dante was born in Providence, RI in 1948. Born to a 2nd generation Italian immigrant father and an English heritage mother, music filled his life from the beginning.
"My father could play just about any instrument. piano, trumpet, accordion, guitar and some I probably never actually heard him play. He had an uncanny ability to pick up an instrument and teach himself to play it. He never read music and had no formal training. He had a great voice and could sing any kind of music from opera to Sinatra."
"My parents introduced me to country music as a young boy. We listened to WSM and the Grand Ole Opry every Sunday night on Armed Forces Radio. We didn't have a TV at the time and radio was our entertainment. I remember hearing all the old time greats, Hank Snow, Ferlin Husky, Patsy Cline, Grampa Jones, Minnie Pearl, Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn."
Like most teens of that late 50's era dante got into rock and roll but still kept the country influence. "I gravitated more towards the folk music side of rock than the hard rock side. I preferred Roy Orbison, John Denver, and the Mamas and Papas, to Elvis and the Beatles or the Stones."
dante picked up his older brother's Fender guitar at 14 and began picking out songs. "I remember the first song I ever learned to play was "House of the Rising Sun". I played it over and over and over and nearly drove my mother crazy."
Totally self taught, dante began to play rhythm guitar with a high school rock band and provide backup vocals during the late 1960s. He sang in his high school choir and was a member of the barbershop group there. His cherished Gibson J-45 guitar was a gift on his 18th birthday. He still plays it regularly. "My problem is that I can't adequately sing AND play at the same time. My real instrument is my voice, so when I perform I usually just carry the Gibson for show."
After a 3 year tour in the Army during Vietnam, dante had a born-again experience which influenced his music tremendously. "I found a WHOLE new musical genre - gospel. This was entirely new to me as a former Catholic altar boy. The old hymns and the early 70's contemporary Christian music began the 'performance' side of my music. I loved singing 'special music' for the church." Steve Green was a great influence at that time."
When his 30 year marriage ended, dante turned more and more to traditional country music to help him through the hurt. "It was just at that time that I discovered KARAOKE! I would sing every Friday night at a bar in Hamden, CT. I really loved that time and made many lifelong friends."
Today dante has his own production company, RAm Records. He has self-produced 6 albums and, of course, dreams of being signed by a major recording label.