is currently keyboardist for the renowned rock band Toto, joining the band in 2024 as their second keyboardist, replacing Steve Maggiora. We talk to Dennis about that amazing opportunity, his burgeoning solo career and his other projects. To listen / watch: Audio-only: click on the play...

19/10/2024

There are many rewards to hosting a podcast that interviews some of the best and brightest players around the world. One of them is hearing from each guest a selection of 5 'desert island discs'.

With nearly 130 guests choosing 5 albums, that's quite the selection of music, and you can hear it all on Apple Music or (sigh) Spotify. The link takes you to both, plus a written list all all the choices guests have made. This huge list of old and new music and totally broadened my musical horizons and for that alone I thank our amazing guests.

Every episode we ask our keyboard playing guests to nominate their top 5 albums / desert island discs. Sometimes 6 are chosen, sometime less than 5 (and in one instance 10!), but in all cases a lot of thought has gone into the choices. You can check out them in the embedded Spotify and Apple...