| VAUGHN: ‘Piano man’ always willing to play songs |
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By: RALPH VAUGHN, Post Columnist
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Posted: Sunday, February 5, 2012 5:21 am
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Try asking the following question in the Murfreesboro area.
Who would you consider to be ‘The Piano Man’? The response, I suspect, would almost unanimously be William Richardson.
It’s easy to understand why.
Since he attended Oakland High School 30 years ago, William has taught hundreds of students to play piano.
He toured America and abroad with the Grammy Award winning Imperials Quartet, legends in both Southern and Contemporary Gospel Music.
He at one time was music director for the popular Nashville Gospel Show on WSMV Television.
William has played faithfully week-after-week at World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro since 1984 when the congregation totaled about 75.
Today the local church has approximately 10,000 worshipers each weekend.
He also played piano for 20 years at the Stones River Country Club; still performs at countless weddings, private parties and special events.
There is much more to his story.
Now 51, he was born and reared in Murfreesboro, attended Reeves-Rogers Elementary School where his love for music was sparked by playing trumpet.
The school’s music program included a band where students performed for parents and at school functions.
Later as a student at Central Middle School, his musical talents blossomed further while taking piano lessons from Katherine Franklin who taught in her home on State Street.
William remembered, “My sister and I would walk after school to her home to take lessons which were paid by my grandmother, Irene Ward.”
Several people contributed to his musical development.
His mother, Kathleen Richardson, paid for his trumpet.
William Hollis Richardson, his father, was a whiz at automobile mechanics and usually had several cars parked at the family’s residence.
“I got my mechanical skills from him,” William recalled. “I have always loved to take things apart and put them back together. That is how I learned to play the piano by putting a puzzle in my head and working out the mechanics of how notes should be played.”
William’s grandfather, John Ward, was a custodian at MTSU working at Campus School. William joined him in the evenings, and while there, would hone his skills on the school’s piano.
As a freshman at Oakland High School, William continued to play the trumpet for the marching band, but the piano was becoming his choice; encouraged greatly by drama teacher Emily Burnett.
Another chapter in his creative development occurred while a student at MTSU majoring in Music with a minor in Recording Industry Music (RIM). Dr. John Duke was also an influence during that time. While in college, William began teaching piano and has never stopped. He said, “I have never advertised.
It’s been word of mouth. I have 20 students presently.”
During those college days, William and other students participated in the Annual All Sing at MTSU, a program held at Murphy Center and sponsored by several campus fraternities and sororities.
William recalled, “One evening we went to a warehouse on Salem Road to practice. I was working out some parts for my upcoming presentation when a gentleman, whom I did not know, walked in. He introduced himself as George Jackson and said that the building was World Outreach Church where he was pastor. He wanted me to be his pianist. I guess the rest is history at World Outreach.”
While reminiscing about his professional career, William summed it up by saying, “When a person has a dream, he or she should go for it. For me, it’s been music since I was a child. I also think there is a significant difference in just playing music and trying to be creative with it. I have studied Classical, Jazz, Gospel, and Pop and try to bring all of those elements into my music. I might play ‘Mary had a Little Lamb’ but it will be different each time I perform it.”
He added, “I have been gifted with an ear for music and can listen to an arrangement presented by someone in person or on a recording and then figure out a way to play it myself with a different finesse without compromising the integrity of the song. I never stop learning and trying something new in my music.” |
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