Amarillo native Jim Wilson releases 'Tuned In: Memoirs of a Piano Man'

An Amarillo native is sharing his life story, discussing how some of the smallest moments led him to becoming a multi-award-winning recording artist, in "Tuned In: Memoirs of a Piano Man." The autobiography is now available for pre-order.

In the book, Jim Wilson speaks of his origins in Amarillo, being raised by his mother, a former local school teacher; how he became interested in music at the age of 7; and after he picked up his first guitar, gifted to him by a family friend, igniting the lifelong love for music that eventually formed into playing keys instead of strumming strings.

"A theme seen throughout the book is the power of one, how one moment can change your life, how one decision, one person - one encounter was when I was 7. My mom took me to go visit a family friend, Toy, and I found a guitar. ... As my mom was preparing to leave, Toy said to me, 'I saw you messing around on that guitar; did you like that?' I said 'yeah', and he said, 'take it, it's yours'. I think of that moment a lot because it was this lovely, flippant gesture, and little did he know he was about to change my entire life," Wilson said.

After playing in professional bands from the age of 14, Wilson transferred his guitar riffs to the piano, which he says became the "foundation of his piano style".

Soon after, at 19, the artist packed up his van and moved to California to pursue his dreams in music. There, he made a living as a piano tuner by day and pursued his music by night. However, Wilson quickly became known for his side hustle and specific ways of perfectly tuning the instrument to sing in the Wilson way.

Following this, Wilson lived his life in California, broadening his clientele and leading to a jam session with Paul McCartney performing “Lady Madonna,” riding the range with Carole King, and hitting the ski slopes with Dan Fogelberg.

In the mid-‘80s, Wilson helped develop a revolutionary MIDI-adaptor for the acoustic piano, which for the first time allows this age-old instrument to interact with computers and synthesizers. He developed a topflight reputation, teaching uses of MIDI-piano to the upper echelon of pop musicians such as McCartney, Elton John, Jackson Browne, Burt Bacharach, King, and many more.

As a piano technician, Wilson also collaborated with Spectrasonics, a leading innovator of world-class, award-winning virtual instrument software plug-ins, on the release of "Keyscape”. Keyscape is a “virtual instrument” that features the largest selection of unique, collector keyboards in the world –– including Wilson's personal, customized Yamaha C7. The library / piano is endorsed by artists including Herbie Hancock and Jacob Collier, who called it “the best piano sample.” Ten years in the making, the library was released on Sept. 1, 2016. The piano heard on “Hard Times” is in fact the virtual instrument representation of Wilson's personal piano, as offered in Keyscape.

The memoir also follows the artist as he begins pursuing his own musical dreams following the tragic death of a best friend, and how precious time is.

"A pivotal moment of my life is when I had been living in California for a couple of decades and I was tuning for all these famous people, Streisand, Neil Diamond, a long, long list of celebrities, but I felt unfulfilled because that isn't what I originally came to LA for. I came to LA, as I like to say, to become the next Jackson Browne, and instead became the next Jackson Browne piano tuner," Wilson said.

"I then got the shocking news that a friend of mine had died of a heart attack at the age of 37, and that's what it took for me to realize there are no guarantees, and there is no limitless reservoir of tomorrows, and whatever it is you want to do with your life, get the hell on with it," Wilson added.

Just one of the 10 resulting piano works was 2018’s "Remembrance: A Collection of Cinematic Portraits." Wilson's career masterpiece topped the Amazon and iTunes charts and held the No. 2 position on Billboard’s instrumental chart for two weeks in a row.

Overall, four of the artist's 10 recordings have hit the Billboard Top-20. Wilson has had two PBS specials, and his music has been streamed more than 75 million times by fans around the globe. NARAS also recently made him a “Lifetime Member” of the Recording Academy.

Early on in his recording career, Wilson landed an official endorsement by Yamaha Pianos, with the company providing instruments for his performances across the country, both as a solo artist and with his six-piece band. Wilson has composed music for the CBS-TV series "Frank’s Place" and CNN’s "Showbiz Today" television show devoted a segment to Wilson's music.

Locally, Wilson had two PBS specials, including "A Place in My Heart," which was filmed before a sold-out audience of 1,300 fans at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts in Amarillo.

"I think this book will ignite inspiration in the readers, to be inspired to pursue their dreams in spite of seemingly unsurmountable odds," Wilson said.

"Tuned-In: Memoirs of a Piano Man" is a page-turner depicting Wilson's captivating tale of showbiz glamor, personal tragedy, self-discovery, and dogged determination. The one-of-a-kind inspiring tale is available now for pre-order online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites at https://www.amazon.com/ and https://www.barnesandnoble.com/ .

The book's official release is scheduled for April 2. To learn more about the artist or the book, visit the official webpage online at JimWilsonMusic.com/TunedIn .

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo native Jim Wilson pens 'Tuned In: Memoirs of a Piano Man'