Cody Michaels

(piano)

For piano soloist and composer Cody Michaels, “the piano is a way to connect with the mystery of creation and every song is a prayer”.

Born in October of 1960, Cody grew up in southeastern New Hampshire. His jazz pianist father introduced him to the piano at the age of three, and he also studied classical. But his diverse influences and intuitive approach foster a style that resists easy categorization.

A former park ranger and farmhand, Cody's unique musical expressions inspire comparisons to the likes of Beethoven, George Winston, Keith Jarrett and Page McConnell of Phish. Also a storyteller and poet, his passionate performances celebrate the wonders of nature, simple living, and the human spirit.

Cody's wide musical tastes, as well as his love of nature, literature and people, are central to his art. Besides classical and jazz, he also enjoys folk, blues, rock, contemporary instrumental, popular, and world music. He particularly enjoys reading nonfiction, and he walks daily. In his 'teens, he began to adventure in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, a region he regards as his “spiritual home”.

At the University of New Hampshire, Cody studied environmental science and became an avid mountaineer. After leaving college, he headed west to Telluride, Colorado in 1982, where he found work as construction laborer and spent much of his time out wandering in the Rockies.

In 1988, Cody returned to New Hampshire to become an Appalachian Trail caretaker in the White Mountains, and then in Maine. In the mid-90's, he moved on to work for the US Forest Service as a wilderness ranger in Virginia, Colorado, and Arizona. Eventually, he ended up on an organic farm outside Northampton, Massachusetts.

Through it all, Cody continuously played the piano as “an emotional, spiritual outlet”. He first appeared in public while in Telluride, warming up crowds before movies at the Nugget Theater. He occasionally played for restaurants and clubs in the various places he was stationed along the Appalachian Trail, with the Forest Service, and while in Northampton.

It was during a long walk on the Appalachian Trail in 1997 that Cody vowed to devote the remainder of his life to music. He began to practice more extensively, and made numerous appearances for restaurants, resorts, and clubs in New England, western North Carolina, Colorado, and Leipzig, Germany.

The increased level of commitment enabled Cody to vastly improve his technique, refine his style, and to develop his creative voice. Various motifs he had come up with over the years began to flower into full compositions, and new ideas began to spring forth at an increasing rate.

Upon settling in New Hampshire's White Mountains in 2001, Cody launched a career as a concert artist and released his debut CD of original piano solos, “A Creation Prayer”, to high praise. Two more critically acclaimed CD's of original material have followed: “Primum Non Nocere" (2004) and “Autumn Suite" (2007).

Cody's repertoire now includes more than sixty original works for solo piano, along with a handful of interpretations such as “Over The Rainbow” and “Carol of The Bells”. In the late fall of 2005, Cody relocated to the open spaces of Vermont's "Northeast Kingdom". His concerts are in steadily increasing demand in the Northeast USA and occasionally beyond.

(courtesy Cody Michaels)