Golden is also a Piano Practitioner
Excerpts from articles by Stephen Anderson/ISBA News and Kim Mikus/The Daily Herald

A talented pianist who performs with the Elgin Community College Jazz Ensemble, Golden was inspired as a child by the stride piano stylings of his father, Kewanee podiatrist Hayden Golden.

He started on lessons and recitals at age 4, and learned how to play the trombone and arrange band numbers as a freshman at Weathersfield High School.

During Golden's undergraduate years at Drake University, he played piano in local clubs, and acted in variety shows and summer theatre. During the summers he played at Nippersink Resort for $125 a week plus room and board.

A 1968 Drake law graduate, Golden was admitted to the Iowa Bar. He was working for an insurance company while waiting to take the Illinois bar exam, when a talent scout heard a demonstration record he cut with a singer friend. That lead to his being a house pianist at Playboy Clubs in Chicago and Lake Geneva during 1968 and 1969.

With the Elgin Community College Jazz Ensemble, Golden has been appearing with various nationally known guest artists, including a recent performance with Arturo Sandoval.

"I need music to nourish my soul," he said