Daily Inspiration: Meet Alan Storeygard

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alan Storeygard.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My name is Alan Storeygard and I wear a number of hats as a musician, family, doctor, husband, father, and now a grandfather. For the sake of this interview and article I’d like to emphasize the various hats I wear as a musician. I am pianist (primarily a jazz pianist), but I also play classical. I am a composer, a performer an arranger, a recording artist. and a songwriter. I have been a voting member of The Recording Academy from 2010-2019.
I’ve written, recorded, and released eight albums over nearly 3 decades (see photo) which included a wide variety of music and music collaborators. My music label is CHURCH JAZZ, though not all of my music is church related.
My most recent song and album, WHO MADE YOU?…and WHO MADE ME? is a collaboration with Mary Dawood Catlin- with contributions from Alexander Kato-Willis, Eric Chesher, and Sherman Banks (see photo). Mary is singing my original song to my jazz piano accompaniment. It has won 3 International Awards and has been nominated for 2 more- an Indie Music Channel nomination for BEST CHRISTIAN SONG and a World Entertainment Award for BEST CHRISTIAN SONG, to be decided January 31, 2025. It was recently in the Grammy Competition, but unfortunately did not receive a nomination. The listening link to the title song, with Mary singing and me playing the piano is:

The listening link to the whole 5 track album is:

I invite you to check these out. Mary and I hope to collaborate further in the future with some other Piano/Voice projects. She is also an excellent classical pianist.
I have told many of my patients that “Music is Medicine for the Soul.” I believe that both for listeners, creators and performers.
After 4 decades in private family practice, I am now teaching family medicine residents and medical students in the Baptist Health Family Medicine Residency Program here In Central Arkansas.
The musicians that have influenced my musical style and interests the most over the years are jazz pianists- Ramsey Lewis, Dave Brubeck, and Oscar Peterson. All have unfortunately passed on, but their music will live on. Hopefully mine will too. I was lucky enough to meet, listen to, and talk to Ramsey Lewis a number of times that are priceless to me (see photo ). He was a three-time Grammy winner and made over 60 albums. He died in 2022 at age 87 and was still playing. My third album THIRD TIME’S A CHARM, features my arrangements of some of his most famous pieces ( THE “IN” CROWD, WADE IN THE WATER, and others- with me trying to play in his style the best I could.
Ramsey Lewis called me after that album and told me, “The Third Time WAS THE CHARM.” It was like winning a PERSONAL GRAMMY to me- something I will never forget!
You never know who you’ll meet through music, or where it will lead to. I’ve been very fortunate to have played in multiple cities and events in the United States and other countries and cities, including Los Angeles, New York City. (Carnegie Hall 4 times in 2003, 2010, 2019, and 2022) – and also in Europe, in Sicily and Germany ( The Berlin Philharmonic), and in Canada and Montreal.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
You asked about obstacles. I have been very fortunate in my life to have had great parents, family, and teachers. My biggest obstacles have been physical injuries, which have fortunately healed. I am a little accident prone. I live on a farm, enjoy woodworking, and used to enjoy skiing, and tried horseback riding with my wife. At least 3 of my injuries could have killed me and 4 others could have ended my piano playing. Two of them inspired me to write my 6th album
I PLAN TO BE HAPPY AGAIN. As a doctor, I knew that both of these injuries could heal, but they would take quite a bit of time. The words to that song were written two nights after one of the injuries when I couldn’t sleep because of the pain. So I just got up, put a pad of paper on the kitchen table, and wrote the words to the new song. I finished the melody and the chords over the next few days. It was written in 2020 at the start of Covid.- and the words actually spoke to everyone in the world also at that time. I was very lucky to have a very good friend of mine Billy Hoover sing that song. He also loves to play The piano and sing at the same time like Elton John and Billy Joel. So for this album, he was the performer and singer and I was the songwriter..

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
The lessons I’ve learned from all of this are that music is powerful and that it can help one get through hard times. Music can often say what words alone cannot.

For me personally it gives me JOY. I find that musicians are usually working on something for the future, enjoy the present, and treasure the past. And they occasionally finish something new.. I’m working on some new things now..

My Music website is:

www.storeygardmusic.com

It is very user-friendly. I encourage you all to check it out and please tell your friends.
All of my albums are available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Pandora, and SoundCloud. They are also available for downloads on Amazon and iTunes.
I am currently working on a new single with Mary Dawood Catlin , and we may try to do an entire album together. I’m also working on a solo and orchestrated piano album that may take a few years.

I hope your readership will take some time every day to listen to some music, create some if they desire, and try to make the world a better place for everyone.

Alan Storeygard

Contact Info:

• Website: www.storeygardmusic.com