Joe DeAngelo

Joe DeAngelo is on a two-part mission: 1) to continually craft sincere, original lyrics and 2) to have a great time. The underlying blues and funk on his recently-released, self-titled CD shows this NY pro to be hard at work on both, with songs of experience ("Couldn't Wait," "Down That Road") wrapped in the sound of the a.m. bar crowd dancing in full swing ("Bong Hits").

~Mike Walker (Founder of Gigtimes).

- Mike Walker- Founder of Gigtimes

What is a pop musician in 2010? An “American Idol” finalist, an adolescent rapper slinging nursery rhymes, or castaway from a reality series enabled to sing on key by Pro Tools?
And what’s a rock musician anymore? A somber shoegazer from Nebraska, a caffeine-buzzed hipster from Oregon, or a cult figure from Brooklyn?
Joe DeAngelo is none of the above. You can’t really call him a throwback because he and his music are forever looking forward. His melodic, rhythmically catchy and intelligently crafted songs are instantly familiar, but he doesn’t sound like anyone in particular. His creative pop and rock songs can be playful and serious, sensual and romantic, with melodies that bring you back to the days of driving in the car with the volume turned up on the radio.
DeAngelo has been biding his time, developing his multiple skills, allowing his songwriting to mature. Soon the music and entertainment world will discover the Joe DeAngelo zone, a new face who will be greeted like an old friend.
DeAngelo, 29, has followed his own route in preparing to introduce his music to a wider public beyond the New York area. He grew up in Huntington, Long Island. His introduction to music came early. At a young age, his parents started him with Suzuki piano and shortly after he picked up a guitar and taught himself to play. DeAngelo took lessons for a short time, but ultimately turned out to be his own best teacher—and student. He recorded an album of his own songs locally at 16 and began playing in bars and clubs before graduating high school.
During his four years as a college student in Albany, N.Y., DeAngelo sang and played guitar with the regionally popular Blue Phoenix Band at such hot spots as the club Northern Lights in Clifton Park, N.Y. After graduating college, he returned to Long Island and pursued both his passion and his fallback. He sang, played guitar, and wrote the songs for the band Faultline while working in Manhattan and earning a graduate degree.
DeAngelo has just repackaged his first album, Down That Road. Released in 2006 under the Faultline name, it was recorded at Sabella Studios in Roslyn Heights, N.Y, with studio owner James Sabella. Songs from these sessions are still part of the DeAngelo repertory. “Shine” and “Down That Road” show DeAngelo’s ability with classic pop song structures, tinged with regret yet driven by hope. “Bong Hits” and “Fat Boy” show the good-humored funk-rock side of the equation: The former captures a youthful giggles-and-munchies moment, while the latter shows DeAngelo’s comfort telling off a love rival in hip-hop cadence, and features a rippling sax solo by Billy Joel Band veteran Richie Cannata.
After performing gigs in the New York area to promote the first album, DeAngelo decided to pull back from live shows and dedicated himself to songwriting. The result is an album, some of it recorded at Sabella, some of it at Solar Hill Studios in Queens with that studio’s owner, longtime chum Jesse Friedberg, who plays percussion and backup vocals and co-produced the album with DeAngelo. The sharply-crafted songs display DeAngelo’s emotionally riveting vocals and compelling guitar playing. He’s also returned to the concert circuit with a first-rate band that includes Ben Loy (bass), Daniel Mintseris (keyboards), Charlie Zeleny (drums) and Adam Parness (guitar) in addition to DeAngelo’s guitar and vocals.
The songs, which touch on a variety of styles, convey DeAngelo’s honesty and optimism. Among the standouts are “Fail Forward,” an R&B rocker with some subtle country licks. “The message is if I’m going to fail. I’m going to learn from my mistakes and move forward, not be defeated by it,” he says.
“Divided,” has a soulful vibe with with some modern rap elements. In the song, DeAngelo applies some of the lessons he learned about the real world impact financial foolery can have on both the economy and individuals. “It’s about our political divide and the economy,” he says. “I go through scenarios, how to make your way through things that are unfair in our society. It touches on everything from lack of Wall Street oversight to politicians who are so divided it’s hard for them to come together on anything.”
“Get Yourself Together” has a classic rock feel, a bit reminiscent of some great Rascals songs from the 60s or Edgar Winter tracks from the 70s; “Crazy for You” and “Hang Down” are warm and affecting ballads, while “Sex Fiend” is a diabolical rocker. “Mystery” attains its aura through atmospherics, while “Poison” is a seven-minute romp co-written with long time friend, Don Kachuba, that showcases DeAngelo’s guitar pyrotechnics.
Not to be missed is “New York City,” a future standard that captures what it’s like to be young, ambitious and alone when love goes wrong in the most romantic city in the world. The inspiration for the song came after the breakup of a long relationship. “Living by myself in the city, that sense of loss, that separation, asking yourself ‘now what?’ becomes magnified. Everybody can relate to it.”
“New York City” may have been inspired by the end of a relationship. But it also showcases DeAngelo’s ability to extract beauty and truth from disappointment. And now he intends to concentrate on the basics. “I sing, write and play guitar,” he says. “To me, it’s a question of focusing on what my strengths are, and doing what needs to be done to take it to the next level.”

—Wayne Robins
Wayne Robins is the former pop music writer for Newsday/New York Newsday and author of A Brief History of Rock…Off the Record. He has written for Rolling Stone, the Village Voice, Creem and dozens of other publications.
- Wayne Robbins- Former Pop Writer for Newsday