COLUMBUS, Ind. — Since musician Kevin Silva brought her back to life when she was all but gone and forgotten, he speaks of her with tender care, gentleness and even admiration.
“She’s still got a lot of songs in her,” he said.
Amazing, in a sense, perhaps, because she figures to be at least 104 years old, and Silva guesses her to have been a queen of sorts of the last of the silent movies. That especially makes sense when you hear her rollicking sound, almost like a festive calliope.
Because she’s a five-and-a-half-foot 1916 George Steck & Co. baby grand piano the Columbus native and Indianapolis resident rescued in 1999 (and later restored with help from others) from the city’s 131-year-old Crump Theatre. Silva, a longtime musician, was told it had been at the art deco venue for maybe 66 years.
And now it could become a key early instrument, if you will, in the Crump’s possible restoration. That’s because Silva is donating the proceeds from 100 copies of his latest $10 pop-rock album, “Ship of Fools,” to the Crump renovation. And the disc that prominently features the keyboard in 11 cuts — not to mention legendary artist and friend Rick Springfield on electric guitar on one song titled “Corner of My Dreams” — will be available soon at Viewpoint Books in downtown Columbus.
The $1,000 that the disc sales would generate possibly could cover the expense of needed, new marquee letters for main entrance messaging, according to Jessica Schnepp, a leader of the Save the Crump campaign.
“Any kind of positive spotlight that we can get is always fantastic,” Schnepp said. “At this point, that kind of attention seems to snowball each and every time. So, through his generosity and the connection with his amazing piano, it all forms another touchpoint for people. Each time we have something unique like this that helps, it draws in a new group interested in supporting things.”
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
