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By day, he works as an IT specialist for the IRS, but, for the last 25 years, Larry Lay has been spending his Friday and Saturday nights playing piano at Middleton Tavern in Downtown Annapolis. Along with this, he has been playing Brian Boru in Severna Park on Wednesdays for a little over a year. This Tuesday (March 17), there will be a celebration of Larry’s 25 years preforming the grand piano in the Middleton Tavern dining room. Roland the Ghost is the only performer to have played there longer.
People have gathered each weekend around the bar top on the piano to hear Larry sing covers of songs from “Live Like You Were Dying” by Tim McGraw to “Black” by Pearl Jam since 1995. Larry was booked to perform for St. Patrick’s Day at Middleton Tavern on a Thursday, “Stan Fletcher of Stan & Joe’s was GM at the time. He asked me that night if I wanted to come back the next night and work Friday & Saturday. Been there ever since”. Larry also admits that he keeps coming back because it is the “best group of people and organization to work with as a musician. Never had any problems and have made so many long-lasting friendships”.
Larry grew up with music in his blood. His mother plays the piano and the organ, and his father played the trumpet in the Air Force Airmen of Note. Larry has an older brother who plays drums professionally and a younger brother who has his doctorate in piano. Music ran through the entire house. Just as any group of musical siblings would, the brothers formed a band in their 20s and played all originals. Larry graduated from University of Maryland where he got a degree in piano performance and has been playing for weddings, parties, restaurants, and benefits ever since. Larry feels nothing but lucky that he can play at Middleton Tavern, “[Music] is a part of my life. It is impossible to separate it from me. Having a family and helping raise three children has taken a high importance. That’s why I feel so lucky to have been playing at Middleton Tavern for so long. It has been a place to let the music side of me grow and share with others while still enabling me to keep my family at the same level of importance”.
The celebration for Larry will be on March 17 at Middleton Tavern from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. He will be playing songs from his large repertoire, including the songs that mean the most to him because they have special meanings reminding him of his loved ones, especially his wife and late father, like “Chasing Cars” (Snow Patrol), “New York State of Mind” (Billy Joel), and he will playing the songs that he has the most fun with, like “Easy” (Commodores), and “Running to stand Still” (U2). Come help Larry Lay celebrate his 25 years of Middleton Music!
