An Interview by Joe Cosentino with Audio Book Performer Brian Cheney
Joe: Brian, congratulations on the release of our audio book of The Player, Player Piano Mysteries Book 1!
Brian: You’re playing my song (smile).
Joe: I wrote 18 Nicky and Noah mysteries and 5 Jana Lane mysteries, but The Player is my first paranormal mystery.
Brian: So you are a ghost virgin.
Joe: Good one. You have performed the audio books of my last eight Nicky and Noah mysteries and many of my books published by Dreamspinner Press. What led you to perform the audio book of my The Player?
Brian: You and Dreamspinner Press asked me! I love being your narrator, Joe!
Joe: The Player is two stories for the price of one, a humorous, romantic, and captivating mystery about Andre, a young grade school music teacher, visited via a player piano by the ghost of a sexy and wealthy Roaring Twenties playboy, Freddy Birtwhistle. As the two solve murder mysteries, they fall happily in love, bridging the ghostly world with the conscious world. Did you relate to this story on a personal level?
Brian: As a singer I have studied many songs from different eras with varying styles, and the old songs in the era of this book are so great! What made narrating this so much fun for me was that I got to sing so many of the song titles I’ve performed and loved over the years!
Joe: When The Player was released as an e-book and paperback, readers fell in love with Freddy and Andre and had great fun trying to solve the two murder mysteries. How did you balance the romance, humor, pathos, and mystery when performing the audio book?
Brian: The element of a ghostly partnership was so fun with Freddy being from the Roaring Twenties no less! But, as always, your wonderful writing makes it easy and fun to balance all of those elements in narration.
Joe: You are an incredibly talented actor, opera singer, and audio book performer. You seem to have a hundred different voices in you! How did you come up with the diverse and entertaining voices for the characters in The Player?
Brian: Again, you made it easy! The way you write for your characters, as well as how you describe them in the book, lights up my imagination, and the voices just come!
Joe: Which was your favorite character to perform?
Brian: Freddy. He’s the bee’s knees! (smile)
Joe: Which character was the most difficult to perform?
Brian: Freddy! I wanted to find a mid-Atlantic, affected voice that wasn’t modern. I’m happy with the voice I landed on for him.
Joe: What was it like creating the character of a ghost, and a sexy ghost at that!
Brian: Otherworldly! (smile) I can’t wait for people to listen!
Joe: Thank you, Brian. I’m looking forward to our next collaboration! We can let the ghost out of the piano. Up next is the audio book of The Player’s Encore, Player Piano Mysteries Book 2!
Brian: It’s the berries!
Release of the Audio Book of The Player, Player Piano Mysteries Book 1, Performed by Brian Cheney
by Joe Cosentino, published by Dreamspinner Press
E-book and Paperback and Audio book: 76,923 words, 262 pages, & 6 hours
Language: English
Genre: MM, contemporary, mystery, comedy, romance, paranormal
Cover Art: Anna Sikorska
Release date: September 15, 2020 & April 9, 2025
When young music teacher Andre Beaufort discovers an antique player piano in the basement of his apartment building, he is visited by the ghost of the original owner: a dapper and charismatic playboy from the Roaring Twenties, Freddy Birtwistle.
Andre has never seen a ghost and Freddy has never been one, so they get off to a rocky start. But when Andre finds his neighbor murdered on his doorstep, he and Freddy join forces to narrow the pool of suspects.
Soon Andre and Freddy discover that opposites attract, even if one’s alive and the other dead. Together these amateur detectives make an enticing team, and it’s a good thing too, because the first murder they solve together won’t be their last. But the real mystery isn’t just whodunit—it’s how a romance between a man and a ghost can have a happily ever after ending.
The Player contains two stand-alone cozy murder mysteries, The City House and The Country House.
Joe Cosentino was voted Favorite MM Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Author of the Year and Second Place Favorite MM Romance Author of the Year by the readers of Divine Magazine. His Dreamspinner Press titles are the In My Heart Anthology: An Infatuation & A Shooting Star, the Tales from Fairyland Anthology: The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland & Holiday Tales from Fairyland, the Bobby and Paolo Holiday Stories Anthology: A Home for the Holidays & The Perfect Gift & The First Noel, the Found At Last Anthology: Finding Giorgio & Finding Armando, and the two Player Piano mysteries. He is also the author of the 18 Nicky and Noah mysteries, 5 Jana Lane mysteries (The Wild Rose Press), and 5 Cozzi Cove novels (Ninestar Press). His books have won numerous Book of the Month awards and Rainbow Award Honorable Mentions. As an actor, Joe appeared in principal roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Jason Robards, and Holland Taylor. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Goddard College, Master’s degree from SUNY New Paltz, and is a happily married emeritus theatre professor residing in New York State.
Web site: https://joecosentino.weebly.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JoeCosentinoauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4071647.Joe_Cosentino
Amazon: Author.to/JoeCosentino
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joecosentinoauthor
Brian Cheney, hailed by KUSC Los Angeles as the “next great tenor”, protégé of legendary tenor Jerry Hadley, has gained international acclaim for his portrayal of characters such as Radamés in Aida, Don José in Carmen, Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca, Rodolfo in La bohème, the Duke in Rigoletto, and Canio in Pagliacci. “It is tenor Brian Cheney as the brave painter Cavaradossi who really blew me away. Cheney has that terrific tenor sound: the power, richness, and vocal color of a high baritone combined with ringing, awe-inspiring high notes” (Stage and Cinema.) Highlights from last season include Mr. Cheney’s creation of the role of Victor Frankenstein in the world premiere performance of Gregg Kallor’s Frankenstein in New York to critical acclaim and his National Philharmonic debut as the tenor soloist in Leonard Bernstein’s Mass and West Side Story. “Cheney’s ringing tenor voice carried well in the stone catacombs, conveying the fear that the deep bass sound of the monster summoned. And as the section of the sketches went on, Cheney’s voice bloomed to match the action and threats of the creature.” (Operawire) Recent engagements include Radamés in Aida with Virginia Opera, Antonin Scalia in Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg with Toledo Opera, and Salute to Vienna performances in Miami, West Palm Beach, Nashville, and New York City (Lincoln Center). In audio books, Mr. Cheney performed eight of Joe Cosentino’s Nicky and Noah Mystery novels, many of Joe Cosentino’s books published by Dreamspinner Press, All the King’s Men by Scott Leddy, Swarm by Guy Morris, The Last Ark by Guy Morris, and Pressure by Barry Napier. www.briancheneytenor.com
