SDCXTRA RADIO

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Tony Voltaggio



Born in Louisiana but soon moved to South Texas where I grew up.  My musical life started as a child.  At 10 years old, played clarinet in the school band.  The teacher looked at my teeth, like a horse, and said you have the right structure for clarinet...but that didn't last long.  My musical life actually started with choirs, high school, and college.


Started playing guitar in high school.  I talked my brother into going halves on a $20 sears silvertone.  He never got much chance to play it.

I was heavily interested in folk music.  You didn't have to have a full band to play.  Single, duet, or any number of other instruments; and lots of harmonies.  They didn't just love songs.  I was particularly fond of the "topical" songs; songs of protest, songs that made you think.

Living in South Texas you didn't get much fringe music.  Our only link to the outside world was the radio so we really only got the popular artists, although I did come across Janis Ian, Phil Ochs, Odetta, Ian and Sylvia, and, of course, Pete Seeger.

My first band was a trio.  Just me on guitar and two other guys singing.  That graduated into an emulation of the New Christy Minstrels; lots of harmonies.

College moved me up the gulf coast away from home.  Art school with a minor in music.  Went looking for places to play and found a church-sponsored building on a hill that changed everything.

A two-story building, the bottom floor was a coffee house, acoustic only; but the top floor was rock and roll.  I remember going there during the day and people would be jamming.  Not to any particular song, just playing and trading licks for hours and hours.

Then at night, it would turn into a battle of bands.  That's where I met most of the people I would play with for the rest of my career in Texas.

That's when I decided, to hell with art school, I can make some real money with music.  I was asked to join a folk rock band as the rhythm guitarist and I never looked back. It was easy to get your music played then.  They just sent you and your record to the local station and they would play it.

If it was any good, other stations would pick it up.  The band I was in made a good name for themselves in the region.  We got a lot of work.  But we were young, people quit, people argued, no new recordings, a new beginning.

That started my career by playing clubs in the area.  I lived in a high tourist area and, for its size,  there were a lot of music opportunities and, I have to say, there were a lot of high-quality musicians that could have, should have, made it big. I learned a lot from all of them.

For the next 10-12 years, most of my work was house bands.  That's what really saved me from needing a day job.

Though my focus was pop-rock dance music, over the years I learned to play all types of music.  When disco hit, we all played country because that was basically the only live music jobs you could get.  And it was Texas!  But the Eagles were big.  I was fond of Poco, and we would sneak a little Steve Miller in there too.

That was, what I consider, my first life.  Never got rich, but made enough to live on.  Never thought I would get tired but I was starting to.  I decided to go back to school.  I was always tinkering with my equipment, so I decided to learn exactly what I was doing.  That would lead me down a path that would be my second life.

The digital age was coming and I got swept up into it.  Forgot all about guitars and amplifiers and got a job in California designing hardware for a microscope that could see freckles on a pinhead.  There isn't much else to say, except that it gave me the opportunity for my third life, back to music.

One of the things that I always regretted was not doing enough original music.  It was always hard to record because of the cost and time.  I didn't really make enough to go into a studio and record when I wanted and when you did, it was a hurry-up kind of thing.

I did have the Teac A-3340S 4 channel like a lot of people, and I played with it a lot.  But I never really had a studio and you still had to pay to get the songs pressed.  Then in the late 90's, I discovered digital recording.

It was in it's infancy, but the answer to my dream.  Being creative has always been part of my ambition; using sound to paint a feeling.  I hope I've done that.  Being independent has allowed me to do things I could never do in a commercial studio.  I hope to continue to learn and create with music.

Band Name: Tony Voltaggio
Album Name: 6
Year Released: 2017
Email Address: tonyv@hyvoltggstudios.com
Website: http://www.hyvoltggstudios.com
Music Style: Folk, Rock,Blues
Influences:
We Sound Like:
Performing Rights Society: BMI (USA)
Label Affiliation:
Independent Label
Geographic
Hometown: San Jose
Country: USA
Touring your Region?: No
Band
Description
My roots are in folk; my work was in rock; my heart is in blues.




http://www.hyvoltggstudios.com

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Big Mess


It has arrived on Lord Cash Pockets Records the new Big Mess CD “I Am American” put it in your player and enjoy the sounds of Big Mess.

Winner of Best Alternative Band at the IMC Awards. It is rock, it is indie and best of all it is fun. So don’t miss this opportunity to enjoy the new CD.

If you would like a copy to play on your radio show please let me know. All contact info is below.

 Band Name: Big Mess
Album Name: I Am American
Year Released: 2017
Email Address: bigmessband@msn.com
Website: https://bigmess1.com/home
Music Style: Alternative Rock
Influences: Iggy Pop
We Sound Like: Iggy Pop
Performing Rights Society: BMI (USA)
Label Affiliation: Independent Label
Geographic
Hometown: PALOS VERDES ESTATES
Country:USA
Touring your Region?: Yes

Email bigmessband@msn.com

Web Site https://bigmess1.com/home  

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Big-Mess/17663777890
Contact, CJ (Lord Cash Pockets Records)

310 617-4093