"Piano Man" set to step away from keys, will retire in December

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News 18's Pari Apostolakos speaks with West Lafayette's very own "Piano Man," Bruce Barker. The local legend shares his reasons for giving up his Thursday night slot at the Neon Cactus, and why he loves what he does.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) — It's unusual to see Bruce Barker playing to a nearly empty room. But, he did just that on Wednesday, playing a rendition of none other than Billy Joel's "Piano Man" with just his two bosses and I in attendance. The crowds he's used to are a little more rowdy (and, usually, undergraduate).

Anyone who has been to the Neon Cactus on a Thursday night during the Purdue University school year can tell you the line can be long. Oftentimes people stick it out because they know exactly what they’re waiting for; the chance to see West Lafayette’s very own Piano Man, Bruce Barker, run the show in the bar’s piano room.

"I didn't touch a piano until I got to Purdue,” Barker said from his usual spot behind the piano, after playing a few notes and working my name into a song, of course. “My family, we didn't have enough money for a piano, or for a guitar, anything. So, I could always sing, I could always sing. But, then I come here to Purdue and my residence hall had a piano ... By the end of the semester I had taught myself 50 songs on piano and people would sit down and sing with me."

Now, people sing with him every single week. Barker has played in the same room at the Neon Cactus in West Lafayette for nearly three decades, with a break during the bar’s closure at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this hiatus he played for about a year and a half at Where Else, another bar frequented by Purdue students, where he thought he played his last gig for the student population.

As we've previously reported, Ethan Brown reopened the Neon Cactus in 2022.

"When we first bought the Cactus here, [Bruce Barker] was the first phone call that I made," Brown said. "Because, without Bruce, its not the Cactus."

Brown's love of Barker's musical stylings started long before he was his boss, when he worked at Jake's on State Street.

"I would come down here every Thursday to hear Bruce, that was my kind of weekly routine that I would do," Brown said. "I would get off work early and I would come down to hear Bruce the second half of his show."

Immortalized in a mural on the wall in the bar's piano room, and in the memories of Boilermakers everywhere, Barker loves what he does because he loves connecting with people.

"Every night I'll have a moment where you know you've touched somebody,” Barker said. “And I love trying to make people feel special. But, as long as its genuine. It can't be contrived. It can't be B.S. It has to be real."

After 28 years and — by Barker's count — enough total audience members to fill Ross Ade Stadium 18 times and a collective 12,618 hours of singing (the equivalent of performing for over six years straight), Barker is ready to step away from the piano bench.

He announced his coming retirement on social media August 17.

"Tomorrow is not promised. Next year is not promised. But, there is [only a certain] amount of time where your kids will be in the house," Barker said. "And I wanted to live with my kids, and experience them."

For Barker, the Cactus feels like home. He said he wants his last hurrah on his own terms, in that place. But, instead of saying goodbye, he is choosing to bid farewell to his regular Thursday set.

However, that doesn't mean his voice won't fill the Jimmy Buffett-themed room again.

"I'm still going to come here and make appearances," Barker said. "But it is time to hand the baton to the next generation. And I am the luckiest Boilermaker, possibly besides Drew Brees and Neil Armstrong, on this earth. I am so blessed."

Brown said the Neon Cactus is actively searching for Barker's replacement, and they aren't ready to reveal who they've got lined up just yet.

Barker's last regularly scheduled show at the Neon Cactus will feature him alongside a full band on the bar's main stage. It's happening December 7.

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