When Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan decided to release a solo record, he wasn't going to compete with the multi-platinum-selling band he was in. "I just wanted to release an album of piano music for music's sake," Bryan said during a telephone interview from Anaheim, Calif. "I'm not expecting to sell millions of albums. It's was just nice to be able to sit down at an acoustic piano and make some music."
Bryan, who just released his album, "Lunar Eclipse," will be in town Saturday with the rest of the Bon Jovi crew. And though rock music has been the meat-and-potatoes of Bryan's life, he still looks back at his classical training for comfort. "My father was a very big musical influence on me," Bryan said. "He was a trumpet player. And that's what I started with. Then, when I was 7, my parents introduced me to the piano."
Bryan, born David Bryan Rashbaum in Edison, N.J., wound up studying with the late Emery Hack, who had served as the band leader of the NBC Orchestra. "He was a wonderful teacher. Emery was like David Copperfield of music. He'd just play and do these things that were amazing."
Bryan studied with him for 13 years. "That's how long it takes to just scratch the surface of classical theory," he said with a laugh. "Then rock music came into my life, and that's where I am now."
Still, Bryan isn't the average rock 'n' roll keyboardist. After completing his studies with Hack, Bryan enrolled in the music program at Rutgers University. He auditioned and was accepted into the Juilliard School of Music, just as singer Jon Bon Jovi called and asked him to join a little fledgling band he started. "I'm very blessed to have heeded the call."
Throughout the years, Bon Jovi has sold more than 90 million albums worldwide and toured all over the globe. "It's a great day job. That's the beauty of the band. Another nice thing is the fact that when we take breaks, we go do our own thing. My muse has always been the piano. Never have our solo outings been stifling. In fact, they are what makes us a good band. We grow outside the band and bring it back to the fold."
"Lunar Eclipse" is actually a re-release of his 1995 album, "On a Full Moon." But bad distribution stopped the album from reaching its full potential. So, Bryan remastered, repackaged and added a collection of new songs to the mix and found a good distribution deal with Rounder Records.
"Rounder has been great to work with," he said. "I didn't want to release a rock record. And I'm a great admirer of George Winston. So it made sense to release 'Lunar Eclipse' as a strictly instrumental album."
However, there was a time when Bryan didn't think the album would be released. He cut off the tip of his left index finger with a power saw five years ago. "That was scary," he said. "I couldn't play for two years. I had to go through physical therapy, and I really thought I screwed up my career."
But, through determination and work, he found his way back. "Once you come extremely close to losing something that means a lot to you, you look at it with that much more gratitude. Now, when I sit down to play, I am so grateful that I still can."
E-mail: scott@desnews.com