Q&A: Foreigner's Michael Bluestein talks about love for music, collaborations

For Foreigner keyboardist Michael Bluestein, collaborating with people and creating music is one of his favorite parts of being in the industry.

"When you collaborate with people and you jam together, it's like you get something even bigger and better than yourself," he said.

Bluestein joined the band in 2008, decades after its start. The band was founded in New York City in 1976 by veteran guitarist and songwriter Mick Jones, guitarist Ian Mcdonald, singer Lou Gramm, keyboardist Al Greenwood and bassist Ed Gagliardi.

They released their first studio album, "Foreigner" in March 977 and it stayed in the top 20 for a year, reaching number four at its peak. The band is mostly known for its 1984 ballad hit "I Want to Know What Love Is," which topped the charts in the U.S.

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Now, Jones is the only original member still in the band. He's joined by singer Kelly Hansen, bassist Jeff Pilson, Bluestein, guitarist Bruce Watson, drummer Chris Frazier and guitarist Luis Maldonado.

Foreigner has accumulated over 80 million record sales, 37.5 million in the U.S., 15 million audio and visual streams weekly, and inclusion in popular TV shows such as "Good Boys" and "Stranger Things."

As part of their 100-show tour, fans of the Evansville show can look forward to listening to the classics.

"The focus really has been on presenting the catalog of hits in a great way and continuing to fine-tune that inthe performance and delivery of all the classic songs" Bluestein said.

The Courier & Press had the opportunity to speak with Bluestein ahead of the band's show Wednesday night at Ford Center.

What made you choose the piano?

It was just fate in a way or serendipity. In the house that we bought in Massachusetts, the previous owners had moved everything out except for an old, upright piano and it came with the house. I just kind of would gravitate toward it and I was kind of curious about it and tinkering around and pretty soon figured out that I could figure out melodies on there. And that was sort of an intuitive thing.

My mom has always been into the arts and music, as she's a visual artist and a writer herself. So she loves creativepursuits and when she saw that interested me, she really wanted to nurture it and got me the lessons and everything I needed. And that's just how it started.

What made you go into music?

I just always loved it. And I did study it and had private lessons when I was younger in grade school and high school, and I went to Berklee College of Music and studied music, where I did more of a jazz program. I was still doing some classical there, but it was more on the jazz side of things. I was always into songwriting andcomposing and just kind of stuck with it.

And I guess, I was always conscious of being versatile and being able to play all the different styles of music which allowed me to get hired by a lot of different people − everything from jazz groups to top 40 kinds of current pop stuff to R&B and soul to Brazilian music. I was always like, 'OK, let me just learn how to do it all so I could actuallywork and make a living at this."

Just by that versatility, I just kind of let it take me where the opportunities were. And then eventually ended up in the rock world with this touring gig in this band, which I've been in for 15 years now.

How did you get the opportunity to join Foreigner?

I was recommended. In show business, many say it's not what you know, but who you know. I think you have to know what you're doing, too, but it does help to know people and have connections and have people aware of what your abilities are and who you are.

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So I was at an annual music convention in Anaheim, California called NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants which happens every year. And I ran into an old friend and somebody I'd worked with before, who was actually playing keyboards in the band. But he needed to leave and told the guys that he would help find them a replacement. And so we ran into each other and a light bulb went off for him. And he said, "You know, I think you'd be good for this band. Do you want to come in and audition?" So that's how it happened.

How has your music changed since joining Foreigner?

We've done close to, or more than 100 shows a year, all these years. So it's made my time limited as far as other projects, but in a way, it's allowed me to really focus when I do have some time off and when we do have thebreak.

So I'm always in my home studio and do a lot of projects, produce for other artists, and do studio work for other people's projects. And I've done a lot of composing for TV and get a lot of tracks that are out there percolating that are used in different TV shows and stuff.

I am really into guitar as well. So the last couple of years, I've been really practicing and developing my guitar playing a lot when we're on the road and have a lot of time in hotel rooms. So I get a lot of downtime during the day to just get lost and practice a lot of guitar and just play a lot.

How has the band been able to connect with fans of all generations?

We're playing tunes that came out in the late 70s, and 80s, and a lot of people in their 20s and 30s were growing up listening to this stuff as their parents were playing it all the time. I think that that's the cool thing about music is that it just gets passed on through the generations. Everyone's got their favorite stuff that they grew up with that's really near and dear to them close to their heart. And so then they have kids, and they want to share that with their kids. That's a beautiful thing.

What is your favorite Foreigner song?

"Long, Long Way from Home."

Do you have a favorite artist you have worked with?

While living in San Francisco, during the late 90s, a band that I was in got to open for classic Jazz artist Herbie Hancock and we got to meet him and that was pretty amazing. The band has been amazing and I got to play with Roger Hodgson of Supertramp, which was awesome.

What advice do you have for anyone seriously pursuing music?

Practice and learn your craft, do as well as you can, and put in the time to be excellent at it. Whatever it is you're doing, put your whole heart and soul into it. Learn everything about what all the greats did before you and study them. Do what moves you and don't try and follow the trends.

Don't get too caught up and try to guess what is going to be successful, but actually focus on the things that move you and make you excited about music, because that's what's going to resonate with people.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Q&A: Rock band Foreigner set to preform classic hits on Wednesday