“What Was I Supposed to Do?” — Pianist Says Hotel Fired Him Because Kids Sang to His Music

A former pianist for the Jasper Fairmount Lodge claims he was fired from his residency. But not because he didn't show up to work or decided to recreate this Scary Movie scene, but rather, because guests at the hotel decided to sing along with his playing.

David DeWolfe (@daviddewolfemusic) posted about the incident on his TikTok account, where he shared what exactly went down. In a caption for his video on the situation he writes: "Does this make sense to anyone?! 24 hours later I'm still in shock! I have played piano all over the world and nothing like this has EVER happened to me..."

When he was initially hired, he said that he was asked to come in and play "Top '40s classic rock" to get guests "moving and grooving" inside of the hotel. Additionally, he went on to state that he was told "there was going to be kids running around" to which he replied, "Awesome."

Right from the get go, he said that the audience response was tremendous. Folks were "tapping their feet" and "nodding their heads" in sync with the music he was playing and overall they were "having a great time."

However, "a little manager dude" approached him about 90 minutes into his show.

"Hey, no more singing, just background piano music," the hotel employee told him. Immediately, David acquiesced to the man's request and for the next several days, he simply played classic rock versions of the tracks. Once that Saturday rolled around, he said the hotel was "packed full of families."

At one point during his show, he says that a little girl and her brother approached him asking if he could play "'Roar' from Katy Perry." Without hesitation, he told the guests that it wasn't an issue, and he went on to perform a rendition of the popular singer's track.

Consequently, this started a chain reaction of enthusiastic responses from not just the children at the hotel, but also other guests. First, the two siblings began singing the song, until around 40 or so other kids in the location began singing along to the track in unison.

Parents, happy that their kids were enjoying themselves began recording what was going down and it wasn't long until he was getting slammed with tons of requests from other people staying at the lodge. "Everyone's having a great time, after each song like everybody's going wild, they're clapping their hands, everyone's having so much fun."

Following the performance, David said that he spoke with the manager afterward who called the experience "awesome" and other staff members had approached him and called it "a breath of fresh air." They went on to state that they didn't have that kind of energy in the resort and were happy to see what he was bringing to the table.

"This is what family, this is what vacation is all about." Additionally, he said that the performance was also a lucrative one. "I made so much money in tips. The customers and the people who were there loved it. It was awesome."

Furthermore, he added that he didn't do anything he wasn't told to do. All that was requested of him was to "play pretty piano music."

David went on to state that he didn't encourage the guests to sing along, but that they took it upon themselves to do so. "What was I supposed to do? Tell them, 'Hey kid don't sing!'"

Despite the overwhelmingly positive response he had to the show, David said that this feeling soon faded the following day.

After going to work and getting ready to put in some more work for the families at the lodge, he received a call from his booking agent. According to David's rep, they told him that the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge no longer needed his services.

He was instructed to pack his bags and leave because he wasn't "hired to do piano Karaoke." David said the sudden falling out left him bitter because he wasn't intentionally setting out to start a piano Karaoke show, but that he did what was instructed by lodge management.

Again, he said that he shouldn't be expected to castigate guests for singing along with tunes that they recognize. Especially since the Fairmont Lodge is considered "one of the greatest hotels in Canada."

Moreover, he said he was shocked to see that they were so upset by the sight of throngs of families enjoying themselves. That's because the hotel markets itself as a "destination for families."

He went on to state that staff members "dropped their jaws" upon hearing that he was fired from the resort. David even cited at least one employee as stating that he was "the best thing" they've ever seen happen to the hotel in the six years that they've worked at the location.

Additionally, another employee who he spoke with said that she used to work as the hotel's recreation manager 20 years prior and stated he would've been exactly the type of talent she would've hired. "Amazing, I can't believe that they fired you," he said the long-time worker told him.

After giving the details of his story he asked TikTok viewers what they thought of the situation. David expressed that he didn't believe he did anything wrong in the situation.

What's more is that David said he quit his day job and also turned down weddings and other work because he thought this was such an exciting opportunity.

David said that he signed a two-month contract with the hotel and that the company he booked the gig through, Seagull Entertainment, was going to hit him up with more information following the dissolution of his relationship with the Fairmont Lodge.

Toward the end of the clip, he stated that there's no verbiage in the agreement that states that he could have his services terminated due to guests singing along to his music.

Numerous commenters who replied to David's video said that they sympathized with him and that his story gave them a negative opinion of the Jasper Fairmont Lodge.