Tony's band Free Spirit

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Short Stories                         Music

Anthony's earliest memories are of being surrounded by music, as his father was a popular jazz musician that made a living playing saxophone/flute and teaching music theory privately. However, Anthony’s biggest influence was the burgeoning rock/pop scene of the late ‘60s, ‘70s and later the ‘80s. Anthony’s mother had a profound affect on him by exposing Anthony to music by The Beatles, The Monkees, The Young Rascals, Herman and the Hermits, Mommas and the Pappas, Bob Dylan, Edwin Starr, Jackson Five, Cream, Petula Clark, and later on the influences became, Sting/Police, Led Zeppelin, Allmond Brothers, Bad Company, Styx, Jackson Browne and Little Steven - basically everything on album oriented rock (AOR) radio stations.

At age 21, Anthony had a bad car accident in Maryland, where he'd been living since he was 16. The accident caused a high-level Spinal Cord injury, leaving Anthony confined to a wheelchair, losing his ability to play guitar and piano. Approximately two years after his accident, Anthony moved back to Florida, learned to drive again, adjusted to life in his new body and eventually graduated college with a B.A. degree in Mass Communications from the University of South Florida

While attending classes, he began freelance writing as a music journalist and a humor columnist for USF's newspaper, The Oracle. From there Anthony began writing feature articles and reviews for other music magazines which focused on the Florida music scene. It was during this time that Anthony began experimenting with creating music again, buying studio time at a local recording studio and working closely with recording engineer/guitarist George Harris. Together, the two took some of Anthony's raw song ideas and polished them up, eventually recording some to create a four-song EP, called, Under No Flag, with Anthony writing lyrics and performing vocals, while George and other musicians played the instruments. According to Anthony, the release was a statement on individual thought, breaking the chains of stereotypes..

Under No Flag gained praise from local media, and in 1994 Anthony was awarded an art grant through the Pinellas County Arts Council to produce, market, and distribute professional copies. Soon after the release, Anthony was asked to perform live with a guitarist and violinist on the local community radio station as a featured artist, and was featured artist on another radio program, along with playing coffeehouses.

Anthony has remained active musically, having sang in various acoustic duos/trios that played in bars/resorts in the Tampa Bay-area. Anthony’s last band was an interesting combination of guitar, vocal and violin. They were called Free Spirit; guitarist, Aaron Frohna; violinist, Chris Saarikko and Anthony, lead vocals. The band performed regularly in local venues for a few years and recorded their own versions of some cover songs. Anthony still plays occasionally with interesting guitar players, such as, Ian vom Saal and Kurt Landenburger.

Along with his music background, Anthony has written many fiction and nonfiction short stories, some of which are featured on this site. Please listen, read and purchase Anthony’s work on this site by clicking the appropriate buttons, and remember, in the words of Anthony:

We all must paint the canvas of our life—be the artist!