Kendrick Zane is a local pianist, composer and singer from Oakley, Utah.  He has been playing music since he was 5 years old. He has been playing professionally for 20 years. The name of his band is the Kendrick Zane Band. Kendrick has always enjoyed music. His motivation for playing music is because, “it helps me connect with myself, helps me understand my emotions better, helps me understand people better. It helps me center myself in this reality I have.” 

Whether or not he is performing, he can spend hours playing music by himself because it is very therapeutic for him. “Music is a cool place to explore, there’s a lot of ideas there to explore. Music is an expression of life,” Zane said. 

Zane has played all over the country. He and his guitarist friend went to the UK where they did some recording and a live demo at Abbey Road Studios, in the same exact room where the Beatles recorded all of their music in studio 2. Zane played with a guitarist in Scotland. 

The biggest highlight of his career is playing to an audience that is there to listen. The audience can be a small group with a dozen people or a large room with 500 or more people. “When everybody is listening and engaged, that is where the magic happens because a performance is kind of a two-way street. It’s an energy exchange between me and the audience. What they give me I can give them back, magnified.” Zane said.

Zane’s playing will vary. He will play shows by himself, or he has a trio where he plays with a drummer and a bass player. There are times when he plays with the whole band that will include the guitarist and a saxophone player. 

“Performance puts me in the moment, and everything else disappears,” Zane said. 

The style of music he plays is varied.  It is a cross between Billy Joel, Steely Dan and Bruce Hornsby. He plays some jazz music and he likes old country songs, too. He loves almost all kinds of music and gets inspiration from all of it.  

Zane started playing on the piano when he was 5, and he had an inkling he wanted to perform. At 7years old he started taking lessons. He would listen to his dad’s records, Liberace being one that had a big influence on him. He thought it would be amazing if he could play the piano like Liberace. He heard a live performance of Roy Clark and he could hear Clark talking to the audience. When he listened to the live recording of  Clark he felt like he was there. He thought how great that would be to play for an audience like that. 

Then he attended Snow College for a couple of years. In 2006 he decided to play at piano bars. He played at the piano bars then got married and had two children. He feels like family is very important and he always wanted a family. 

 Zane will be playing at the Viridian Center for the First Friday Concert on Aug. 2. He will play some of his favorite songs in the pop rock genre and some of his original songs. During his performances he will take requests from the audience for songs they want him to play. Be ready to request a song you would like him to play. It is a unique and fun experience to hear him perform. You can go to YouTube and hear his music at Kendrick Zane or Kendrick Zane Band.                                            

Go to slcolibrary.org to find out more about the First Friday Concerts. λ