John Anthony

John Anthony: Singer, musician, song writer, and all around entertainer. The first born of four children, to Mickey and Sarah Natale in Albany New York, John spent his formidable years in the Bronx living right above the social club made famous by childhood friend Chazz Palminteri's "A Bronx Tale". While attending art school John was honored with several awards as one of New York's most talented student artists, but his heart belonged to his music so at night John would hone his musical skills working at night in local clubs. After finishing school he joined a popular lounge act and traveled across the U.S. and military bases over seas with what he says were some of the best musicians he'd ever worked with. John then focused more on his singing talent and decided to stay in New York to train with the finest coaches the city had to offer. A few years later he was asked to join the, then famous, New Christy Minstrels as one of their lead singers. This was so far from John's genre of music that it took some coaxing from family and friends before deciding to take the offer. He soon fell in love with the music and formed a bond with group members that he says will last forever. The time spent with the Christy Minstrels afforded John the opportunity to work large venues at home and around the globe. Some of the most notable were the White House, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in Canada, Main Show Room at the Sahara Las Vegas, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, and numerous radio and television shows. In fact, during the taping of a Mike Douglas show in Philadelphia, Mr. Douglas referred to John as, "New York's answer to Tom Jones." Soon after, the group disbanded and John returned home to devote more time to song writing. He soon found his way into A1 Sound Studios in Manhattan where he was able to develop his production skills. Missing live performance, John reached out to artist representative Evelyn White who treated him as one of her own. A short time later Evelyn found a spot for him as featured singer with the Guy Lombardo Orchestra. This was not exactly what John had in mind but he was back on stage. After a year of one-nighters across the U.S. and Canada, highlighted by the The Guy Lombardo New Years Eve Show on C.B.S., John started to realize that the direction he was heading in musically was not where he needed to be. If he was to be recognized in this industry he felt that he would have to go out on his own as a featured act performing the kind of music people would identify him with, After a few months of intense rehearsal, John's new act debuted at Lake Geneva's Playboy Club in Wisconsin to rave reviews. Because Playboy catered to a high end clientele and had a string of clubs around the world it seemed that John had found the perfect vehicle he needed to get his career back on track. Unfortunately, for John the Playboy organization decided the clubs were not showing a profit and a year later decided to shut down operations. Just about that time the music industry began to make radical changes, enough so that John didn't see any way he could adapt. It would be one of the toughest decisions he would ever make; in 1990 John decided to call it quits. In 2003, while listening to Josh Grobin and Andre Bocelli CDs given to him by a friend, John could see a spark of light emitting from the business he had always loved! Quitting proved to be a heck of a lot easier than getting started again, but with the help of family and friends John is back to stay this time. In 2007 John recorded his new CD (Chameleon). Showing his ability to cross over into any style of music he picked 12 songs originally made popular by different artists, over a fifty year period, and made it sound like you just heard them for the first time, every time. "I find that the music business is like a giant plinko board and you're that round disc trying to reach the prize slot at the bottom. Any slight change in direction can easily take you further away from your goal. Although I treasure all the experiences, friendships, places I might have never seen, and being exposed to a vast variety of great music, the fact is that each decision I made, no matter how slight, took me further from where I needed to be to achieve my goals."found this plain layout at HOT FreeLayouts.com :: MyHotComments