Piano man show set to wow Buninyong

CLASSICALLY trained piano maestro John Watson is bringing his exciting and spontaneous show to Buninyong.

While you’d normally find Watson tickling the ivory at the Piano Bar in North Sydney, a venue he’s been preforming at for nearly 35 years, or entertaining nation’s movers and shakers, Ballarat holds a special place in his heart.

His grandfather is from Creswick and his greatgrandmother arrived in the town as a three-year-old in 1852.

The local connections don’t stop there, with Watson’s great-grandfather, Joseph Watson, printing the Ballarat Star newspaper.

Watson began his journey into music under the guidance of a student of Rachmaninoff when he was a six-year-old.

He then moved from Melbourne to Sydney and took on roles as musical director for a number of productions along with playing the city’s exclusive bars and clubs.

Watson said the inspiration for his current show, Tribute to the Piano Men, comes from his experiences in the 1980s and ‘90s playing at the Piano Bar.

Back then celebrities would gather in the club and liked what they heard so much they would invite him to play at their homes.

That led to some exciting stories and Watson seamlessly weaves antidotes involving people like Michael Parkinson, Billy Connolly, Dame Vera Lynne, Elton John, and Neil Sedaka into his show.

He now recreates that magic for a new group of people that weren’t there the first time, with the songs that people loved then, whish are the same songs people ask for today.

No two shows are the same for Watson and he’s all about spontaneity.

He said he’s never used a backing track and doesn’t want to be locked into a pre-arranged set list.

Watson said he once saw a list of the 1,000 most popular middle of the road songs and learned over 700 of them, so he takes requests and relishes the challenge playing some of the more obscure tracks.

John Watson brings his ‘Tribute to the Piano Men Show’ to Buninyong Golf Club, 613 Learmonth Street, Buninyong, on Wednesday, 10 October starting at 10.30am.

Tickets are $25 and booking is essential. Call 0410 465 502 for more information.