While many may know Nashville as the capital of country music, they may not have to look very far to hear some great musicians. Southern Illinois is home to many different country artists and performances, with one being the dueling pianos show.
This event is in Anna Illinois and is performed by Steve Hornbeak and Eric Massey, two local musicians. They play many iconic songs for the audience to enjoy while adding in a twist. Hornbeak and Massey say audience engagement is what makes the shows entertaining.
“We try to play songs that people enjoy singing along. So people don’t have to be quiet, we want them to sing because the more they react, the more fun they have” Hornbeak says.
Audience members can not only give requests but they can drink and send up drinks for the performers to have.
“The more they drink, the better they think we are and the better we sound” Hornbeak and Massey say.
Audience engagement may be what the two performers want but sometimes it can bring unexpected outcomes. Massey says at one of the shows, a woman partied a little too hard and broke one of their pianos.
“Some girl came up there and slammed a 50 dollar bill down and said ‘Stop playing this song and do this one’ and we said absolutely. In my peripheral vision I saw something coming this way and she couldn’t stop herself and goes bam. So with the piano broke, we broke the legs off and slid a table under it and we played the song from where we left off” Massey says.
While the dueling pianos bring in a big crowd, it is not the only local show they put on. Both Massey and Hornbeak perform in a show called the Southern Illinois Opry to raise money for kids in the area.
“We set up scholarships for all the four high schools in Union County and we also donate to shop with the cops, shop with the fireman, and shop with the hero at Christmas time. We have done really well with it and this is only our second year” Hornbeak says.
The Southern Illinois Opry has raised nearly 10 thousand dollars over the last two years for union county. Hornbeak has also raised money with his band out of Nashville, Six Wire, for over a decade.
“We’ve kind of carved a niche for ourselves that has lasted a lot of years now and we’re still doing it about 70 dates a year. We do a lot of St Jude events and have helped raise over 30 million dollars over the last 10 years through the events that we do” Hornbeak says.
Before he could start doing great things with his music, he had to start small by playing in local bars in his early twenties.
“I played in local bands here and moved to Florida when I was 20. Then when I was 25 I met Lee Greenwood who is famous for god bless the USA. He was on tour and staying at a hotel I was playing at. I met him and he happened to be needing a new keyboard player so I happened to be in the right place at the right time” Hornbeak says.
This opportunity would give him the chance to tour with artists such as Faith Hill and Richard Marx and be the band on the tv show Nashville. Hornbeak says being the band for so many big artists has garnered them a bit of a reputation that has opened a lot of doors for them.
“Everybody knew that we had played with a lot of big artists, so, if there is ever a multi act event, like the Nashville grand prix, we are the house band that backs everybody from Mötley Crüe to Brooks & Dunn” Hornbeak says.
He has had a long and prosperous career, but Hornbeak says the industry may be aging him out in the coming future.
“Six Wire, we are all in our 60’s now and we have all been doing it so long that we have a great reputation and we do all these multi acts but if that slowed down there are not going to be a lot of these young guys that’s gonna want grandpa in their band” Hornbeak says.
While his touring may come to an end, Hornbeak still has a lot of ambitions for music in Southern Illinois.
“My whole goal is that when I slow down on my touring, I would love for both the dueling piano and the Southern Illinois Opry to become a bigger local draw for tourism. I would love to see charter buses of people that come in and go out to dinner at one of the restaurants downtown in Anna and come see a show. We could do a Friday and Saturday night and make it a real big deal” Hornbeak says.
Hornbeak is always looking for ways to continue his musical endeavors even beyond retirement but he also has some tips for people who may want to join the industry. He advises young players to learn the music that came before them.
“If you try to mimic what they did you realize how challenging it is and how hard it is to learn because they were all really great players. You learn something from every song you learn to play and it will make you a better player” Hornbeak says.
This is something Hornbeak has done his entire career and it has led to him touring for 35 years and being a spearhead of musical growth in Southern Illinois.