A new spin on '70s piano men John and Joel

By Barbara Fredricksen, Arts and Entertainment
Published February 15, 2008

Canadian musician Jim Witter's show, The Piano Men, features rear-projection images and songs from the 1970s made famous by Elton John and Billy Joel.
	[Handout]

Canadian Jim Witter started singing everything from the Beatles to Broadway when he was just 4 years old and his mom was playing the piano in their living room.

In 1990, his country, contemporary Christian and pop music landed him a multirecord deal with Curb Records of Nashville, which also represents Tim McGraw, Leanne Rimes and Wynonna Judd.

For the past few years, though, Witter has traveled all over North America performing his well-received show, The Piano Men, which he calls a musical journey through the '70s featuring the songs made famous by Billy Joel and Elton John.

It's this show that he'll bring to Pasco-Hernando Community College's Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m. Feb. 22 as part of the PHCC Foundation's performing arts series.

Backed by rear-projection scenes from the 1970s - newspaper headlines, autos, toys, events and television shows - and accompanied by his six-piece band, Witter does Rocket Man, Just the Way You Are, My Life and Candle in the Wind in a way that brings back the era with eerie realism.

It's not an impersonation, though. Witter has his own voice and a style of doing the songs that makes them his own.

He has done the show for conventions, at performing arts centers, with symphony orchestras, for employee galas and many other audiences.

- The Piano Men was the best entertainment we have had to date," said Robert P. Sicard, president and CEO of UPI Energy LP of Ontario. "The ballroom became another place and time."

Witter started 2008 with a swing through Texas, then did a series of shows across Canada. His appearance in New Port Richey is part of a five-concert tour through Florida that includes Deerfield Beach, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton and Pembroke Pines before he heads back to his home country.

In March, he'll perform with the Phoenix Symphony in Arizona.

The final show in the PHCC 2008 season will be Dwight Icenhower's Tribute to the King, a re-creation of the music of Elvis Presley from the 1950s to the year he died. That show is at 7:30 p.m. March 22.

Check it out

A musical journey through the '70s

What: The Piano Men

Where: Pasco-Hernando Performing Arts Center, 10230 Ridge Road, New Port Richey

When: 8 p.m. Feb. 22

Tickets: $23-$30, reserved seating, with a 10 percent discount for age 55 and older, students, faculty members and staff members, and a 15 percent discount for groups of 20 or more. Call (727) 816-3707 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today or visit the PHCC Bookstore in New Port Richey during the same hours. Tickets also are available online at www.phcc.edu/tix (service fee added).

[Last modified February 14, 2008, 20:28:48]