Hammers Entertainment
Dueling Pianos
Musicians
Justin Flagg
Justin started playing piano at the age of four and has loved it ever since. He continued to play all through High School and into college. While in college, he studied Musical Composition and Vocal Performance at Webster University and Lindenwood University.
After finishing college in 2002 he started working at the Big Bang in St. Louis. For the next seven years he learned the ins and outs of Dueling Pianos. In 2009 he decided it was time for a change. He started working at the Jive n’ Wail and began traveling and playing all over the country.
He has played at several places including… The Penguin (Dallas TX, Columbia MO, Lexington KY, Cincinnati OH) Michael Murphy’s (Oklahoma City OK) and The Blue Moon (Des Moines IA) just to name a few. He is currently working as Entertainment Director at Michael Murphy’s and having a great time.
Whitney Maxwell
Whitney started training in music at the age of four and continued studying classical piano until she was 17. She taught piano for seven years after college. Whitney began her training in dueling pianos in 2009 at Ernie Biggs in Branson, MO and it has successfully been her full time career ever since. From Branson she began working for Howl at the Moon, moving to Kansas City, MO, Orlando, FL, then back to her hometown of Des Moines, IA to be a freelance dueler.
In the meantime, Whitney has been traveling the world sharing her talents with people in Japan, Switzerland, the Caribbean, and soon to be many locations in the Mediterranean. She is a global force to be reckoned with and will charm you to the core!
Hannah Dowell
Born and raised in Amarillo, TX, Hannah began studying Suzuki violin at the age of four. She was in her first opera production as a chorus member by the age of five, and remained an active performer with the Amarillo Opera Company all the way through high school, be it on stage or in the orchestra pit. In 2000, she moved to Kansas City, MO to continue her education at the UMKC Conservatory of Music in violin performance.
After college, Hannah branched out to more rock and pop music, eventually touring Europe with her band “In the Pines”. She stumbled onto the world of dueling pianos in 2008 and was quickly able to incorporate her violin skills into the show. She trained at Howl at the Moon in Kansas City, and then moved to Ernie Biggs where she performed in Kansas City, Branson, Springfield, Little Rock, and Wichita. She is now in high demand, free-lancing and dazzling audiences all over the country with her unique talents.
Ryan McCall
Ryan McCall is a composer/performer/arranger currently working as the Music Director for the Theater Department at the University of Kansas. Ryan is a veteran of the dueling piano scene for over 10 years now, starting in 2004 with Howl at the Moon Fort Lauderdale. He has served as the Entertainment Director at Howl at the Moon Kansas City and The Barrel House in Lawrence, KS.
Ryan is now an in demand traveling player, having worked in Oklahoma City, Boise, Richmond, Fort Lauderdale, Branson, Wichita, Kansas City and he will make his Des Moines debut in January of 2015. Ryan has a reputation of bringing a high energy show with a song catalogue that spans decades.
Stephen Winter
Born in England, Stephen has been playing piano/keyboards since graduating from the University of Missouri with a degree in music. He is truly a world renowned musician, having perfromed in Hong Kong, Norway, Ireland, and Switzerland.
Currently living in Little Rock, AR, Stephen travels the US playing in teh top dueling piano bars, as well as recording with local artists in a variety of genres. Audiences love his vast repertoire, impressive pirano skills, and his mastery of the keytar.
Dave Hawke
Dave comes from Fulton, MO. He can play the keys so fast, it'll make your head spin! He has an unparalleled energy that just doesn't stop!
Lauren Ashley
Lauren is just a small town girl (a suburb of St. Louis, MO) who, in 2012 while finishing her graduate degree in Springfield, MO, decided that she’d rather hang out on stage at her favorite bar rather than in the crowd. She didn’t realize at the time that this “on-the- side, college gig,” as she once called it, would develop into a tremendously rewarding and outrageously fun career in music performance.
Lauren’s dynamic stage presence and ability to cater to any audience provide the foundation of her success as traveling dueling pianist. Since starting her music career in 2012, Lauren has traveled all over the Midwest to perform at various piano bars, weddings, corporate events and wineries and shares the stage with only the best entertainers in the industry. Her unique approach to performance transforms the venue into a living room, creating a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere of storytelling, laughing, singing and dancing like no one’s watching!
While her favorite songs to play are your requests (of course!), some of her favorite artists are Sara Barellies, John Mayer, Carole King, Mumford & Sons, Whitney Houston, Maroon 5 and Gavin Degraw…to name a few.