The Passion of Scott Krippayne

BUENA PARK, CA (October 01, 2004) Many artists in the pop music industry are classified as "singer-songwriters," with equal weight given to both labels. With Christian artist and composer Scott Krippayne, however, the term "songwriter" belongs in bold letters.

As a passionate artist who writes so many amazing songs, there isn't any conceivable way that he could record them all himself. As a result, Krippayne has composed songs for many top Christian artists such as Avalon, Point of Grace, Jaci Velasquez, FFH, True Vibe, John Tesh and Sandi Patty, among others. Now, Krippayne is beginning to use the Yamaha Clavinova digital piano wherever possible.

Scott Krippayne relies on the versatility, ease-of-use and tremendous sound of the Clavinova to compose music of inspiration.

"The Clavinova CVP210 is a truly incredible instrument," he says. "I've got one in my home studio that I use for songwriting and recording demos. I have also been able to use one on the road for various concerts. It's nice to be able to just pop in a disk and have the sounds I like be one touch away."

"For songwriting and recording, I love the huge selection of sounds," he says. "Each one seems to provide different inspiration. The built-in accompaniments are great for getting a feel for what a song will sound like. I love the ease of switching the drum feels or the complexity of the accompaniment. Also, I love how simple it is to layer the sounds and split the keyboard very user-friendly."

In his youth, Krippayne's first spark of inspiration as a musician came because of a family member. "One of my older brothers is a singer-songwriter," says Krippayne. "I got into music as a kid just wanting to be like him. My parents noticed my interest in music and got me started with classical piano lessons at a young age. As I got older, I studied a bit of jazz and got more and more into songwriting."

Krippayne recently used the CVP210 on a song called "Treasures of the Heart" for the non-profit organization Music for the Soul. "I've also played it on numerous song demos and look forward to using it on more records in the future," he notes.

"Simply sitting down at a great instrument seems to inspire me," he continues. "The Clavinova makes me sound better than I am and I just want to keep playing. The sounds are tremendous sometimes I'll just choose one at random and see if I can get a song started. I've found that a great sound can help spur on inspiration."

In addition to his traveling a couple weekends a month performing concerts nationwide, Krippayne has some new projects in the works. "I'm in the process of finishing up songs for a new record," he says. "We should get into the studio within a couple of months."

"Billy Joel and (Yamaha artist) Elton John were big influences on me," he notes. "I love both of them as musicians, and love those old Billy Joel and Elton John records that are really piano-based, allowing the singer-songwriter/piano-player to come out. So we wanted to take a shot at doing that on this record. It's not a 'retro' record there are elements of those late '70s records here but it feels very current."

In addition to purchasing his albums of inspiration, including It Goes Like This..., All Of Me, Bright Star Blue Sky, More and Wild Imagination, Krippayne's touring schedule can be found on his website, www.scottkrippayne.com.

To learn more, write Yamaha Corporation of America at P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600; telephone (714) 522-9011; or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.