Arch Hooks (BFA 1987) is a consummate entertainer whose talent has led him on a remarkable journey across the country and around the world. A piano virtuoso, powerful singer, and skilled storyteller, Hooks is a self-proclaimed “musical mutt” with an ever-evolving sound that that blends genre and defies labels. His talents extend well beyond the realm of music. Whether or not he is seated at the piano, Hooks entertains instinctively, almost compulsively, with contagious zest and infectious whimsy. Even during an audio-only Zoom call, his enthusiasm seems to seep through cyberspace and the virtual ether to light up the room.

Born and raised in Amarillo, a young Hooks dreamed of being the next Ben Vereen. He looks back at his early years with a sense of wonder: “I come from, for lack of a better word, cheap beginnings. I didn't have a piano, so I ... well, I wouldn't ‘break in' exactly … but I knew how to open the window to the choir room [at Alamo Catholic High School], and I would go down there and play piano. I also did theatre in high school, but it was very limited. We had very few resources, you know. I don't know how I came out of there, but I kept working and opportunity presented itself.”

The opportunity was a chance to go to Texas Tech University (TTU). He was studying at Amarillo Junior College (now Amarillo College) when a friend convinced him to audition for a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar which was being produced as part of TTU's summer repertory season. Despite having very little stage experience, he landed the role of Judas. Hooks' talent was immediately apparent, and he was recruited by both the theatre and the music departments. “I was offered a $200 scholarship. In those days, $200 actually did something, you know.”

Hooks initially chose music and has fond memories of the late John Gillas and his wife Mary, both former voice teachers in the School of Music. Hooks, nonetheless, longed for more stage time than he was getting as a music major and his mentors encouraged him to transfer to the theatre department. According to Hooks, Mr. Gillas said the theatre was, “probably more his style.”

As a theatre major, Hooks performed in several main stage and lab theatre musical and non-musical shows. He was also allowed to write scores for some of the productions. The young man from Amarillo thrived in the program and even impressed himself from time to time: “I wanted to be a song and dance guy, but I didn't have proper dance training and I had size 15 feet. But Diana Moore made me look like a real dancer. We did The Pirates of Penzance and she made us look really good!”

After graduation, Hooks moved to Dallas in 1987, where he struggled to get his career off the ground during a deep recession. “I couldn't even get a job at McDonald's,” Hooks recalls.

Fatefully, a friend convinced Hooks to audition for the Dallas Alley (aka Alley Cats), a “dueling piano bar” that was attempting to recreate the never-ending party atmosphere of classic New Orleans establishments. Unaware that he would be playing a key role in the genesis of a world-wide sensation, he got the job. The dueling pianos concept quickly exploded in popularity: “We were in this little bitty bar in an alley and that place would be packed to the point where people are sitting on the stage. It was very claustrophobic, but it was it was a phenomenon!”

Hooks worked at Alley Cats for the next two years and established himself as one of the founding artists of the new dueling piano movement. He was then asked to help establish the first few ventures of what is now the Howl at the Moon chain of dueling piano bars. This chapter of Hooks' adventure led him first to Cincinnati, then to Cleveland, then to Orlando. By the time he decided to step away from the company, had become co-entertainment director for the entire chain.

As the sensation spread across the country, so went Hooks. After Howl at the Moon, Hooks took on the role of entertainment director for Jake Ivory's Rock n' Roll Dueling Piano Bar in Boston located directly across the street from Fenway Park.

Hooks left Jake Ivory's soon after an unfortunate motorcycle accident and moved away from Boston. He then worked for some time as what he calls a “hired gun,” traveling to different venues for limited engagement dueling piano gigs. Hooks has some incredible stories from this period including celebrity appearances such as Woody Harrelson singing Elvis's Heartbreak Hotel and Jerry Springer performing The Beatles' I Saw Her Standing There.

Now performing as a solo act as often as in the dueling format, he chose to settle in Colorado Springs because of its central location. One of these engagements brought Hooks back to Alley Cats where he met then entertainment director Rick Wiedemann – a connection that would prove to be seminal.

Wiedemann had been approached by some businessmen from New Zealand who had designs to import the dueling piano phenomenon. Wiedemann, however, was unwilling to move internationally with his family, so he referred them to Hooks. After a few phone calls and faxes, the New Zealanders sent over a representative who met Hooks at the Ivory Cat Tavern in Austin. The meeting went well, and he signed a contract that same evening over late-night drinks at Katz's Deli. 

Hooks, who had never been out of the country, embraced everything the experience had to offer: “New Zealand. Man, I didn't know ANYTHING about this thing! I knew no one. My [dueling piano] partner was a 21-year-old green horn from the South Island because everybody in New Zealand played guitar in those days, but no one played piano. Meanwhile, I'm looking at the TV and they've got a cricket match on that lasts for five days!? I don't get it. But I dove right in and soaked it all up like a sponge. I ate and drank everything. As a matter of fact, I came back with an accent.”

Hooks' voice takes on an exceptionally joyful tone when he talks about the two years he spent in The Land of the Long White Cloud: “I met the most amazing people from millionaires to derelicts. I got to hear their stories and that was the most amazing thing about it. The best two years of my life were in New Zealand.”

A couple years later, Hooks would travel to the Netherlands at the request of Jevon Clark, aka the ‘greenhorn' piano man from New Zealand. Hooks had connected Clark with the Howl at the Moon people, who had in turn tasked him with opening a new venue in Scheveningen (one of the eight districts of The Hague) called Crazy Pianos. Hooks agreed to the gig in part to help pay for the costs associated with a home studio project he had undertaken, and he remains grateful for the experience: “I played with some really amazing talent in Holland.”

After the Netherlands, Hooks returned to his home in Colorado Springs and finished recording his first studio album: “It's a special moment when and artist sees his first album. I had ordered 1,000 copies and I remember opening the box and seeing them. That was the that was the most amazing experience ever – seeing everything you worked for all these years. And of course, you know, it makes you want to do another one.”

Hooks remained in Colorado Springs for the next couple of decades and did just that. To date he has recorded four albums: Piano Talk (1999), Back Seat Oracle (2003), Chemistry (2008), and Time for the Wingman (2013). Each album is different and reflects the synthesis of Hooks' diverse influences. The common thread between each is Hooks' energy and impressive piano riffs. Incredibly, he performs every instrument on these albums (except the Trombone part on the title cut of Chemistry).

Recently, Hooks has moved into new artistic media. Having learned a thing or two about video editing somewhere along the way, his most recent album was originally released as what Hooks calls a ‘music film' – a 45-minute audio visual romp with narration that guides the viewer through six stories that ultimately make-up Time for the Wingman. Here again, Hooks does it all including music, arrangements, editing, and animation. Fans of DC Comic's Batman will recognize the subject of Hooks' tale, but it's safe to say this artistic anomaly is all his own.

These days, Hooks lives happily in Dallas with his wife of over thirty years. If age has slowed him down at all, it doesn't show. Hooks remains ready to entertain you.

Although Hooks continues to work in the dueling pianos format, you will often catch him performing alone or with a back-up band. Regardless of the set-up, venue, or time of day, Hooks always brings the party: “I don't plan to change the world… but I think I can show you a good time. Enjoy!”

To learn more about Arch Hooks, listen to his music, and enjoy his latest multimedia project entitled ImproVisions, visit his website at https://www.archhooks.com/.