Piano Girl: Lessons in Life, Music, and the Perfect Blue Hawaiian [Hardcover]

Robin Meloy Goldsby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2005

Piano Girl is the story of one woman's accidental career as a cocktail-lounge piano player. Sometimes poignant and often hilarious, this engaging memoir reveals the comedies, tragedies, and mundane miracles witnessed from the business side of the keyboard. A pianist in lounges and lobbies around the world, Robin Meloy Goldsby tells her story by connecting the people she has met with the places she has played and the pianos she has known. Along the way she discovers the human side, for better or worse, of her audiences - mobsters and moguls, the down-and-out and downright scary, and ordinary people dealing with life in extraordinary ways. Her tale provides insights into the art and craft of piano playing as well as inspiring lessons in life as Robin pursues her dreams on her own terms.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Goldsby regales readers with stories from her 30 years as a cocktail lounge pianist in this vivacious memoir. Starting out in dreary roadhouse bars and motels during the 1970s, Goldsby eventually worked her way up to tonier venues: the Marriott Marquis and the Grand Hyatt in New York City, a posh resort in Haiti, castles in Europe. Along the way there were false starts—an audition for the circus, a few months singing in an ill-fated all-girl nightclub act, a stint as a piano-playing stripper. It's all the stuff of comedy for Goldsby, who has a wicked sense of humor and a keen eye for the absurd. Playing in a bar is great, she figures, because she can watch the never-ending show on the other side of the piano: the celebrities, nobodies, drunks, tipsy matrons, stalkers, music lovers and music haters, and a rogues' gallery of colorful misfits. She even finds humor in her replacement at the New York Marriott—a mannequin seated at a player-piano. She also has a touching affection for her assorted co-workers, who include a waiter who charms everyone with his "tragic optimism" after having been diagnosed with AIDS, a restroom attendant who sells designer dresses out of a toilet stall for the handicapped and a waitress whom Goldsby inspires to start her own career as a pianist. This is a bighearted, funny, truly eye-opening memoir. (May)
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About the Author

Robin Meloy Goldsby has played cocktail piano for thirty years. In addition to her 5-star experiences in New York City hotel bars and her no star experiences in small regional cocktail lounges, Ms. Goldsby's musical adventures have taken her to exclusive island resorts, third world countries, and to the castles in Europe where she currently performs. Robin has recorded two solo piano CDs: Somewhere in Time and Twilight.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Backbeat Books (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879308249
• ISBN-13: 978-0879308247
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,625,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

'Goldsby has seen it all from her piano and she dishes it up with a true storyteller's gusto. As refreshing as a frozen daiquiri . . .' Jeff Yanc, Book Sense Picks and Notables

Pianist, composer, and author Robin Meloy Goldsby mesmerizes listeners with her three solo piano CDs: Somewhere in Time, Songs from th Castle and Twilight. The recordings
frame Goldsby's career as a pianist in some of the world's finest hotels and restaurants.

Goldsby's first book, Piano Girl: A Memoir, made its hardcover debut in spring, 2005. The book presents a collection of autobiographical short stories' some funny, some poignant'that explore the life of a working musician. Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, hailed Piano Girl as 'big-hearted, funny, truly eye-opening memoir.'

Book Sense, the leading organization representing independent bookstores in the United States, chose Piano Girl, now available in paperback, as one of the 'Picks of the Summer, 2006.'

Goldsby has appeared on NPR's All Things Considered, the Leonard Lopate Show in New York City, and the Mark Farrell Show on CD 101.9. Recently she taped two installments of Marian McPartland's NPR Piano Jazz, which aired in October 2006 and December 2007. Marian McPartland says, 'Piano Girl is certainly one of the funniest books I've ever read.'

Robin performs live, in a variety of settings. Her performances in the past year have included a reading and concert in the rotunda at Steinway Hall in Manhattan, a performance at the Salt Lake City International Jazz Festival, a reading at the Bechstein Concert Hall in Cologne Germany, and an Advent Concert in Candlelight at Schlosshotel Lerbach, a beautiful castle and 5-star hotel in the hills of Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, where she appears regularly.

A cocktail-lounge pianist for 30 years, Goldsby worked her way through Chatham College, an elite women's school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by playing piano in local hotel lounges and roadhouse bars. After moving to New York City in 1980, she began playing in many of Manhattan's leading hotels where she cultivated her skills and captivated audiences with her unique musical style. In addition to her five-star experiences in New York City and her no-star gigs in small regional lounges, Goldsby's musical adventures have taken her to exclusive island resorts, Third World countries, and the castles in Europe where she currently performs.

Goldsby's second book, a novel called RHYTHM was published in October 2008: Meet teenage drummer Jane Bowman. She's fifteen, funny, and wounded by the loss of her famous percussionist mother. Robin Meloy Goldsby's touching and humorous coming-of-age musical odyssey invites us to tap our toes in time to Jane's powerful music'cheering her on as she mends her shattered heart, finds her groove, and discovers the tragic beauty of human resilience.

'Goldsby, who marries the pathos of her plot line with the whimsy and near-magical-realism of her characters, deserves comparison with John Irving, a modern master.'
Marion Winik, NPR commentator and author of First Comes Love

'Rhythm conveys the magic of sound plus the transformative power of music, and the words'like a well-played melody'ring true.'
Peter Erskine, drummer and author of Time Awareness for All Musicians

Robin is married to jazz bassist John Goldsby. They have two children, and live near Cologne Germany.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Misty water-colored memoir, March 10, 2008

By 

Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Piano Girl: Lessons in Life, Music, and the Perfect Blue Hawaiian (Hardcover)

Like the good old Barbra Streisand staple, Robin Meloy Goldsby shares with us the memories that light the corners of her mind, and true to the lyrics, it's the laughter we will remember, whenever we remember this personal and funny autobiography.

Beginning her working career as a waitress, the author's inability to balance food and beverages without causing grievous bodily harm quickly prompted a switch to another occupation. When practice sessions on the piano at the Club Car lead to an offer to play for the patrons five nights a week, Ms. Goldsby exchanges her hair net for beach-blanket Barbie attire, and delights the audience with her collection of 12 songs and her "fake book" which is used when you need to bluff your way through a musical request.

Eventually, tube tops evolve into cocktail dresses, and cocktail lounges become ritzy hotel lobbies, luxury island resorts and even castles, but Ms. Goldsby continues to amaze and amuse with her observations from the business side of the piano.

Designing agents, questionable bookings and embarrassing situations are all described here in glorious detail, but above all, the colorful, eccentric and certifiably crazy characters encountered make for an enjoyable reading experience.

It's obvious that if Ms. Goldsby had the chance to do it all again, she certainly would.

Amanda Richards, March 10, 2008

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From MainlyPiano.com, May 6, 2005

By 

Kathy Parsons (Florence, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Piano Girl: Lessons in Life, Music, and the Perfect Blue Hawaiian (Hardcover)

"Piano Girl" is a seamlessly crafted, incredibly entertaining memoir that tells the story of one woman's journey from The Club Car in Nantucket to the castles of Europe with stops just about everywhere in between, all the while seated at a piano and playing music to enhance the experience for whoever is there to listen (or not listen!). Goldsby has a wonderfully conversational writing style, and her tales are often laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes poignant, and always abundantly human. Along with her recollections of adventures, big and small, are portraits of many of the characters she has met along the way, providing a rich and very satisfying read whether or not you play the piano.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An enthralling and honest personal story, May 9, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Piano Girl: Lessons in Life, Music, and the Perfect Blue Hawaiian (Hardcover)

Piano Girl: Lessons In Life, Music And The Perfect Blue Hawaiian is Robin Meloy Goldsby's entertainting and occasionally mesmerizing memoir, tracing her "accidental" career as a cocktail lounge piano player. Her calling took her across the globe, from exclusive island resorts to third-world countries, and her story offers both musical insights into the art of piano playing and the life lessons she encountered on her unlikely path. Piano Girl also recounts the varied character of her audience, from the rich and famous to the down and out and everyone in between. Individual vignettes perfectly capture timeless moments in this enthralling and honest personal story.