It's Quite a Heyday for Local Songwriter

The following article appeared in tonight’s issue of the Rochester (Minnesota) Post-Bulletin newspaper. Remember, all pre-orders through www.tonypucci.com for UNFOLDING will also receive the new PUCCIPOP 101 compilation CD free!


It's Quite a Heyday for Local Songwriter
--Christina Killion Valdez/Rochester Post-Bulletin

The enthusiasm was palpable when Tony Pucci, who's easily Rochester's most prolific songwriter, scored his major label debut.

The was Pucci put it in an e-mail newsletter was, "After 38 years, 83 'fake' CDs, god knows how many songs (not all of them good, but I learned), dozens of guitars, 100s of road trips to band practices and guitar stores, being hit on for being a musician exactly ONCE (and in eighth grade, no less, for a terrible ORGAN solo), a few bloody pick guards (power pop, baby), a few broken guitar necks (calm down petal), and even a couple of paisley shirts...I HAVE A REALL CD COMING OUT! AND ON HEYDAY FREEKIN' HEYDAY RECORDS, BABY!!!"

The capital letters weren't an overstatement for the homespun musician, who to date has self-released 85 CDs.

Pucci's original introduction to Heyday Records was while surfing the record label's music catalog online, he said.

Soon he'll see his own disc there.

"It's a treat for me to be associated with Heyday Records," Pucci said. "I'm taking that seriously."

Robert Rankin Walker, who runs the indie label, first included a song by Pucci on a Heyday Records sampler CD.

"What first struck me was the amazing amount of output he did," Rankin Walker said. "It seemed like every time I turned around, he had a new CD recorded. So, I started listen to more of his stuff."

It was mastering the tracks for "Unfolding" that convinced Rankin Walker to include it on the label.

"The songs really grew on me and the lyrics were great," he said.

However, working with a record label was a learning experience for the homegrown musician.

"When I got the mast back at first I thought it sounded awful," Pucci said. "I'm so used to hearing my music in a raw kind of way, not with a studio sheen on it. I thought, 'Is this my CD?' Then I started listening and it was so good that it sounded bad at first."

Plus there's the wait time.

"I usually finish the last song and the CD is done," Pucci said.

The time, Pucci finished recording the CD at his home studio with help from his friend, Leïlah Accioly, who co-produced the disc from her home in Brazil, back in November 2005, he said.

"That's what I think is killing me since then," Pucci said, "I'm used to a certain sense of closure."

The CD release has been pushed back several times, but is expected out this month with a batch of Heyday Records artists, including one of Pucci's favorites, Noctorum with Marty Willson-Piper, the guitarist for The Church, and Dare Mason.

On the Web
"Unfolding" by Tony Pucci will be released in June on Heyday Records. Pre-orders for the Pucci and Noctorum CDs are being taken at www.heyday.com
More on Tony Pucci: www.tonypucci.com (note: all pre-orders taken at www.tonypucci.com will include a free copy of Tony's "PucciPop 101" compilation CD)