Dear friends!
Happy Month of Love!
The truth is that our each and every day should be full of love but we do seem to associate February with love which is the perfect moment. I am honored tointroduce to you, our February featured celebrity performer, Tim Di Pasqua.
For those of you who don't know him, here's a little bio for starters:
Tim Di Pasqua is an award-winning singer/songwriter/composer/pianist from San Francisco who started his professional musical career singing and playing five nights a week at The Mark Hopkins Hotel. A graduate of SFSU with a BA in drama, Tim is also an accomplished actor who received his Actor's Equity Card and rave reviews in the long running hit Side By Side By Sondheim at the Plush Room. As a singer/songwriter Tim has performed his music in all the major clubs and halls from San Francisco to New York. Tim has six recordings to his credit; a solo album of his singing all his own original material, two recordings of his original material sung by himself and some of the best voices from Broadway and the Pop world, and two solo piano instrumental albums with songs from the Great American Songbook. Tim has played for or shared the stage with Michael Feinstein, Stephen Schwartz, Neil Sedaka, Carol Hall and received glowing reviews and awards for being a part of a trio called SOUTHERN COMFORT celebrating country music. Tim's original songs have been performed live and recorded by some of the best voices in the business from J.Robert Spencer, Deedee Magno Hall, David, Stephen Schwartz, Ann Marie, Brian Lane Green, Scott Coulter, Alix Korey, Capathia Jenkins. Tim has also served as musical director for David Sabella-Mills, Lisa Viggiano, Tom Andersen, Philip Officer, David Burnham, Eden Espinosa, Carol Hall, Stephen Schwartz. Tim is the recipient of four Backstage Bistro Awards including Song Of The Year, as well as a New York Nightlife Award. Tim is the composer and lyricist for many musical theater projects including SYNCHRONICITY, NOTES ON NEW YORK - THE MUSICALIZED OBSERVATIONS OF TIM DI PASQUA, AN APARTMENT ON THE UPPER WEST SIDE, TWO SPIRITS, JULES - The life and time of JULIAN ELTINGE.
I was introduced to the wonderful music of "Tim" last year by my dear friend, our first spotlight Lisa Viggiano. Tim has a way of "touching" the audience with his music and stories. You have to experience it to know what it's like! I saw him and instantly became a fan. Tim is full of love, which is why I wanted to share him with all of you this month of love!
For the interview, I asked him the following questions.
1. Can you share with us some interesting facts that most people don’t know about you?
Back in San Francisco I spent a short period of time being an assistant to Francis Ford Coppola. His studio, Zoetrope, was located in the heart of San Francisco, and I would often drive him to his home to Rutherford, in the wine country. I drove the art director of The Godfather lll from SFO airport to Rutherford with a scale model of one of the sets. I also served as waiter for Sophia's graduation party at the house. After dinner, the kids were picked up in a half dozen Tucker cars. FFC has just finished filming the movie Tucker. I would also work their annual Easter barbecues serving found and drink to their family and friends including Nicholas Cage, Carmine Coppola, Talia Shire, George Lucas, Governor Jerry Brown and then girlfriend Linda Rondstadt.
2. You are an amazing entertainer, writer, composer, producer and SO much more. How did you discover your love for music and composing and realized that it was what you wanted to do?
I started playing the piano by ear when I was two and a half. I began writing poetry around seven, I started composing instrumentals around ten and then I started combining music and lyrics in early songwriting form around fifteen. My brother gave me Joni Mitchell's BLUE and James Taylor's MUD SLIDE SLIM and I knew that I would love to do what they did. I discovered theater in high school and Sondheim soon after that and knew that the musical stage landscape was another venue I'd love to dwell in and create in. And it was in my mid twenties that I found myself doing everything from writing and singing my own music and lyrics to composing music and lyrics for the stage and loving that there were no boundaries to my musical expression.
3. Do you have a couple of particularly interesting stories that you'd like to share with the readers?
I got kicked out of my apartment in San Francisco in 1992 and at the same time received an offer from my friend Tom Andersen to accompany him at his Carnegie Hall debut. I of course. said yes and that started what ended up being my bi-coastal migration that lasted over twenty years. I don't read nor write music. I play by ear and yet Tom was going to be using a combo of bass and drums so he needed to have a least a rudimentary lead sheet to give the musicians. I did my best to comply. But the arrangements I was coming up with the material he was doing, everything from Broadway to Pop to original compositions Tom and I wrote, were sometimes intricate and syncopated. And there were tunes that ended up being amalgamated hybrids of two or more songs woven together. For instance, Tom sang ANYONE CAN WHISTLE and I supported him and the song with the accompaniment of SUNDAY from SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE by Stephen Sondheim. Well we performed the concert at Carnegie Hall, and as Tom was giving his THANK YOUs and GOOD BYEs, he said "And I want to thank Stephen Sondheim for being here tonight". Well I freaked out as we excited the stage and just as soon as our dressing room door shut behind us, we heard a tap on the door as found out that it was Sondheim himself. The picture that I have of us is a treasure indeed, but the expression on my face is pained and uncomfortable to say the least. A few weeks later, I received a note from him telling me that he was initially surprised to hear the pairing of motifs, but they worked. His letter is hanging on my wall.
4. What motivates your creativity and passion for life? Name three things that never fails to put a smile on your face!
There is and always has been a burning cauldron of musical energy rumbling inside of me. Sometimes it's a clear, cool wellspring that geysers up periodically, but there is always something liquid and musical churning within. Melodies are constantly playing in my head. Lyrics are flashing across my mind in newsfeed-crawl steadiness. And every now and then the two pair in one rapturous moment and something new is born. So there is rarely a need to poke the bear of creativity as there is always something rumbling about. It's more of a question of whether I have to energy and the capacity to settle down and be the recipient of something new, or not. Three things that always put a smile on my face - 1. My husband, Greg. 2. Health food stores and restaurants. 3. Water: Ocean, Fog, Bath, Stream, Lake.
5. Share with us what you have in the pipeline for us to be on the lookout for!
I am in the studio working on my second solo vocal album of all new and original material. It's my follow-up to my first release MONSTER UNDER THESE CONDITIONS. I have just completed my second piano solo album called AN EVENING ON CAPE COD and is available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and CD BABY. It's a follow up to AN EVENING IN SAN FRANCISCO featuring classic songs from the Golden Age of the Great American Songbook. I am working on two musicals. One called AN APARTMENT ON THE UPPER WEST SIDE and the other TWO SPIRITS, about the lives of gay and lesbian members of the indigenous first nation tribes of the early Americas. And last but not least, I will be at The Bitter End on Thursday, April 5th at 7:00 with my band doing a set of all original music.
Are you tickled by this interview?? JOIN US AT THE NEXT SPOTLIGHT ON YOU OPEN MIC ON FEBRUARY 16TH TO EXPERIENCE THE MUSIC OF TIM DI PASQUA FOR YOURSELF!
I PROMISE YOU WONT REGRET IT!
Stayed tuned for my interview with our featured musical director of the month Ian Herman, coming up next!
IN THE MEANTIME, INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND MARK YOUR CALENDARS TO JOIN US AT THE SPOTLIGHT ON FEBRUARY 16TH!
WITH LOVE,
NATASHA