By
Sally Bramley
KYLE ESPLIN - A key influence
It is one thing following in the footsteps of your idol, learning his songs by heart and copying his moves. It is entirely different thing to play at his birthday party. But Kyle Esplin has done just that.
Just back from playing the Jerry Lee Lewis Fan Club convention in Rotterdam, Kyle is fast developing a reputation as Scotland's leading rock'n'roll piano player and singer, with a strong following not just among Jerry Lee fans but within Lewis' own band. "I don't set out to copy Jerry," says the 20-year-old piano pounder. "But there is always going to be a connection to him because he has been such a strong influence on me. I have a great love of rock'n'roll piano in general and Jerry Lee is synonymous with that."
Based in Forfar, Kyle grew up in a showbusiness environment. His parents are the Scottish entertainers Joss Esplin and Sandra Wright and by the age of ten he was spending his school holidays playing keyboards for them in hotels throughout the region.
"There was always a piano sitting open in the living room and as far back as I can remember, I would always sit at it and play away on the keys. "It's something I just seemed to pick up." By his early teens Kyle knew he wanted to make a career out of music.
He recorded his first CD - named Great Balls of Fire after Lewis' best-known hit - when he was 16. By then Kyle had become great friends with Lewis' band, whom he first met on holiday in Tennessee. He so impressed them with his playing that he was invited to perform at Jerry Lee's 65th and 66th birthday parties in Memphis. "Having seen so many of Jerry Lee's concerts and performance videos, it was a great honour to sit at his piano and lead his band through a song."
Kyle recorded his new album, To Memphis and Back, in the US earlier this year with Lewis' former band member Joel Shumaker playing bass. The CD is currently available at Kyle's website.