THE FINAL TRAVELING PIANO FUNDRAISER
The goal? To end on a high note this present chapter of an amazing Traveling Piano musical life journey. That will happen while easing on down the road with total gratitude and appreciation for everything life has offered and... through contribution. Your help is needed to reach the forty year mark of Bringing the Beat to the Street. Please join through financial support to create a send off to end all send offs! Spread the word. Personally contribute. And also, help to find financial backing in order to rebuild the Traveling Piano truck. I would like to endow it for future generations. It desperately needs a rebuild in a structural sense.
From the start in 1987 Piano Man Danny Kean, that would be me, I have worked with a piano in the back of the same pickup truck along with two pups. Bo-ner was my first dog ever who stayed with me for over 15 years and now Mo, he is heading towards the 16 year mark. My two pups have served as faithful companions while hanging out on top of the Traveling Piano giving comfort and joy to everyone they meet. Concerning my own age, in July of 2025 I turned seventy years old! Ahh... time rolls on.
If we can keep going until 2027, that would make 40 years of full time work from the same pickup truck with a piano in the back. This includes non-stop travel for ten of those years. The first 20 years with the Traveling Piano were all about money through contracted and paid musical engagements. The truck was used as a performance vehicle for parades and large events and for promotions. Danny Kean was The Ragtime and Boogie Woogie Piano Man. Overnight travel was not necessary as I was booked full time, twelve months a year in the area where I lived. Philadelphia, PA was home base.
Here are two fun Traveling Piano Man Danny Kean facts. I am the first person ever to entrepreneurially create a paid full time career of legitimate piano playing solely outdoors. That was for the first twenty years on the back of a pickup truck and now... I am also the first ever to continue that musical career outdoors for almost twenty more years. This, with no fees, tips or commercial affiliation and as a philanthropist, out of choice.
For this second 20 years, bills were originally paid through the sale of my home and now with random support through contribution over the years. The Traveling Piano took to the road throughout the northern hemisphere with an agenda of much more than just music. My own improvisational stream of conscious music became a vehicle for short one-on-one relationships with others. The idea of strangers becoming less afraid of each other has always been part of the Traveling Piano mission. The unconditional nature for relationship without agenda, for no pay back, this has been a bridge to trust.
To date there has been over 100,000 one-on-one personal and intimate encounters with people from all walks of life on the Traveling Piano. Everyone is invited to take a seat at the piano for themselves in order to create music, especially if they have never before played on a piano, do not think they can play or have been psychologically damaged from music lessons, lol. People are empowered and inspired resulting in musical freedom of spirit every time.
The Traveling Piano is discovered by individuals through synchronicity and spontaneity. This may happen on a mountain top, in an urban alley or most specifically where support is needed. That would be in a communities homeless area, after natural disasters or where mass gun violence has occurred. There is no way that I would still be doing the work I do after all of this time and without personal financial profit, if there was no worth for me. My payoff has been in a spiritual sense of human connection that cannot be measured in a financial sense. The rewards have been tenfold. But of course we all need money to survive.
The Traveling Piano has a ferocious social conscience and now lends support through music in any way possible to fight fascism and for those being ripped away from their families as a result of illegal deportation. Through Musical Fun, Friendship and Respect my purpose in life creates validation and reassurance for the worth of humanity. Life's worth comes through inclusion and the celebration of diversity. The Traveling Piano also helps to feed and clothe the homeless, those mentally ill, lost, rejected from society and drug addicted who are on the streets trying to survive. But most importantly, the Traveling Piano's music without question helps to sooth the desperate beast in all of us.
Lastly, as acoustic piano use becomes less and less over time, I have taken to placing donated pianos permanently on the streets of Las Vegas for everyone to enjoy! To date, there have been seven pianos placed. Some are in visible spots and others have been placed to be discovered. They all need upkeep. The pianos have been respected by the entire community as a reminder of art, playfulness, music and respect for the Traveling Piano concept. My entire career has been solo in creation, management and the execution. That can only now continue with sustained help. Please help me to become part of your life through your contribution.
100% of your contribution goes directly into the resources needed to continue onward. That would be constant equipment and truck upkeep, resources for the homeless, travel, internet, insurance, personal needs, etc... The Traveling Piano supports our world in every sense whether it be through music that soothes the soul and heals or just creates a fun distraction. In real time, one-on-one in person well, we all need as much love as we can possibly get right now. Mo an I now live on basic social security along with the help of a few website subscribers that cover less than 10% of my monthly living expenses. We presently live in 275 square feet of space so, we live as basic as it can get. There are no outside sources of income. Lets make it to forty years together. Please share this message, encourage others to donate and personally give as generously as possible, again and again!
p.s. Check out the Website www.travelingpiano.com
Spotfund: http://spot.fund/TravelingPiano
Website: http://www.ragginpianoboogie.com/donate.php
Venmo: @travelingpiano Dan Kean
CashApp: $travelingpiano
PayPal Me: http://www.paypal.me/dannykean
Please Private Message Me for other alternatives such as Check/Money Order/Cash by Mail
The Halloween bug hit me. There was no way in my mind I was going to create Halloween this year for those living on the streets here in Las Vegas. I'm just too tired out. And then I was in this store where all the items were $1. (totally rare anymore) I saw orange pom poms like twenty for a $1 and thought... people would have fun with these. And then I saw large bags of Terra Mediterranean Potato Chips with Garlic and Herbs and all the bags were fresh and strong. They usually cost around $6 bucks and they were only $1. I was done for! Little Debbie Marshmallow Pies in small Paper Halloween Bags, Water and Cider and Cups. I have clothes and caps and toys, drawing pads and pens to give people something to do, balloons to have fun with, knit storage bags to carry necessities in and lots of Halloween decorations to hand out. I know what those on the streets need and enjoy. This all works. Can you help out? We need to do this, create joy for others as a distraction if nothing else from the hell we are all falling into in order to have a... Happy Halloween! The photo is from last years haul taken into the alleys where I look for "individuals" verses groups who are feeling lost and alone, are too mental to find resources for themselves.
