Dueling dueling piano bars

The former Cleaves Temple church near the corner of East Carson and 10th streets has been reincarnated. Again.

But it's not a hex or a curse that's led to three establishments at the site in less than three years, just a matter of finding the right business theme to fit in with the South Side's ubiquitous watering holes.

Enter Charlie Murdoch's, the area's second dueling piano bar. The well-worn concept pits two pianists playing one song against each other for audience admiration. Full crowd participation, including sing-alongs, usually is expected.

Nightclub gurus Chad Hardy, John Haas and Greg Novak bought the building in August, and always intended to turn it into a dueling piano bar, Hardy says. The trio is responsible for local hot spots such as Banana Joe's, Metropol and The Boardwalk.

But they weren't quite ready to roll when the property -- most recently the home of Halo nightclub -- became available, Hardy says. So for just less than three months, they operated the soon-to-be piano bar as The Switch.

"I was working at Diesel at the time, and I thought it would take six months to a year to get a piano bar up and running," Hardy says.

Then, on Thanksgiving weekend, with four local pianists on board, Charlie Murdoch's opened. The name comes from a fabled West Virginia bootlegger.

But the opening wasn't without a little behind-the-scenes drama. Two of the four pianists, Pete Moran and Joey Granati, came to Charlie Murdoch's after long-running gigs at Sing Sing, the dueling piano bar in Homestead that celebrated its fifth anniversary in April. They previously worked the stage at Pittsburgh's first dueling piano bar, Jellyrolls in Station Square, which closed before Sing Sing opened.

"Whenever someone leaves like that, sure, it's always a little uncomfortable," says Sing Sing's marketing director Kelli Gaghan.

In the long run, the abrupt staff changes will help keep the act at Sing Sing fresh, says entertainment manager Karl Bailey.

"I had the same team for over three years, and that's really rare in this business -- people do move around a lot," says Bailey, who also performs at the Waterfront club. "Everyone gets caught in a rut, and the best way to change the show and take it in a new direction is to bring new people in."

Playing standards like Billy Joel's "Piano Man" doesn't get old, Bailey says, because he loves playing so much.

"The crowd reacts differently every time," he says. "One night, a month ago, we had a packed house, and when I started 'Piano Man,' they sang the whole song. You never know what you're going to get."

On Saturday night, potential new pianist Michael Tuten worked the Sing Sing crowd with Bailey, dancing atop the back-to-back pianos to Steve Miller's "The Joker" in a gyrating performance definitely suited for an 18-and-older crowd.

The dueling piano bar concept has become so popular, Moran thinks it's left a lot of venues with performers who don't have the background or experience of a piano player.

"It's almost like there's two schools of thought," says the self-taught Moran. "Some people are not too worried about technique. They're not piano players first. I think it's important to really know how to play the piano. The audience can tell the difference."

Moran did his best to work a sparse Wednesday-night crowd at Charlie Murdoch's, offering some comedy stylings as well as a few crowd-pleasers, but didn't get much love from the audience.

Things heated up when Granati joined him onstage. Moran switched to the bass guitar and did a cover of the Guns 'N Roses song "November Rain."

Hardy thinks the dueling piano bar will do well on the South Side, because it's got a little something different from the other bars on East Carson.

"South Side bars either try to be Jack's or Casey's," he says. "There's not much in between. We're trying for a different clientele, a little older; the crowd that doesn't necessarily go out drinking every weekend, but wants to try something fun and different."

Additional Information:

Details

Charlie Murdoch's Dueling Piano Bar

Where: 1005 E. Carson St., South Side Hours: 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m. daily. Dueling pianos begin at 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays

Sing Sing Dueling Pianos

Where: 171 E. Bridge St., The Waterfront, Homestead Hours: Open 6 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays. Dueling pianos begin at 8 p.m.