Pete's Dueling Piano Bar

One of Austin's main attractions is 6th Street, the downtown area where all of the bars and music venues are lined up, side by side.  One can walk along and see the sights, or even take a horse-drawn carriage ride.  Many celebrities have been spotted on 6th Street, from Sandra Bullock to Lance Armstrong to Macaulay Culkin.  It is a lively, happening place - especially if you are of college age and want to be around your peers.  (6th Street is frequented by UT students.)

Leslie Culkin is another integral part of 6th Street and, indeed, Austin at large.  He is a cross-dressing vagrant who can usually be seen dressed in a thong and high-heeled shoes, posing for pictures with tourists.  Leslie is one of Austin's favorite oddities; in the year 2000, he even ran for mayor. 

My favorite place on 6th Street is Pete's Dueling Piano Bar.  I fell in love with this quirky little spot the first time I visited, which was close to two years ago on my first trip to Austin.  When you walk into Pete's, it seems like a regular bar until you notice the two pianos facing each other on a small, raised stage in the center.  Two men sit at either piano, and their antics are even better than their musical talents.  They are funny and endearing to the crowd, which keeps everyone coming back for more and filling up that tip jar!

According to its website, Pete's has been voted "Best Place to Humiliate an Out-of-Town Guest," and one trip there is more than enough for anyone to see why.  After every few songs, the boys choose someone - someone who was unfortunate enough to have been nominated by a friend - to sing to.  This person is generally an out-of-towner who is there for the first time, or someone with a birthday or bachelor(ette) party.  They will then proceed to sing a customized, witty, fairly dirty song about the person.  As someone who dislikes crude humor, this was my least favorite part of visits, but after a while I began to get bored when they didn't do it!  It is just some good, albeit not "clean," fun that people seem to enjoy. 

The best thing about Pete’s is the fact that everyone in the bar sings along to the songs.  There is a great feeling that comes over you when you can belt out a Beatles or Billy Joel tune in public.  Sure, they play some newer stuff, but this is the type of place my forty-something mother would love (if she ever visited Austin, it would be the first place I would take her to!).  They also decide, at various intervals, that it is time for some “redneck shit,” and they proceed to play John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” or Hank Williams Jr.’s “Family Tradition” that instills so much pride in me that I have to stop and remind myself that I’m a Northerner.

*A tip to those who visit: be sure you stick around long enough for Ronnie, in the white cowboy hat, to step up to the piano.  He’s worth it.

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April D. Boland is a freelance writer and editor.  Originally from New York City, she now resides in Austin, Texas where she enjoys reading, writing, soaking up culture and taking advantage of the beautiful outdoors that she never had back home.  She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Della Donna, a webzine for women for which she heartily accepts submissions.  Her published work can be found at her website, AprilBoland.com, and she blogs about writing at These Words.