Oceanview Press review of Dawn of a Waking Man by Rob Watts - January 2009
"Dawn of a Waking Man, the latest project by Boston area musician Rick Pisano is a straight ahead, no-nonsense blues
album with such raucous intensity that it's just impossible to turn the album off without a full listen. The vortex of galvanized
guitar, bass and drum work is loose yet energetic while Pisano's vocals are playful while staying true to blues form. From the
bombastic "Ain't no such thing as the Boston Blues" to the soulful "Ain't got the Blues Since I Met You"
reassures you that you're not listening to your fathers blues albums. The contemporary sound takes nothing away from the heart
of the work and all ten tracks are in fine form. Wisely, every track performed on the album is written and produced by Pisano, which
is a breath of fresh air as of late with many blues artists feeling inclined to add a Bumble Bee Slim or Robert Cray rendition on
their album. The greasy glossy six-string work on 'Can't Get Enough" and "One Night in Montreal" will have
you dusting off the ol' air guitar and "It Comes and Goes" will have you stomping your foot from the first chord. A
truly enjoyable blues-rock album that will do your collection proud. Pick it up and get the party started."
Local singer/songwriter realizes dream with debut CD, ‘Dawn of a Waking Man’
BY SEAN LEONARD - THE DAILY ITEM
At age 57, East Boston native and Revere High School graduate Rick Pisano has sights set on something he nearly accomplished in his
early 20s, launching a career as a singer/songwriter.
Pisano, who lives today with his wife Carolyn and son Nick in Methuen, reached a milestone toward that goal in November, when he
released his self-produced debut CD, "Dawn of a Waking Man," which includes the gritty and catchy Hub tribute
track, "Ain’t No Such Thing As The Boston Blues."
"The album took two years to produce, but it’s really a lifetime of work and experience that went into it," said Pisano,
who might best be described as a cross between George Thorogood and Neil Diamond. Pisano and his brother, Fred, were ages 12 and 15,
respectively, when The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 9, 1964. "Man, they were great! Soon thereafter, my parents
bought me an electric guitar and my brother a drum set and our first basement/cellar band was born. From that moment on, we were
hooked on the music business." But they soon learned it was a difficult road. The brothers, who spent most of their childhood in
Revere, spent several years, he said, "performing in small nightclubs and dingy lounges as part of some very forgettable bands —
while our deprived managers/agents took most of our money. Hardly what we had envisioned on that magical night in 1964." The duo
left the club scene and turned their focus to writing lyrics and music, and in 1972 made frequent trips to New York City hoping to be
discovered. "Equipped with a guitar, a briefcase, and a dream, we walked the corridors of New York’s famed Brill Building and
knocked on doors in hopes of meeting any publisher or label who would listen," Pisano said. One day in 1972, he said, they got
their chance. "We carried a bunch of lyric sheets and we were lucky enough to get in to see someone, but it was very
disheartening," he said. "You’d play something for 20 or 30 seconds, they’d stop you and ask if you had anything else...
"To be honest, we were just cutting our teeth as songwriters and we weren’t very good at the time."
While a label did pick up two songs Pisano wrote in the late 70s, he said that included a reversion clause, where the rights to songs
went back to the owner if they weren’t placed with artists. "And that’s what happened," he said. Over the next three decades,
Pisano said, his and his brother’s personal lives — college, different jobs — clouded their ambition. But Pisano never lost the passion
for music or the desire to give it another try. "After the independent (recording) market came back four or five years ago, I said
why not?" said Pisano, a Franklin Pierce College graduate who had worked a variety of jobs including sales and at the time was
working at a staffing firm in Lynn. "I just went to work writing lyrics," he said, "and all the tracks for Dawn of a
Waking Man just came to me." The title of the CD refers to his re-emergence as a singer/songwriter, and all 10 tracks were
written, arranged and produced by Pisano with studio artists including Joe Laquidara on rhythm, at Laquidara’s Oak Grove Studio in Malden.
Other musicians assisting in the studio were George Persiantsev on synthesizer, Ed Harlow on alto sax and flute, Joe Casano on trumpet,
Jeff Galindo on trombone, Daniel Cate on harmonica and Athene Wilson on backup vocals.
His brother, Fred, incidentally, also collaborated with Rick on the CD and is a partner with him in their Brothers II Productions, LLC.
In addition to "Ain’t No Such Thing As the Boston Blues," — which he said he’d like to see rival "Love That
Dirty Water" as an anthem for Boston — he said he is most proud of his ballad, "Newport Nights With You."
Another track, "Don’t Do The Crime If You Can’t Do The Time," sounds like it would fit perfectly into a Hollywood
motion picture soundtrack. Since the CD’s release, Pisano said he has enjoyed widespread play on Internet radio, but is just beginning
his own publicity efforts aimed at scoring airtime on Boston radio stations. At best, he hopes to hit pay dirt this go of it in the
music industry, he said. But regardless, he said, producing his debut CD is a lifetime dream realized.
Visit www.rickpisano.com to hear tracks from Dawn of a Waking Man, which includes links
to purchase the album ($9.99) through CDBaby. It is also for sale through
indierythm.com.
