SENECA — The piano isn’t just an instrument to Richard D. Shank, it’s also a psychologist. On Shank’s new solo disc, “A Single Step,” he turns depression and remorse into propulsive piano rock.

“The record is a snapshot of where I’ve been over the last five years,” Shank said.

While “A Single Step” recalls some famous piano men, the record packs more wallop than your average Elton John tune. Think Journey fronted by Billy Joel. The songs on “A Single Step” are built around keyboards, but guitars often dominate the mix.

Shank drew inspiration for the aesthetic from an unlikely source: Guns N’ Roses’ two “Use Your Illusion” albums. However, “A Single Step” sounds nothing like Axl and Slash.

“Everybody remembers ‘November Rain,’ but there were several tracks on those albums where piano and guitars worked well together,” Shank said. “I’ve always loved watching guitarists.”

For the shredding on “A Single Step,” Shank enlisted a trio of string-benders. Rick Lunsford brought big, ’80s rock riffs to the project. Handling a majority of the solos, Jeff Lawing employed an icy feel reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour. Meanwhile, Rick Wellman drew upon bluesmen like B.B. King.

The record begins with “Journey,” a Springsteen-esque rocker. After Shank counts off the number in **Boss-like fashion, the band brings it, E Street style. Amid the clamor, Shank belts out lyrics about hard roads and mistakes.

“Songwriting is definitely a release for me,” said Shank, who is based in Asheville, N.C. “It helps me put something into perspective and sometimes even understand what I’m feeling.”

Another key track — “If I Could ” — begins with meditative piano, a la Van Halen’s “Right Now.”

“That song is really an apology for the damage I’ve done,” Shank said.

A “series of bad decisions” cost Shank his first marriage and estranged him from his kids. This isn’t a “Behind The Music” cliché. According to Shank, his dark past doesn’t involve battles with booze or dope.

“The damage I did was more emotional. I’ve had to start my life over more than once,” Shank said. “But I’ve got some friends who told me at some point you’ve got to let go of what you’ve done and start living life.”

This isn’t to say “A Single Step” is a mope-fest. Shank, 37, is now happily remarried and playing shows across North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. A spirit of renewal shines in songs like “Journey” and “Believe.”

Indeed, Shank’s piano-guitar hybrid has been refined to a professional polish. But some of the best moments on “A Simple Step” occur when the pianist deviates from his reverb-drenched formula. “You” benefits from a ’60s pop arrangement and a floating trumpet break. The warm purr of Hammond organ spruces up “Where Do We Go” and “Lessons Learned.” For “Who Are You” Shank downsizes to coffee shop introspection.

If the album has a misstep, it’s a cover of Dwight Yoakam’s “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere.” Shank’s remake fails to capture the lonesome prairie ethos of the original.

“A Single Step” was recorded in small bursts over a year’s time at Echo Mountain Studio in Asheville.

”It’s phenomenal,” Shank said of Echo Mountain. “They took an old church and converted it into a studio. Their equipment’s a good balance between new technology and old.”

So while the band tracked to Pro Tools, they also had vintage amps and compressors at their disposal. Shank even broke out the studio’s funky Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric pianos.

Although “A Single Step” draws heavily from the music of Shank’s youth, there are also bits of modernism: The classical flourishes on “Standing” came from a fondness for Evanesence. Coldplay inspired the piano licks on “Who Are You.”

“In the ’90s, grunge kind of killed piano for a while,” Shank said. “Coldplay does a great job of taking the piano and making it the centerpiece and having the music move with it.”

Shank was raised in a home where only Christian music was allowed. However Shank got his fix of rebel yell on the school bus, where he basked in hair metal bombast.

“The first secular album that we had in the house was Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad.’ My brother snuck it in.” Shank said. “When it was discovered it was thrown away.”

Unlike many club-level acts, Shank configures his shows with flair. The evening is broken down into three sets. The first cycle features Shank playing “A Single Step” material with his full band. Next, Shank makes a stand with just his piano and voice. A looser, improvisation-oriented run closes the show.

The stripped-down second set allows Shank to introduce new tunes, like “Can’t Go Back,” which echoes Billy Joel’s “She’s Got Ways.”

“There’s greater intimacy in breaking a show down like that,” Shank said. “There are some songs that just work better like that.”

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**The Boss is a very well known nickname of Bruce Springsteen.