The Show
Ben Murphy
Ben grew up mostly in the state of Indiana. He was born in South Bend where he started his first piano lessons at the age of nine. His father was a big influence on him starting music.
He played a lot of piano and guitar around the house and was always making up goofy songs that made the family laugh at inappropriate moments. Ben studied classical music during most of his childhood. He excelled at Chopin Etudes, Beethoven Sonatas, and the Brahms Intermezzo series. He also picked up guitar at age 12 and was a member of several garage bands at a young age. This gave him the passion for performing, which led him to Low Key Piano Bar.
Ben attended Indiana University School of Music briefly after high school. Soon after, he joined a more serious band and moved to Chicago to pursue a career as a rock star with the band Only Infinity, which had a brief run of success touring the Midwest for about four years.
Here, Ben learned to be a performer through several hundred nights in nightclubs and bars. However, bands are like families; they’re difficult to keep together.
After his time in Chicago, Ben moved to Arizona to be with his family. In 2006, he started his venture into the industry of dueling pianos. His vast song knowledge and repertoire made this a perfect fit for Ben’s talents. He has since gone back to school to finish his Music Education degree here in Arizona, with an emphasis on Jazz. Ben’s major musical influences include Frank Zappa, The Beatles, and Billy Joel. Jazz influences consist of Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, and Mulgrew Miller.
Fouad Melki
Fouad Melki was born and raised right here in Tempe, AZ. Since he was a child he’s always had a passion for entertaining.
He started out singing in choirs and bands, then he moved on to marching band and university percussion, and more recently he’s become a piano bar entertainer. Over the years he’s performed in many stadiums, stages, halls, clubs, bars and cruise ships in front of tens of thousands of people. He has collaborated with Broadway stars from shows including Wicked and Rock of Ages. Fouad first learned of dueling pianos in 2016 when he worked as a piano bar entertainer on Norwegian Cruise Lines.
He’d finish his solo sets and walk downstairs to rock out with the duelers in the Headliners Comedy Club. After working on ships all of 2016, Fouad moved back to Tempe and found himself jamming at Low Key!
James T Mitchell
James was born in Chandler, AZ and currently resides in Tempe. Living in Arizona his whole life is a feat he attributes to plenty of travel and a healthy appreciation for his local friends.
He got his first taste of playing music on a piano at his cousin’s house at age 3 and has been hooked ever since. Throughout his schooling days, he joined a variety of bands playing trumpet for school, guitar, and anything else he could get his hands on. Besides playing music, he enjoys audio engineering and has recorded bands from all over the West Coast with an affinity for old-school analog recording equipment.
He’s not afraid to make the electronic “bleeps and bloops” on his laptop for Hip Hop or EDM artists either. With a wide and encompassing taste of music, it doesn’t matter if it’s R &B, Death Metal, or anything in between.
James has probably obsessed over it at some point. His favorite aspect of performing at Low Key Piano Bar is the constant self-progression and being able to keep a pulse on what is trendy & popular, not to mention being able to have a blast every night. James hobbies include travel, music festivals, skate/snowboarding, & hanging with his dog (Bowie) and cat (Beethoven Von Pretzel-Cheddar).
Matthew Hay-roe
Matthew Hay-Roe comes from Canton, OH and moved to Arizona at age 8. He began playing piano in his preschool class, where his teacher had one for the kids to play.
He took private lessons from ages 6 to 14, and loved performing at recitals. Matt joined a professional band during high school, which went on to open for Styx and Smash Mouth. In 2009, Matt joined the dueling piano staff at the Big Bang, and quickly expanded his song knowledge and multi-instrument performance.
In 2012, Matt moved to Fort Collins to attend veterinary school, where he formed a side project keyboard/drum duo that performed on weekends. He returned to Phoenix in 2016 and is thrilled to be playing with his mentors and best friends!
Matt currently lives in Tempe and is a practicing small animal (dog and cat) veterinarian. His favorite artists are Styx, Muse, Hall and Oates and Guns n’ Roses, and he knows more classic rock than he probably should.
Mike Clement
Mike got his start playing professionally in St. Louis, MO. At 19 years old, he began playing in bar bands and recording with the diverse St. Louis scene of the late 90’s/early 2000’s.
After a 2 year stint in Michigan where he playing in country bands, he returned to St. Louis and immersed himself back into the scene with various original projects, and with dozens of other bands and artists, covering psychedelic rock, funk, pop, new age, and several improvisational groups, playing in every venue and various music festivals in front of thousands of people.
In 2002 he began his career in dueling pianos with the Big Bang. In late 2003 he continued his dueling career to Tempe, Arizona, playing the hits and bring the house down till the Big Bang closed in 2014.
After one year in California, he returned to Tempe and reignited his career with Low Key Piano Bar, where he continues to bring the house down today.
Mike has played all over the country in various formats, as a dueler, an original artist, and in cover bands.
His major influences include Bruce Hornsby, Rick Wright (Pink Floyd), Grateful Dead, Billy Joel, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Page McConnell (Phish), and everyone who he has personally worked with. You can contact Mike and find his original projects, as well as live recorded Low Key shows at mikeyclement.com.