Keith Allen Bio

Keith Allen began to play piano at the age of 3 and after years of playing for family and friends at home, church and school functions, he found himself with a full time job playing piano at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor in his hometown of Melbourne, Florida at the age of 16. From there Keith moved on to New Orleans where he played venues ranging from Turci’s Restaurante, an uptown Garden District eatery to Menefee’s, a trendy French Quarter hot spot. After leaving New Orleans he made a stop in Mobile, Alabama for a few months where Freddie’s Supper Club was the spot to catch his show.  Then it was back to Florida where eventually Orlando became home base.  Shortly after settling in Orlando, Keith’s cruise ship career got started. Over the years he has performed on more than 120 cruises to the Caribbean and Bermuda. In 1990 the opportunity to join a popular show band called Clutch arose and Keith jumped at the chance to tour with this rock and roll revue for a year. This was a great learning experience and helped set the stage for the next big thing in his career, Dueling Pianos.

In 1993 a new and exciting entertainment concept came to Orlando in the form of a club called Howl at the Moon Saloon. Keith had never heard of or seen the dueling piano concept before, but at the urging of several friends decided to see what the buzz was all about. What he found was an outrageously fun and rowdy rock and roll sing along format largely based on requests from the audience and quick witted repartee from the performers. Here were two very talented piano players sitting at two grand pianos having a ball and taking the crowd along for the ride. How could a gig be any better? Soon after beginning at Howl at the Moon the answer to that question arrived in a club called Blazing Pianos opened by the parent company of Hard Rock Café. This was an all out rock show spectacular with three concert grand pianos and a million dollar light and sound system. Keith joined the cast of Blazing Pianos shortly after the club opened. The Blazing show was like a rock concert every night with the audience fully involved in the magic. He had the privilege of performing with several of the most talented guys in the business, many of whom you can currently find playing in dueling pianos clubs from Florida to Las Vegas and beyond.

While things were heating up at Blazing Pianos, the dueling pianos concept itself was becoming increasingly popular all over the country. Dueling Pianos clubs began popping up in major cities across the land and in smaller markets as well. Keith saw this as an opportunity to help spread the concept and to get out and travel again. So, having a couple years of dueling experience under his belt, he struck out as one of the nation’s first free lance dueling pianos players. As a free lance player he has had the opportunity to play all over the United States and work with dozens of talented performers.

In addition to performing at corporate and private events, Mr. Allen is currently the Entertainment Director of Blazin’ Pianos at DJ’s Dugout in Omaha, Nebraska, a club he has helped develop over the past 8 years. Blazin’ Pianos will be opening a second location at the new DJ’s Dugout in Bellevue, Nebraska in the summer of 2009.