LIZ MCKINNEY’S RETRO PIANO LOUNGE

After three decades as a rock radio broadcaster (or radio DJ) I am returning to a familiar stage of a different kind. One with live people in front of you and not in a beautiful and secluded radio control room with a microphone hanging from the ceiling. Now my microphone is at my piano and I’m playing and singing a lot of the songs I played throughout my time on the air, which is crazy. 

Back in the early 80’s until I started my 30 plus years in radio at CFOX Radio in Vancouver in 1985, I played piano and sang for a living, what you’d call a single act. It was the time of live music in the 80’s and gigs were everywhere. I played some good ones like The Yale Hotel after work Grand Piano gig, Mama Golds in Kitsalano , Checkers on Denman, The Ming Hotel on Robson, The Avalon Hotel and many more usually 5 nights a week four hours a night. You could work 50 weeks a year without trying to hard. Good times in the land of plenty. Fast forward to today and while it’s a different scene than almost 4 decades ago, it’s still feels the same! 

It’s all the same people we are just older!

In a world full emerging singer songwriters , I am anything but. 

The only tortured lyrics you’ll hear will be when I forget the words and make some up. 

What you will hear are musical memories from familiar songs and stories of our “daze gone by”.

I will tell you about almost being fired on the spot at CFOX after an incredible interview with Stevie Ray Vaughan as he shared his new found sobriety with the world. 

We could share Expo 86 stories and how drunk you got at the pub or what your remember about the morning of 9/11.

Which musician nodded outwhile I was interviewing him.

Or how we went from 8 tracks to streaming and carrying around a device we seemingly can’t live without. 

We have been through a lot of life! 

It’s a show with a few laughs, some WTF is going on?commentary and lots of good old familiar songs you might even decide to sing too.

In a world full emerging singer songwriters , I am everything but. 

The only tortured lyrics you’ll hear will be when I forget the words and make some up. 

What you will hear are musical memories and stories that accompany but  most importantly, put a smile on your face.