Album Notes

"Heath Lanz is Refreshing and new, a breath of fresh air" - The Weekly Planet, Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater Florida
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Twenty three year old Heath sits backstage waiting for his moment to take the stage. For Heath, backstage life is just as familiar as performing arts schools and college conservatories because these were the venues where his creative spirit and music theory converged with the music business. Growing up as the son of a "music business dad," Heath was always surrounded by songwriters and performers. One might say that he was "smitten" by the business early in his years but then went on to do his own thing. His teachers were the CBS/SONY MUSIC artists he interacted with as he was hanging out with his father who currently represents that label in Florida. The footprints he used to form his style range from Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen to Bach and Beethoven. On his 12th birthday in Queens, New York, Heath received his first electric guitar and started taking lessons from several teachers with styles as diverse as rocker, Joe Satriani, and classicist, John Williams. By the time he was 14, these lessons, along with the hours of practice he devoted to his craft, brought him a summer long scholarship to the famous National Guitar Workshop in New Haven, Connecticut. At that time, Andrew York from the LA Guitar Quartet was the teacher in residence and provided Heath with valuable one-on-one lessons. A move from New York to Florida in 1994 brought him new mentors. Encouraged by his new guitar teacher, Joe Braccio, he continued with his musical education auditioning successfully on classical guitar for the Performing Arts High School in St. Petersburg. He wandered away from guitar the following year as the piano seemed to offer more diversity and range for writing and composing. Inspired by his new piano teacher Robert Winslow, the next year he auditioned on the piano...performing Bach, Beethoven and other piano solo's... Heath soon became the first double piano/guitar major in the history of the school.

By now, another artist became the template for his inspiration. Heath greatly admired Glenn Gould's eccentric performance style and attention to technique. Glenn Gould was a rocker in the classical world and at this moment it became obvious that pop music could be elevated through mathematically meticulous composition. After graduating from Gibbs Performing Arts High School in St. Petersburg, Heath moved North again to the Conservatory connected to the State University @ Purchase, New York.

Some of Heath's influences include Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, U2, Ben Folds, Blink 182, The Beatles, rachmaninoff, Chopin, Bach, Beethoven and a Plethora of styles from Classical to Rock and everything in between.

Please feel free to visit Heath on line at www.HeathLanz.com