Things don’t always go according to plan, and that rings especially true for our guest this week, Ben Tankard.
Ben had just joined the NBA when an injury ended his basketball career before it even had a chance to start. After a few years of working as a dog catcher, Ben started taking his lunch breaks playing piano in a music store. After the shopkeeper asked him to ditch the dog-catching uniform and demo pianos for his customers, he realized music was more than something to pass the lunch break.
Today, Ben is a highly regarded Gospel-Jazz musician, a preacher, and even has his own reality show. He joins us to tell the story of how he went from a local dog-catcher, to the musical pioneer he is today.
Follow Ben on Instagram and Twitter
Show Notes
1:41 Growing up
2:53 Playing sports and music in high school
3:45 Getting a basketball scholarship and going to the NBA
5:30 Starting to take Christianity seriously
6:45 Playing piano for the first time
8:16 Making ends meet, as a dog-catcher
10:30Playing piano at a music store
12:19Joel Osteen shares the Ben Tankard Story
14:00Keyboard demonstrator for Main Street Music
15:45Developing a home studio, and starting to make money from music
16:19All Keyed Up
16:33Tribute Records
18:39Were you musically literate before you got to really pursue piano?
19:54Would you say there was a definitive moment when you realized your success?
20:20Discovering Yolanda Adams
24:45Being a ‘back-burner’ musician
25:53Being his own manager
28:12Do you prefer to be behind the scenes more?
28:45The start of the reality show
30:55How did you bridge the gap between Gospel and Jazz for people?
32:40Getting commercial radio plays with instrumentals
34:14Do you think your life would be different if you didn’t get hurt playing basketball?
35:40How basketball came back into Ben’s world
38:45How much has hard work played into your success?
41:00Did you have any mentors when you first started playing music?
42:26Do you ever feel like your success is surreal?
43:27The power your network plays in your world
For more information
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
