Have a seat and relax with me here for a minute. I’m gonna tell you a story.

If you’re looking for something more press-ready and on-point, you can visit my press resources page here.

Ok, here it goes…

I used to believe I was different from everyone else and lived a lot of my early years with my head in the clouds. Undoing that has been a long and amazing journey.

Through it all, I think I have found gratitude, grounding and even some peace. The greatest and most comforting thing I’ve learned is that I’m not different, I’m just like you. This is really good, because when people are the same, it’s easy to become friends.

Just like you, this regular-Joe has lived and loved, won and lost, jumped into the game, and run like hell out of fear to escape it. I’ve been the hero and the fool. Some days I couldn’t imagine going forward even one more step, and other days I couldn’t imagine a world more perfect. These days, I just try to stay balanced and focused and fearless about what I love doing… Making music and sharing it with you.

I was born in Queens, NY to a beautiful American-born Italian mother and very classy and hard-working Italian immigrant father. I have a loving sister who is my polar opposite. I’m a father and a husband, a friend and an uncle.

When I was in grade school, we moved east. My formative years were spent kicking around Long Island, playing air guitar on tennis rackets, riding my bike, going to the mall, eating with my big Italian family, and doing as little studying as I could get away with during the school year.

There was never a time in my life where I didn’t want to be a musician. Though there would be many years where I tried to convince myself otherwise.

The first 23 years of my life were spent dreaming about stardom, growing out my hair, and playing in high school and college bands. I had the best friends a guy could ever wish for. After studying photography in college (just in case), me and my buddies moved to Boston to make a go of it musically. We had everything going for us and nothing to hold us back, but something in side of me wasn’t ready. I got scared and chickened out.

Eight years later… after a string of short-lived career changes – out of shape, ungrateful and defeated; a young man with a beautiful wife and an angelic newborn child – I was miserable. Looking in the mirror, all I could see was a man who had given up on everything he ever wanted to do with his life. I had put myself in a box and was acting like the man I thought everyone else wanted me to be. It was all wrong and I fell to pieces.

I must have had a lot of angels rooting for me, because somehow I found the strength to pick myself up and start again. It took many years to break through the defenses, false beliefs and fears that kept me from doing what I loved and wanted to do with my life.

Many years of trial and error; after cutting my teeth in NYC open mics and clubs – practicing and writing and performing and listening – and not giving up again – opened the door for the voice that would make my first record “Traveling Salesman” possible.

I can’t believe Traveling Salesman was completed over a year ago. I’ve met and connected with so many beautiful people since its release. Now I’m getting ready to make my second record. It’s so wild, it’s like a dream.

Well, that’s about it. I’m sure I left out something significant that would make this all more meaningful. The influences and the songs… The lovers and the broken hearts… The books and the teachers…

In some ways it feels like I’m looking back at someone else’s life. I don’t know how this all happened, but I can’t imagine it happening any other way. All I do know is that I’m grateful to have you along with me on this journey. I have no idea where it’s going to take us, but I have faith that we are on the right course…

Thanks so much for listening. Keep in touch.

Much Love,
Joe