The "STEP BACK IN TIME"...I'M WITH YOU BILL" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Opened my morning paper to the "Living" section and there was a large photograph of local pianist Bill Horn.  Bill's repertoire tells the story of his decades-spanning career: "My Girl" by the Temptations, "Theme From New York, New York," by Frank Sinatra, and "Shake it Off," by Taylor Swift.  And, this year, the pianist and vocalist marked a major musical milestone: 70 year of performing.  At 85, Horn is not slowing down in his musical career.  

It's clear that he loves performing for his audiences at Huckleberry's Restaurant & Tavern at the Fulton Steamboat Inn on Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster Couty, Pennsylvania.  He plays solo on a digital piano that he programs to play a wide variety of instruments on the keyboard.  He can even accompany his singing with his own voice doing harmonies.  Bill appears every Friday and Saturday evening at Huckleberry's, where he's played for 16 years.  "The Fulton Steamboat and Huckleberry's Restaurant has offered live music for over a decade, and Bill has been the restaurant's primary entertainer throughout," says Stephen Sikking, Fulton Steamboat Inn co-owner.  "Our guests of all ages love his personality and range of music knowledge, not to mention his skill.  We look forward to many more years of entertaining our guests with live music with Bill as our cornerstone entertainer."  The more I read, the better I got to know Mr. Horn.  Bill tailors his show to a different crowd each and every night.  One night there may be a couple celebrating their 50th anniversary, which calls for a sentimental tune like "Can't Help Falling in Love."  Or, it might be a Sweet 16 birthday party where a Taylor Swift hit is the perfect selection. Maybe it's an engagement party when Celine Dion or Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons fits the bill.  Even kids can make requests for songs  like "Supercalifragilisticeexpialiocious" from "Mary Poppins."  While Horn is a solo performer, he occasionally has a special guest join him: his purple puppet Doo Bop helps perform "What a Wonderful World, "made famous by Louis Armstrong.  "Ask me to play just about anything, I have a repertoire of thousands of songs for birthdays, anniversaries and anything they would like to hear that might be their favorite.  Some people like to challenge me to see if I know songs from years past.  For the most part, I can accommodate them." Horn thinks for a moment and adds, "I have memorized all these songs, so I guess thats a good sign at my age for my memory.  Horn's love of music dates back to his teenage years.  In 1952, he took a bus from his home in Hazelton and headed to Philadelphia with a group of classmates to dance on the famed "American Bandstand" show on what was then WFIL-TV.  Two years later he launched his performance career at a dance studio when he entertained the audience by singing at intermission.  He is grateful to his wife of 65 years, Joan, who got him that first gig.  "She had a dance studio, and they needed a boys' quartet for a performance," Horn really.  "I got paid $5.  In 1954, that was a lot of money.  Back then, gas was 17 cents a gallon and the movies cost 12 cents.  Five dollars went a long way."  Even now, he is often called on to perform songs from the '50s.  He's quite comfortable stepping back in time to his early days when he backed up acts like Dion and The Belmonts, Frankie Avalon, Fabian, and Bobby Rydell at concerts in the Philadelphia area.  Even when he was in college at West Chester University, he continued to entertain at various shows and venues.  He earned his degree in music education and taught public school for nine years, spending many weekends and evenings performing.  He taught private music lessons too, just to make sure he had plenty to do.  He sponsored 14 music cruises on Holland America cruise lines and a few others.  He produced 12 recordings and toured the world playing the organ in Germany, The Netherlands, Wales, Great Britain and Singapore.  "Playing the organ gave me the opportunity to play the world-renowned Blackpool Tower Organ in the UK," says Horn, who represented the ARP Synthesizer Company and Hammond Organ Company.  Listening to Horn perform at Huckleberry's is a bit like time travel.  First stop might be the '60s with The Temptations and the Four Tops, followed by the free-spirited '70s with "Hotel California" by the Eagles.  His most popular song might be "(Theme From) New York, New York," which Frank Sinatra released with his famous recording of in the '80s.  As he wraps up that song, some members of the audience have been known to launch into a full chorus line kick a la the Rockets.  These days requests are most likely to be made for current songs by Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars or Beyoncé.  Chances are that Horn has the song in his repertoire.  He plays just about every genre of music, from standards to country tops, minus rap or heavy metal..  With all the songs he plays, he admits that his own personal favorite is Mel Tormé's "Here's That Rainy Day."  As he says, "It's not something many people know, but for me, it's the perfect song.  Those old standards like "As Time Goes By," "Autumn Leaves" and "My Funny Valentine" are the songs that are filled with memories for Horn.  "Those songs, that's real music, with melody harmony and great lyrics," Horn says.  "That's the king of music I love performing most of all."  They are among the classic standards that have made Horn a fixture in the Lancaster entertainment scene since 1968, as he performed at the Travelodge, Host Town, Host Corral and Seven Cousins in Park City, to name a few.  Many of the love songs have provided the soundtrack to his own romance with his wife Joan, who used to sing with him when he performed at the Host Corral.  They raised their two children in Wilmington, Delaware, before moving to Lancaster in 1972.  They now have two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.  While Joan and music might be his true loves, he does have another passion: collecting antique and vintage cars.  His current sweetheart is a deep blue 1967 Bentley T1.  The Horns have also been involved in resuming greyhounds and have one greyhound who is "very, very fast," thus the fenced yard.  This year marks his 16th year at Huckelberry's and he's still going strong as he approaches his 86th birthday.  "When people ask me how long I plan to keep performing, I tell them as long as I am still vertical," he says.  "I think it keeps me young and people seem to enjoy it.  That's what matters most!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Bill....I know exactly how you feel!!  LDub