Two Pedals, 88 Keys
Eric Rich is a musician who is going places.
By mixing bike riding with piano playing, Rich has brought music to the streets in Salt Lake for years. While still in High School, Rich found a free piano on craigslist and taught himself how to play. A number of friends in town had been successful making money by performing at the Farmers Market, and Rich thought he’d give it a try. But how do you take a piano to the market?
“My first pianobike was made in like three days with my brother, who’s a welder” Rich explains. “We made a little platform and welded a ball hitch onto a bike.”
This unique melding of bike riding and piano playing has allowed Rich to create an atmosphere of music on the streets, while conquering his performance anxiety in a decidedly informal environment. “People are really excited about the piano bike,” he says.
Rich and his pianobike have been a staple of the Farmers Market in downtown Salt Lake since 2010, performing alongside his friend Corbin Baldwin, but Rich has also taken his act on the road, performing at venues like the Sundance Film Festival and the Outdoor Retailer Show. In 2011, Rich and Baldwin ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the creation of a brand new pianobike. They raised $6,859, exceeding their goal.
In the future, Rich hopes to travel across the country with the bike, either by hauling the piano in a trailer, or by riding the pianobike itself.
For more about Rich and his pianobike, visit http://slcpianobike.blogspot.com
