Billy Joel sang it famously, but a few musicians at Lucille's Rockin' Pianos, 1110 N. Old World Third St., might be willing to duel for the title of Milwaukee's piano man.
"Piano Man" recounts Joel's early career as a lounge singer, but at Lucille's, the wide-ranging piano players are willing to play anything -- from Joel to Justin Timberlake.
"It's a dueling piano show. What that means is we have two entertainers on stage, and it's an all-request show … we don't have anything set when we walk up there," says Peter Hernet, Lucille's entertainment director. "We show up every day and we play what the audience wants to hear. They can pull out anything from A to Z, from ABBA to ZZ Top, girl bands, boy bands."
The show is audience driven, with request sheets spread all over the bar.
"(The audience can request) just about anything," says Hernet. "If we don't know it, we fake it, but we address every request. We play what people want to hear. There's no agenda from any of us."
That said, co-owner Ted Oliver is quick to note that the word "rockin'" is in the name of the bar, so try not to request anything that'll put the bar to sleep.
"We play, the crowd likes to sing along, clap along, dance along and laugh along," Oliver says.
But playing requests is only one side to Lucille's. They also do a lot of dedications.
"People come here for their birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and bachelor parties, and we sing them a humorous song," Hernet says. "We just celebrate that day with them."
The idea for Lucille's came from the collaboration of Oliver and Brian Bernier.
"I have been doing this type of show for over 15 years. I met Brian, I guess around 2001 or so, and he came up and saw me perform at a club up in Green Bay. It was just a portable thing, two keyboards and a PA speaker," says Oliver. "He saw how we worked off the crowd. We decided in 2003 to actually go ahead and move forward with opening up Lucille's. Brian wanted to get in the bar business, I was already in it, and we put our heads together and came up with Lucille's."
Oliver had a few cities in mind for the bar's location, but Bernier was set on Milwaukee. Now, the bar is hopping Wednesday through Saturday.
Hernet and Rome, another of Lucille's piano players, joined the group not too long after the opening in 2004.
"I lived in Milwaukee, and I answered an ad that was put in the paper. I played at a dueling piano bar in Milwaukee at one point that didn't make it," Hernet says. "So I answered the ad, got an interview and I've been here since pretty much about the beginning."
Rome didn't start out as a piano player -- he started out as one of Lucille's waiters.
"I really liked the show that they were doing. I asked Ted if I could sing a song a night and he let me audition," he says. "I started singing one or two songs a night and I went to him and asked if I could be one of the piano players."
Oliver, Hernet and Rome, along with Wes Vokes, play on a schedule Wednesday through Sunday, but also get together for a rehearsal once a week.
"We rehearse our four-ways harmony parts, go over the show, talk about the show and, like anything, it needs up keep," Oliver says. "It's basically to keep the act fresh and grow as a team."
Hernet says the focus is really on the "four ways," when all four piano players are on stage.
"There are two people on the stage an hour and then it switches to another group of two guys," he says. "When we're all on stage, we all sing a song together that uses all of our talents, one person on the drum machine, two plays pianos, one playing tambourine and singing."
Some of the group's favorite songs to play together include "Conga," "Fat Bottom Girls," "Any Way You Want It," "Signs" and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." But there are a few that are less than desirable, like "I Will Survive" or "Dancing Queen."
"We really don't have a favorite song. Our favorite song to play is what people request," Hernet says. "I'm not up there to play songs I want to play, he's not up there to play songs he wants to play, we're up there to play what the audience wants to play."
So Oliver says that if the audience goes nuts for "Dancing Queen," they enjoy it, too.
"It's not even so much that we play the pianos or we play the song, but what we're playing is the audience," Rome says. "Ted told me once to consider them a pipe organ where they are singing and each audience member hits its own note."
And the audience is diverse, being an all-ages show. As Hernet says, Lucille's caters to everyone from 21 to 70.
"It's totally different from any other place you have around here. There's a lot of DJ bars in Milwaukee and a lot of small stop bars," Hernet says.
"This is one place you're going to get a different show every night depending on what you want to hear. It's a live show. It's unpredictable, you come in and don't know what's going to happen. There's a fresh scene, where there's the same thing at a lot of bars, and you're being entertained."
"Piano Man" recounts Joel's early career as a lounge singer, but at Lucille's, the wide-ranging piano players are willing to play anything -- from Joel to Justin Timberlake.
"It's a dueling piano show. What that means is we have two entertainers on stage, and it's an all-request show … we don't have anything set when we walk up there," says Peter Hernet, Lucille's entertainment director. "We show up every day and we play what the audience wants to hear. They can pull out anything from A to Z, from ABBA to ZZ Top, girl bands, boy bands."
The show is audience driven, with request sheets spread all over the bar.
"(The audience can request) just about anything," says Hernet. "If we don't know it, we fake it, but we address every request. We play what people want to hear. There's no agenda from any of us."
That said, co-owner Ted Oliver is quick to note that the word "rockin'" is in the name of the bar, so try not to request anything that'll put the bar to sleep.
"We play, the crowd likes to sing along, clap along, dance along and laugh along," Oliver says.
But playing requests is only one side to Lucille's. They also do a lot of dedications.
"People come here for their birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and bachelor parties, and we sing them a humorous song," Hernet says. "We just celebrate that day with them."
The idea for Lucille's came from the collaboration of Oliver and Brian Bernier.
"I have been doing this type of show for over 15 years. I met Brian, I guess around 2001 or so, and he came up and saw me perform at a club up in Green Bay. It was just a portable thing, two keyboards and a PA speaker," says Oliver. "He saw how we worked off the crowd. We decided in 2003 to actually go ahead and move forward with opening up Lucille's. Brian wanted to get in the bar business, I was already in it, and we put our heads together and came up with Lucille's."
Oliver had a few cities in mind for the bar's location, but Bernier was set on Milwaukee. Now, the bar is hopping Wednesday through Saturday.
Hernet and Rome, another of Lucille's piano players, joined the group not too long after the opening in 2004.
"I lived in Milwaukee, and I answered an ad that was put in the paper. I played at a dueling piano bar in Milwaukee at one point that didn't make it," Hernet says. "So I answered the ad, got an interview and I've been here since pretty much about the beginning."
Rome didn't start out as a piano player -- he started out as one of Lucille's waiters.
"I really liked the show that they were doing. I asked Ted if I could sing a song a night and he let me audition," he says. "I started singing one or two songs a night and I went to him and asked if I could be one of the piano players."
Oliver, Hernet and Rome, along with Wes Vokes, play on a schedule Wednesday through Sunday, but also get together for a rehearsal once a week.
"We rehearse our four-ways harmony parts, go over the show, talk about the show and, like anything, it needs up keep," Oliver says. "It's basically to keep the act fresh and grow as a team."
Hernet says the focus is really on the "four ways," when all four piano players are on stage.
"There are two people on the stage an hour and then it switches to another group of two guys," he says. "When we're all on stage, we all sing a song together that uses all of our talents, one person on the drum machine, two plays pianos, one playing tambourine and singing."
Some of the group's favorite songs to play together include "Conga," "Fat Bottom Girls," "Any Way You Want It," "Signs" and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." But there are a few that are less than desirable, like "I Will Survive" or "Dancing Queen."
"We really don't have a favorite song. Our favorite song to play is what people request," Hernet says. "I'm not up there to play songs I want to play, he's not up there to play songs he wants to play, we're up there to play what the audience wants to play."
So Oliver says that if the audience goes nuts for "Dancing Queen," they enjoy it, too.
"It's not even so much that we play the pianos or we play the song, but what we're playing is the audience," Rome says. "Ted told me once to consider them a pipe organ where they are singing and each audience member hits its own note."
And the audience is diverse, being an all-ages show. As Hernet says, Lucille's caters to everyone from 21 to 70.
"It's totally different from any other place you have around here. There's a lot of DJ bars in Milwaukee and a lot of small stop bars," Hernet says.
"This is one place you're going to get a different show every night depending on what you want to hear. It's a live show. It's unpredictable, you come in and don't know what's going to happen. There's a fresh scene, where there's the same thing at a lot of bars, and you're being entertained."
Originally from Des Plaines, Ill., Heather moved to Milwaukee to earn a B.A. in journalism from Marquette University. With a tongue-twisting last name like Leszczewicz, it's best to go into a career where people don't need to say your name often.
However, she's still sticking to some of her Illinoisan ways (she won't reform when it comes to things like pop, water fountain or ATM), though she's grown to enjoy her time in the Brew City.
Although her journalism career is still budding, Heather has had the chance for some once-in-a-lifetime interviews with celebrities like actor Vince Vaughn and actress Charlize Theron, director Cameron Crowe and singers Ben Kweller and Isaac Hanson of '90s brother boy band Hanson.
Heather's a self-proclaimed workaholic but loves her entertainment. She's a real television and movie fanatic, book nerd, music junkie, coffee addict and pop culture aficionado.
