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Fan Fare

Joe D'Urso

Harry Nydick

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Fan Fare

Joe D'Urso

by Mike Grayeb

Joe D'Urso
photos courtesy Guy Aceto

When family or friends ask singer-songwriter Joe D'Urso about what's going on in the music industry, he tells them he wouldn't know.

"That business is literally Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake pulling their clothes off at the Super Bowl," he said. "I am so far removed from all of that."

D'Urso, who has been performing since 1989, said songwriting is a much more personal matter. "You're trying to get through to the person and create a one-on-one experience," he said. And, like Harry Chapin, D'Urso believes his songwriting and performing can also be vehicles to help those in need.

In the 15 years since he started performing professionally, D'Urso and his band Stone Caravan, without the support of a record company, have quietly developed an international following in the U.S., England, Wales, Italy, Ireland and Switzerland.

Sometimes D'Urso performs with the band, which has a musical style that is often described as "roots rock" because of its ties to the traditional values of the early years of rock and roll. "I always remember liking older songs like stuff from the fifties and sixties - the Beatles, Dylan and others," he said. "To this day it's still a huge love of mine."

Last year, the band performed its own music during "after parties" in small venues following Bruce Springsteen stadium concerts. The band has also performed as a supporting act for Nils Lofgren, the Hooters, and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, as well as on the international tour in celebration of Harley-Davidson's 100th anniversary. Other performers on the tour included the Neville Brothers, Allison Krauss, Ted Nugent, Tim McGraw, Travis Tritt, and Bad Company.

Other times, including on his newest CD entitled Audience Of One, D'Urso presents quiet acoustic songs he wrote and first performed while at home with his infant son Guthrie.

"My wife was getting to the end of her second pregnancy, and I was putting my 16-month-old son Guthrie to sleep every night," he explained. "I would come up with new melodies and sing them to him in his room even after he fell asleep. The lighting and solitude of the room was great."

He recalled the first time he connected with Harry's music. "When I was 15 years old, I snuck into a little bar in Valley Cottage, New York," he explained. "They had an open mic night going on, and a friend and I got up with a couple of beers and a lot of nerve and we sang 'Taxi' because I knew how different it sounded from everything else."

In recent years, D'Urso included some references to Harry in his own songs, including the track called "The Key" on his 1998 album Glow. "I played it on July 16th at the Stone Pony, and I told the audience that the day held a few meanings for me," he explained. "It was the day I lost my virginity as a kid; it was my mom's birthday and the day Harry was killed."

On the double CD Both Sides Of Life, D'Urso's song "Falling" features a nod to Harry. "The song is about a woman walking into a greasy spoon restaurant, and the guy behind the counter is taken by her," he said. "The scene plays out and one of the lines is 'she hands him 20 dollars for a $2.50 tab; he fumbles with the change, watches her leave in a cab.'"

But D'Urso's link to Harry goes far beyond his songs. Every year, he performs at a benefit concert called "Blanketfest" to help the homeless. "A friend of mine started it a few years ago, and the only way to get in is by bringing a blanket," he said. "We raised about 500 blankets this year."

He also performs benefit and fundraiser concerts to combat autism, and he appeared on the Bruce Springsteen Tribute CD called One Step Up, Two Steps Back a few years ago. For every copy of that CD sold, $1 goes to World Hunger Year (WHY), which was co-founded by Harry. D'Urso also performed at benefit concerts for WHY to support the launch of the CD.

Since that time, he has gotten more involved with WHY. He has volunteered at the Hungerthon phone bank, and he has organized and performed at several Hungerthon benefit concerts in New York and New Jersey. "I always tell the guys in my band that somebody ate tonight because of what they did," he said. "They can relate to that."

Now, D'Urso's fans are catching the spirit of giving back. With his blessing, a fan in England has duplicated and sold "bootleg" CDs of live D'Urso concerts, with the net proceeds going to WHY (see http://www.tellmewhy.org.uk/). "They've raised about $5,000-$6,000 through those sales which they've donated to WHY," he said.

D'Urso said his perspective is that performing and giving back go hand in hand. "I can't imagine playing music and not helping people out," he said.

As an independent artist without the support of a major record label, he knows he has not chosen an easy career path. "I'm just trying to stay alive creatively and commercially," he said. "It's by far the hardest thing I've ever done, but the emotional and humanity payback I've gotten from this is priceless. He has also made an effort to appreciate all that life has to offer. "Somewhere along the line I learned how to enjoy the journey a lot more than just worrying about the destination," he said.

Watch for the Next Issue of Circle! on June 7