‘A short and significant relationship’: How a piano in a pickup builds connections

By Matt Villano, CNN

Las Vegas (CNN) — Dozens of internationally renowned recording artists give concerts in Vegas every year, but the musician who connects best with people might be a local troubadour who improvises on a piano in the back of his pickup.

The maestro, Danny Kean, calls his setup The Traveling Piano, and he has traversed North America sharing music for nearly 20 years.

Kean’s home base is Las Vegas now, and every time he plays, he invites passersby to climb aboard the truck and tickle the ivory for themselves. Even if people are shy or say they can’t do it, Kean usually convinces them to give it a try, inspiring total strangers to express themselves through the common language of music.

He estimates more than 100,000 people have played his piano since 2006.

For most of these impromptu virtuosos, the experience is cathartic — many of them step down from the truck in tears. For Kean, 69, the encounters nourish his soul.

“I enjoy sharing my music with others, but I enjoy having others share theirs with me just as much,” he said. “My goal is to connect with others by creating a short and significant relationship. Music is a great facilitator for that in every way and on every level.”

Kean does not accept fees or tips for these musical awakenings, giving away time and energy for nothing in return. He practices philanthropy in other ways, too, providing food and other necessities for the burgeoning population of unhoused individuals in downtown Las Vegas and around the Las Vegas Valley.

“I love the idea of strangers becoming less afraid of each other,” he said. “This love for humanity drives me to keep doing good.”

A new perspective on life

Kean has been playing music for most of his life and as a professional since he was 15. The Philadelphia native with a friendly face got his start as a church organist and went on to a career as a society pianist playing private events throughout the Northeast.

In 1987, he wanted a change. Kean purchased a red Toyota pickup and tricked it out with an upright piano in the back. He added an amplifier and nicknamed the resulting vehicle “Raggin’ Piano Boogie.” He booked gigs across Western Pennsylvania performing mostly ragtime and boogie-woogie music.

Almost immediately, Kean’s personal slogan became, “Bringing the Beat to the Streets.” And that’s exactly what he did.

Eventually Kean renamed his truck The Traveling Piano, and he started playing for free.

After Hurricane Katrina, in 2006, he drove to New Orleans to uplift the community with music, kicking off his years of crisscrossing the country to share music. The following year, he headed to Blacksburg, Virginia, to play music after a mass shooting at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

In both places, Kean marveled at how his music and the opportunity for people to play music seemed to help the communities heal.

“The music moved people to their core,” he said. “It really was incredible to see.”

Inspired by this impact, Kean leaned into his new endeavor completely. He sold his house. He gave away most of his possessions. He packed up his dog, Bo. Then he set out to share music on an even broader scale.

In the years that followed, Kean used the proceeds from his home sale to fund road trips to Canada, Mexico, Alaska and just about everywhere in between.

He put more than 250,000 miles on the truck. He also kept an extensive blog of his adventures, complete with photos of most of the strangers who have played his piano along the way.

Serving his community

By the time Kean arrived in Las Vegas in 2016, he was nearly broke. He found a cheap hotel room, and later signed the lease on a modest apartment near the Arts District.

With this as a home base, Kean has continued The Traveling Piano in and around town. He finds different places to play as the spirit moves him — in Downtown Las Vegas, in local neighborhoods, even sometimes at some of the parks and conservation areas that ring the Las Vegas Valley.

Whenever he starts playing, his new dog, Mo, jumps up and sits on top of the piano, and people gather to listen. Kean invites everyone to come up in the truck and play.

Spending so much time out and about in Downtown Las Vegas, Kean has had a front-row seat to the growing numbers of unhoused individuals around town.

Rather than judge these people, he serves them. Every month, Kean earmarks some of his limited financial resources to spend on food and water for those experiencing homelessness. This past Halloween, he went all-out, handing out cheese puffs, marshmallows and apple cider.

Kean always distributes the items with the help of other local volunteers.

Trudy Para-Killman, founder and executive director of The Compassion Initiative of Las Vegas, has worked with him for almost a decade and said she has been blown away by his compassion.

“Many of our homeless are in dark places, and [Kean’s] music helps lift them up,” she said. “He’s good people. You just don’t find that kind of genuine person anymore.”

What’s next

After decades of never knowing where The Traveling Piano will go next, Kean is finally settling down.

Kean recently began playing on the patio in front of the Hola Habibi beer tap room and hookah lounge in the Arts District. He will use the space as a home base for his own version of a Las Vegas musical residency.

The plan, as of this article’s publication, was for him to play five 20-minute sets, five times a week.

Jose Borquez, who owns Hola Habibi, said he was “delighted” to support Kean after everything Kean has done to support their neighbors in and around the Arts District.

“He’s a very recognizable character, with his red truck, his piano, and his dog on top,” he said. “Knowing that he has gone [hundreds of] thousands of miles to spread love and does it with no expectation of financial gain — it’s moving to hear that he does it on faith alone.”

Kean said he hopes the new arrangement will raise his profile and attract interest from those who may wish to support his philanthropic efforts. He added that the setup will include a gallery of photographs from his travels, and he will sell these to raise money to defray Mo’s veterinary bills and rebuild the truck.

Throughout the residency, the man behind The Traveling Piano will continue doing what he does best: connecting with other people through music.

“I think the closest anyone has ever come to explaining the situation is that I am a space-holder for others, that I become a safe haven in spirit for them to explore themselves,” he said.

“It’s about giving. It’s about sharing. I don’t ever want to own the experiences I have just for myself; what a lonely existence that would be.”

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