Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cameron Cody. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Cameron thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Growing up in the “Deep South” of Middle Georgia, our faith and the church community was an integral part of my childhood. I was exposed to a variety of music but I took a strong connection to the traditional piano and organ music. My parents and I learned that I was able to play by ear on an old piano we found at a garage sale some Saturday morning. Soon after, my mother found a piano teacher and I would begin my piano lessons for many years. I would play for special church or school events but I had my first real “gig” (as we call it in the music world) was when I played for our Sunday church services. I was about 12 years old when I started but due to the labor laws, they couldn’t pay me a real salary and only provide an honorarium for my playing. As I grew older, my responsibilities also grew and I began to take on Organ lessons as well which provided me additional opportunities to play for funerals, weddings, and other events. After graduating high school, I moved to college a few hours away to major in music. It also gave me an opportunity to move out of my home church to start a career as a full time musician. At that point, I was able to focus so much more on my music, developing skills, and connecting with other in the music industry to push my career forward. Currently, I am working with Grammy and Dove award winner David Clydesdale on a new CD to be released next year entitled “The Best of Broadway” featuring dueling pianos.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

While I still focus on church music and worship, I have been on a mission to keep those great old hymns alive. Outside of the church, I am known as a concert gospel pianist playing for events across the United States. In addition to the in person concerts, I also play on Facebook live most weeks to connect with those that may not be close to the concerts. Most of my followers grew up with the hymns, while many churches are going in a more contemporary music style. People have shared that my music brings back great and memories to them. They have also said that my music is their worship time because they feel so close to the music. What sets me apart from others, is in many concerts and on Facebook live, we play dueling pianos with the hymns by adding my friend James Kelly to a second piano. Our music reached 4 million+ unique people just in the past year, we have released multiple CDs, and we have more exciting things to come in the future as we build and fulfill our mission to keep the hymns alive.

Some of my major accomplishments include a prestigious designation as the “Shigeru Kawai Artist” by the Kawai Piano Company, two performances at Carnegie Hall, invited to play for President George W Bush, and travel throughout Europe playing concerts. Currently, I have 4 CDs released some of which was in partnership with Grammy and Dove award recipient.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social Media is a true art on how to ensure you get the most visibility and reach! While I don’t feel like I have completely mastered social media, I know it is a huge part of my success as a pianist. The main key to success is the connection made to people. Connecting with people by providing content that is relevant to them, making calls to action such as sharing and commenting, but also to connect on a personal level. While I can not possibly have conversations with them all, I do try to comment back or message back when I can. A few times, someone has written that a family members watches and would like a special video surprise or someone has mentioned they would like to have a special song played, so I try to accommodate as I can.

It’s a long and slow process, but you will find your sweet spot. When you find it, keep on it and be consistent.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Worship for me, is very traditional. I want to hear a choir, a piano and organ to music that I grew up listening to in church. Over the years, many churches had moved to more contemporary style music. When they would hear my playing, it would fill a void that they had missed from their home church. As a gospel pianist, I have grown and latched on that I want to keep these alive. It’s not just for older people who grew up with them, I can also introduce young people to this kind of worship. Post covid, I think traditional music is growing again especially for younger people so I will continue to build as we move forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cameroncodymusic.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/cameroncodymusic
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/cameroncodymusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CameronCodyMusic
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5Fi9gnthItkLkP0I7KBo5I