Alan Thompson Interview
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LP: Was your trip to Sacramento your first time playing outside of Disneyland?
Alan: The first official gig Rod and I played outside of Disneyland, and only my second plane trip!
LP: Your plane first trip was to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, right?
Alan: Yeah, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir up in Utah.
LP: And you actually played a little bit at a bookstore in Salt Lake City?
Alan: Yeah. We went to Borders. They had a little piano on the side. We asked the manager if we could play and she said, fine. So we played a few songs.
You would think that at Borders people want to read books, they wouldn’t want to watch piano players. But we quickly had a crowd of people around the piano, just like at Disneyland. Everybody who was reading put down their books and came over to watch. It was great.
We even went to Nordstroms, I think it was in South Coast Plaza over in Costa Mesa, and we got a crowd. It was a lot of fun. People were trying on shoes, they took off their shoes, walked over to the piano and watched us play. They said things like, “wow that was amazing, How do you do that?” Everywhere we go we always get a decent sized crowd.
LP: Ragtime it isn’t exactly as popular as Rock and Roll, or even Country music. Do you expect to get the crowds that you get?
Alan: Actually, I do expect it. Ragtime is a whole different style of music. It’s very unique. It has it’s own upbeat rhythms. I compare it to swing music, where you can dance and have fun. Ragtime has a very good sound to it. I can never explain it. It’s just very catchy to the ear, with a sound that attracts people to the piano.
LP: Do you have a favorite ragtime composer?
Alan: Yeah. Scott Joplin
LP: Scott Joplin? Why?
Alan: When I first started learning ragtime, which was the first year of the three years that I’ve known Rod, I bought a music book with all of Joplin’s songs. The first three songs I learned were Maple Leaf Rag, Easy Winners, and Elite Syncopations. I worked on those for months and months and months. When I first played ragtime for my high school, everybody loved it. My friends loved the music; they loved the tempo. They asked, “where’d you find that? How’d you learn to play that? That’s great! What’s that called?”
LP: Do you think ragtime will see a revival? Along with the swing revival? A couple of the songs you play have that swing feeling. Chattanooga Choo-Choo is one.
Alan: Well as far as swing goes, we also play a song called Blackbottom/Charleston. A lot of people say the Charleston is coming back in fashion. You know the era of flapper tunes. More and more people are rediscovering swing music, so eventually I think ragtime is going to come back strong as well.
LP: Obviously you learned solo first. Do you still play solo? Or just duets with Rod right now
Alan: For the past year, we’ve been working a lot on duets. I do solo occasionally. I practice my own solos of the Maple Leaf Rag and other rags. I have my own arrangement of Someone To Watch Over Me as well.
LP: About how many songs do you have under your belt as a solo artist
Alan: 15 songs that I really know well, that I could play anywhere.
LP: How long does it take you to learn a solo song?
Alan: I would say two weeks.
LP:Which do you prefer? Solo or playing duets?
Alan: Oh duets. Four hand piano any day. It’s the greatest thing. What can I say. It’s a wonderful sound that attracts everybody. Everywhere we play we have a crowd. Plus, no one does it anymore.
LP: So what is the next step for you and Rod?
Alan: Next Step? Wait until October first when the CD comes out. Hopefully we can sell it here in the park, at the bookstore where Rod first sold his CD. [ Note: it is now available at both the bookstore and the New Century Music store across Main Street.] Maybe do some more events. We’ll keep learning new songs too.
A few weeks ago we were considering learning more jazz tunes. Like In the Mood, Mac the Knife, all those swing tunes. The idea is to make a swing CD or a jazz CD. It will have a whole different style of music, as far as four hand piano is concerned.