Anthony Fiumano - “when strangers say hello”
I have a confession to make. I was really worried about listening to Anthony Fiumano’s first CD, “when strangers say hello”. I’ve seen him live numerous times over the last few years and always enjoyed his music a lot, but, I have only ever seen him play solo acoustic.
On, “when strangers say hello”, Anthony brings a full band to his songs. Having heard most of the 11 songs on the CD acoustically and loving the songs, I feared that bringing in a full band could easily tarnish these gems with over instrumentation.
Thankfully, my fears were for naught, as everyone involved with the album seems to have known just the right flourishes and touches to flesh out Anthony’s songs without damaging them. Songs like, “Darlene”, and, “the year of the flood”, still remain largely stripped down, retaining the power of the acoustic versions, while one of my favorite songs, “born to crawl”, excels to new heights with the additional instrumentation and backing vocals.
The real surprises though come with songs like, “rubbernecker”, where Anthony Fiumano and the band kick into full on rock mode, and “old blue”, a re-imaging of the traditional song (which the Byrds, J.J. Cale, and Tom Russell, have recorded, among others), utilizing the Bo Didley beat for the simplest and yet possibly the most fun and playful song on the album.
“When strangers say hello” is an excellent introduction to this young, gifted singer-songwriter. I am sure it will be a while before Anthony Fiumano’s next album, but I am already looking forward to hearing how his music continues to grow.
http://www.myspace.com/anthonyfiumano
I have a confession to make. I was really worried about listening to Anthony Fiumano’s first CD, “when strangers say hello”. I’ve seen him live numerous times over the last few years and always enjoyed his music a lot, but, I have only ever seen him play solo acoustic.
On, “when strangers say hello”, Anthony brings a full band to his songs. Having heard most of the 11 songs on the CD acoustically and loving the songs, I feared that bringing in a full band could easily tarnish these gems with over instrumentation.
Thankfully, my fears were for naught, as everyone involved with the album seems to have known just the right flourishes and touches to flesh out Anthony’s songs without damaging them. Songs like, “Darlene”, and, “the year of the flood”, still remain largely stripped down, retaining the power of the acoustic versions, while one of my favorite songs, “born to crawl”, excels to new heights with the additional instrumentation and backing vocals.
The real surprises though come with songs like, “rubbernecker”, where Anthony Fiumano and the band kick into full on rock mode, and “old blue”, a re-imaging of the traditional song (which the Byrds, J.J. Cale, and Tom Russell, have recorded, among others), utilizing the Bo Didley beat for the simplest and yet possibly the most fun and playful song on the album.
“When strangers say hello” is an excellent introduction to this young, gifted singer-songwriter. I am sure it will be a while before Anthony Fiumano’s next album, but I am already looking forward to hearing how his music continues to grow.
http://www.myspace.com/anthonyfiumano