Paul “Wix” Wickens
Wix started playing piano when he was 6. There was always music in his house as his parents had a large 78 RPM record collection, and He heard a lot of classical and church music. His older brother and sister were into pop music, so he heard a lot of that too
He studied piano for many years but had a musical awakening when he first heard black blues pianist “Pinetop Perkins”, then he geared his studies towards the blues from that point
He used to play duets on piano with his dad. He overcame stage fright, and had his first public performance at a school competition
He was influenced by Thelonius Monk, Count Basie, Bill Payne (Wix loved Little Feat), Elton John, and the pianist for NRBQ, Terry Adams. He also loves Paul Shaffer
He has been in Paul McCartney’s band since 1989, but has played with many other artists, including Paul Carrack, Nik Kershaw, Boy George, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan.
Wix takes the break with a piccolo trumpet sample in Penny Lane on the Roland A-50