Tony Tedeschi

I consider myself a child of the '60s. Although I was born in 1941 -- which places me in my 60s -- it was the 1960s that molded, in many ways, who I am. I was co-editor of the student newspaper at NYU in Washington Square when Dylan was playing the coffee houses, progressive jazz was ascendant and the beat poets were having a liberating impact on American Lit. We expanded the newspaper to cover those cultural events. When I graduated, I was 22 and 1A and joined the Air Force, spending the better part of four years helping to train Tactical Air Command pilots, who went immediately to the war in Vietnam. The demoralizing effect of a war we were clearly losing and the domestic unrest it generated resonated even with those of us in the armed forces. I came home from that experience with a wife, two young daughters and a sense that freedom was every bit as important an element in life as all the euphemisms suggested. While finding work in public relations firms helped support my growing family, including the adoption of a third daughter, my creative release always came via my freelance writing. I’d played guitar, sang and wrote songs for a band during the late '50s through the early '60s, but gave it up to concentrate on my prose and a couple of novels I've authored. I have traveled extensively as a journalist and I am the founding editor of an award-winning travel website: www.naturaltraveler.com. But music has always played a central role in my life. I'd always felt that Dylan had liberated the songwriter in all of us, while setting his almost-impossible-to-reach benchmarks. In my 60s, I have come back to the guitar, letting it drive my creativity. My debut CD, "Stuck in the '60s, Vol. II," on Hollow Body Records, has been produced by Doug Kwartler, a gifted musician and songwriter, who also runs Hollow Body Studios and is a talented engineer, bringing a great deal of his musical genius to my work. Doug also plays lead guitar in my band. Michael Leuci, our drummer, is also a very talented graphic designer, having done all the photography and design work on my CD. Deb Novak is our gifted bass player.