Friday, February 20, 2009
Ivory and beer will come together when The Barrel House, a new dueling piano bar, opens in Lawrence in March.
Twins Emily and Alex Akers, Prairie Village seniors, spoke with their business partner Danny Williams on New Year’s Day about opening the bar. It will be located at the corner of Seventh and New Hampshire streets, where Last Call used to reside.
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A dueling piano bar will open this spring in the place formerly occupied by Last Call downtown.
Now, construction and painting are under way, and the young entrepreneurs are looking for nine to 12 pianists to play at the bar.
“They obviously have to have a huge personality and can’t be shy,” Alex said. “And they have to know what they’re doing and how to get the audience involved.”
breakbox
Where: 7th and New Hampshire streets
Opening: Scheduled for March 26
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.
If you are interested in auditioning to be a musician then stop by the location
The dueling piano concept features two pianists sitting at pianos facing each other as they play song requests from the audience. Requests accompanied by tips go to the top of the list; the bigger the tip, the faster the song will get played.
“For the majority of dueling piano bars, there’s a list of about 300 songs the player has to know,” Alex said. “And we’d love for the players to know most of those.”
Last year, Emily went to a dueling piano bar in San Antonio during the Final Four, an experience which helped inspire the sisters’ business venture.
Fans from all four of the teams were there competing with tips to get their fight song played, Emily said.
“We think that every college town should have one, especially with Kansas and K-State and Mizzou all being so close and playing here,” Alex said. “The rivalry is just intense and to have basketball and football during that time and people in here, it’ll be a blast.”
Inside the bar there will be four V.I.P. balconies — two smaller and two larger — which will overlook the stage. Barrels will be placed all around the bar and the walls will be painted with red, black and some tan to give the bar an “old classy feel.”
Alex said the name Barrel House, which was what the clubs were referred to about 70 years ago, came from a family friend.
“Back in the 1930s and 1940s, they were underground jazz clubs and eventually in the night they would break out into improv piano music,” Alex said.
The money to get the Barrel House running came from three private investors and will be paid back, Alex said.
Twin sisters, Emily and Alex Akers, Prairie Village seniors, are opening up their own piano bar in downtown Lawrence. They hope to provide a classy atmosphere that welcomes more than just college students.
To ensure that Alex and Emily would have financial security, their dad made a rule that each of them has to find an additional job.
“I don’t know if that’s going to happen quite as early as he’d like,” Emily said. “My biggest worry I’ve had was finding a job after college — and it’s here.”
Wallace Meyer, director of entrepreneurship programs at the School of Business, said although starting a business is hard work, it can be rewarding for entrepreneurs to do what they love.
“You get to be your own boss, realize your dream and achieve financial independence,” Meyer said. “Plus, while it’s hard work, it’s a lot of fun.”
The Barrel House is scheduled to open March 26.
— — Edited by Justin Leverett
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Comments
Twin sisters to open dueling pianos bar
good luck girls!
Twin sisters to open dueling pianos bar
Great idea. Congradulations to these girls for introducing a new bar idea to Lawrence.
Piano bars are intensly fun.
Twin sisters to open dueling pianos bar
Let's all take a moment to remember all the fun times we had at Last Call over the years.
Yikes. And we're done.
I'm excited for this place! I hope you can pull it off!
Twin sisters to open dueling pianos bar
Worst. Idea. Ever. (I'm there.)
Twin sisters to open dueling pianos bar
I love this. I am going to do whatever it takes to make sure this bar becomes a wild success! The nearest bar that emulates this concept is in Kansas City. Lawrence needs one!
Twin sisters to open dueling pianos bar
not an original idea, trust fund babies get bored with their money. its fun about once a year, the piano players only know a few select songs, they play the songs they want you to hear, lawrence has way better bars and things to do. i think its funny how it used to be a black bar(tremors) and now its a white bar. here is an original idea, dueling banjos bar there are plenty of goddamn rednecks in kansas.
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