Salt Lake City has cultivated a strong fondness for the “dueling pianos” bar shows. And, now downtown boasts two venues which draw healthy crowds throughout the week. Keys on Main, located at 242 South Main Street, opened this month to solid reviews.

The new club (8,000 square feet) seats more than 200, quite a bit larger than The Tavernacle on 300 South which also has played well. And, audience members at Keys on Main can order from a full-service menu.

George Hasenohlr, owner and one of the “dueling” pianists, is joined by Kendrick Zane Tuesdays through Saturdays in playing to large, rowdy, enthusiastic audiences who get everything from the cliche “Piano Man” by Billy Joel to Frank Sinatra standards and even to recent hits such as Timbaland’s “Apologize.” And, don’t forget the naughty and hilarious Justin Timberlake song, “Dick In A Box,” immortalized in a Saturday Night Live Christmas sketch and an uncensored viral video.

The “dueling pianos” concept has long legs in Salt Lake City. Earlier this decade, Zipperz, a gay bar whose location now is the home of The Hotel, brought Mark Andert’s Deuces Wild! show regularly into town, which managed to draw standing-room-only crowds even on LDS Conference weekends. During the Winter Olympics in 2002, the show sold out regularly in Salt Lake City, a trend followed in virtually every national venue.

And, Hasenohlr, 28, a self-taught pianist who has earnestly built up a repertoire of hundreds of songs, has cultivated — along with Zane — the successful blend of comedy, music, warm-hearted teasing and good-natured exhibitionism that has helped to build a sufficiently large enough critical mass of loyal show attendees.

More importantly, Hasenohlr, a West Jordan High School graduate who went on to earn his audio engineering degree from FullSail College in Florida, is willing to tackle the challenge of opening a club venue on a downtown street that is undergoing a historic construction project less than two blocks to the north. However, Keys on Main’s location near a promising and blossoming Broadway corridor — and conveniently accessible from the Gallivan Plaza TRAX station — certainly bolsters those local supporters who earnestly believe a downtown entertainment district can be built and thrive accordingly.

The digitally-enhanced grand pianos are situated amid the audience to achieve an intimacy not seen where the performers sit on elevated risers. Hasenohlr also incorporates drum beat machines, sometimes frowned upon by “dueling” purists, but which allow the performers to tackle popular hip-hop songs. In fact, one of the most popular numbers is the classic Sir Mix-A-Lot standard “Baby Got Back.”

Early in the evening, audience members fill out requests and indicate honored guests for birthdays, anniversaries, accomplishments, or for easily-targeted kidding. As with other dueling pianists, Hasenohlr and Zane can expect to perform “Piano Man” at least once a night, and, more likely, two or more times. Other consistently popular requests are Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Great Balls of Fire,” and Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville.”

Somewhat surprisingly, Tom Petty’s “American Girl,” which as requests had stumped Hasenohlr and Zane three times, now has become a popular addition to the repertoire. “We finally had to learn it,” Hasenohlr says.

Not everyone can be a dueling pianist. To find a partner, Hasenohlr auditioned at least 30 players. Occasionally, audience members also perform during the show but that’s a risky prospect especially if the amateur doesn’t know the song (shuddering reminiscences of “American Idol” auditions).

However, there is the occasional audience member who manages to wow everybody including the performers. “We had a pianist classically trained at the famed Mozarteum school who played to wild applause,” Hasenohlr recalls.

Keys on Main is open every day except Sunday. Live jazz is featured on Mondays. And, in accordance with Utah law, it is a private club for members, subject to the usual nominal temporary and permanent membership fees.