Kansas City's New Premiere Pianist

For EB / Eric Barnhart, the piano is more than an instrument – it's home. From the age of three when he began playing by ear on his brother's toy xylophone to now performing seven shows weekly year-round, no other place has been as inspiring, challenging, or comforting as when his fingers are on the keys, sharing stories through song. 

Wherever EB has found himself over the years – growing up in the rolling fields of the rural Midwest, studying jazz and Latin music amidst the clubs and beaches of Miami, embracing both sides of the gospel coin in the “New South” of Atlanta, exploring bluegrass and its crossover appeal in Greenville, SC, or bringing the music and his life full circle in one of the birthplaces of the blues, his new home of Kansas City – he has embraced the local culture with his piano playing, letting it shape him and his music. 

These experiences help serve EB’s life ambition: to tell meaningful stories through music. The crowds at his performances are never quite sure where their collective musical journey will carry them next - the sounds of sassy blues from a swanky jazz club; a driving tumbao for the salsa dance floor; a plaintive folk melody drifting off the mountain cabin back-porch, or a dozen other destinations. One thing, however, can be rest assured: it will be worth the trip.