Daily Inspiration: Meet Andrew Dethloff and Karli Mitchell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Dethloff and Karli Mitchell.

Hi Andrew and Karli, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We began our journey working in the dueling piano industry at Howl at the Moon about a decade ago, Karli in San Antonio and Andrew in Houston. Karli moved back and forth from Houston to Austin where she worked both solo and dueling shows, and Andrew remained primarily in the Houston area doing the same as well as teaching. Before that, Andrew played and toured in original bands as young as 16 and began teaching at 19. Teaching was a big part of his musical life for awhile. Teaching private one on one lessons and group classes for kids at a school in Costa Rica where he lived and taught for several years after during and after COVID. He also continued to be a pillar in the local Houston music scene for years with various bands and venues. We met all those years ago performing together as friends and in two completely different walks of life. They were golden years. Memories we will always cherish, but never knowing another walk of life would bring us together in a big way much later. Andrew had first one daughter at the young age of 21 and then a second a few years later at 25. It was time to find a way to find a way to have music support a family more. That’s when those dueling pianos came into the picture and where we met as mentioned. Karli is a career musician with background in musical theater and professional vocalist talents that lead her to be a cornerstone and mainstay of piano bars and live music across the region. Today, after a long stretch playing for and helping open various piano bars, we play full time together and live in the NE area of Kingwood/Atascocita. That friendship grew again and turned into much more. Andrew manages Texas and neighboring states for Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos as well as managing and booking artists and acts across town. We are currently working on opening a dueling pianos bar ourselves in central TX (can’t give too many details just yet – but should be by this summer). Karli stepped graciously and amazingly into being a mother figure for both daughters (Addie and Poppy). We live with our three dogs Lucy, Remus, and Griz. We play hundreds of events a year bringing high energy, all request, interactive dueling pianos shows to everything from local clubs to fundraisers to private events doing all we can to generate work and events in the live music industry for all the amazing people and friends we have made along the way. Not many people think of the working music industry. Most people think of your local open mic or stardom, but there is a thriving culture of working musicians all across town and the state that are interconnected and support their families plying their craft. We work to do the same as well as provide work for so many that your typical clubs and dueling pianos bars take advantage of. The community of us that trust and rely on each other is smaller than you’d think.

Our hub business name is Tonewise Music. Not a ton of exposure on the internet for the brand name as we focus on partnerships, but it was the flagship for teaching earlier on and remains our core foundation

Hope that paints a picture! It’s a long journey.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The industry comes with its fair share of challenges, most of which are the competitive nature of venues as well as other musicians. There have been periods of uncertainty, financial instability, and moments of real self doubt. But those challenges forced us to build resilience and trust the process rather than the timeline. A big motivator of ours was making our own way and not relying on the clubs or large companies that tend to take advantage of musicians (a tale as old as time!). It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but we have learned a lot. We are grateful for the challenges.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Karli has been a professional musician for well over 15 years, specializing in dueling pianos as well as solo piano shows. Bringing together popular hits and witty banter to craft a unique blend of entertainment.

(find detailed description of Andrew’s journey in the “story section”)

We have made it a point to generate and sustain ourselves and others in the music industry through offering direct person to person connection with clients – cutting out the middle man which is often big companies or clubs. Dueling pianos is a niche entertainment style and we have perfected our own unique style as a couple. Our years in piano bars and thousands of other private and public events we have played together have given us a vast and diverse arsenal to personalize and bring to life any event from private parties, corporate events, fundraisers (which we do a LOT of and ALWAYS donate everything we raise in the show to the fund), weddings, anything! We provide all sound and lights as a totally turnkey evnt coverage solution.

We still tour around most of the major piano bars in the country to keep things fresh. We’ve done cruise ships and international work as well. We play Burning Man each year as well on the Playa Piano Bar which is a giant, mobile dueling pianos bar that travels the desert bringing tunes and fun to all that want to hop aboard! Our chemistry and relationships take us all across the country and world. We love what we do.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Karli left her first stable dueling piano gig to pursue opportunity in Austin booking shows all over the city and creating a name for herself. Stepping into that uncertainty is a major risk, but playing it safe was never in the cards.

Pursuing music as a career is a risk in and of itself. But there is an entire working class of musicians most people don’t know exist. Recording artists, session workers, career live music entertainers. Dueling pianos is a niche as mentioned which opened a lot of doors for us. Music, comedy, improv, all rolled together. The act you see on stage is very similar to a normal day at home! Still, work can be scarce and largely controlled by large companies that are all about the dollar signs and not the people. Too many piano bars proved no different. We worked with, for, and helped open more than one. The disappointment was never long in coming. Not all! There are some really great spots around the country we love to still visit and have great relationships with. Still, we decided to take things into our own hands. Found some like minded folks that we work with all the time. Freelancers and player lead companies (like Felix and Fingers) that have the same mission. Those that are reliable, honest and skillful enough know each other. A sort of sub culture inside the culture. We are mostly friends and work to help each other.

Being in charge of your own employment, schedule, etc on top of other players can be nerve wracking (not to mention on top of raising kids and all!), but we still wouldn’t trade it.

Pricing:

• Public Venue Shows: anywhere from 1200 – $2000+ depending on day of the week and details
• Weddings – $3.7K+ can include drummer, full band, ceremony coverage, entire event sound and lights
• Corporate Events – $3.7 k+ same as above
• Fundraisers – same as above BUT we can raise and donate all music to the fund. Fund sponsorship features as well
• We will always work with people especially for good causes and local situations

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @karli.online, @andrewdethloffmusic, @felixandfingers
• Facebook: @karlionline, @andrewdethloff