MICHAEL FRACASSO
AMERICANA SONGWRITER
Born of Italian immigrant parents, MICHAEL FRACASSO grew up in MINGO JUNCTION, a steel-mill town in OHIO. His father worked in the mill. Michael learned about music listening to AM RADIO and at the COUNTRY MUSIC JAMBOREE in Wheeling, W. Va., twenty miles down The Ohio River. Michael worked summers in the steel mill and for college, first went to OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY in Columbus, and then to WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY in Pullman. Finally, taking a circuitous route, he made it to NEW YORK CITY, where he learned the art of SONGWRITING.
In NEW YORK, Michael went straight to the CORNELIA STREET CAF in GREENWICH VILLAGE where a songwriter exchange was held each Monday night. In the audience and on stage were some of New York's best songwriters of the new folk scene: Suzanne Vega, The Roches, Mark Johnson, and Steve Forbert.
Michael says that To get up in that small cafe was intimidating, but the exhilaration of playing is what kept me going. While in New York, a reviewer in VARIETY once described his songs as having a "RUSTIC SOUND WITH A CITY SENSIBILITY".
In 1990, Michael moved to AUSTIN, TEXAS with everything that would fit in the back of his Volkswagen Rabbit, mostly guitars. He found his equivalent in Austin's rich musical heritage and the help of CHARLIE SEXTON and other talented musicians and friends.
Michael has recorded SIX ALBUMS - A POCKET FULL OF RAIN - RETROSPECTIVE - BACK TO OKLAHOMA - WORLD IN A DROP OF WATER - WHEN I LIVED IN THE WILD - LOVE AND TRUST. He has also TOURED NATIONALLY with PATTY GRIFFIN, LUCINDA WILLIAMS, and JAMES McMURTRY among others.
Michael has just completed his SEVENTH ALBUM, RED DOG BLUES, with the help of producer DAVID HAMBURGER. His high lonesome tenor that has been compared to that of legendary singers and his songs have been recorded by many artists.
CDBABY LINK for
MICHAEL FRACASSO
RED DOG BLUES
red dog blues @ musicstore.connect.com
red dog blues @ emusic.com
Excerpt from the print edition of
DIRTY LINEN no. 130 June/July 2007
www.dirtylinen.com
by ANNETTE C. ESHLEMAN
Even Austin, Texas, gets chilly in early January. Conducting an interview outdoors may not have been such a wise idea.
But with a heater glowing nearby, outdoor seating at a popular South Austin caf was comfortable. Over a cup of hot
tea, Michael Fracasso talked about his childhood, music career, songwriting, and a brand new album. All the while, his
dog waited patiently nearby.
When he is not on the road, Michael Fracasso is a stay-at-home dad who cooks dinner and picks up the kids from school.
A traditional dinner hour then becomes the focal point of the Fracasso family's day. "I try to keep that tradition
going," he said. "I grew up with a family that sat down and ate at the dinner table, and I try to keep that going. It's
probably the most important aspect of our family life." And, he added with satisfaction, "The kids like it." He and his
wife, Paula, have two young children.
Fracasso grew up in Mingo Junction, Ohio, the small steel-mill town located along the Ohio River that served as
location for the 1978 movie The Deer Hunter. His parents later moved the family a few miles north to Steubenville,
Ohio, a bigger town than Mingo Junction, yet still largely dependent upon the steel mill for survival. Fracasso's
father worked in the mill, and Michael eventually found employment there as well, working summers during his college
years.
"I did not like working there," Fracasso declared emphatically. "I remember the first day I got there, they put me on a
crew called the Labor Gang. I had to wear a rubber suit and go down into a grease pit, in the middle of summer," he
said, wincing at the memory. "They put me in the blast furnace after that, which was even worse," he recalled, noting
that seasonal workers usually received the least desirable assignments.
Although Fracasso remembers his employment at the steel mill with a degree of scorn, he also appreciates the harsh
beauty of that way of life. He added, "Sometimes when I'm driving and I'm back in that area, sometimes something inside
me…"
Searching for words, he continued with an element of nostalgia in his voice, "I liked the anonymity of that kind of
work, the invisible-ness of it, and being able to observe things that were completely foreign to me," he said. "I do
have a fondness for industrial settings. I think they're beautiful, in a way."
Fracasso's parents, Italian immigrants, spoke Italian at home, and he considers himself to be moderately proficient in
the language. He and his two sisters grew up in a close family, surrounded by tradition and with a close connection to
their heritage. He attended Catholic school and later went to college, earning a degree in environmental science. All
along, however, music remained his passion.
Even as a child, Fracasso was creating music. "I remember writing a song as a little boy, just off the top of my head
while we were playing a game," he reminisced. "I don't remember the song, but I remember the feeling of, 'Wow, those
words just all came out of me… they just came out!' At the time I was probably 8 or 9, and I remember doing it, and I
remember the experience of how it felt."
"When I was in eighth grade," Fracasso continued, "I discovered folk music." He was captivated, and he convinced his
father to buy him a folk guitar. Soon he began to take lessons. He wrote songs constantly throughout his school years
and performed at local coffeehouses.
Finally, at the age of 26, Fracasso made the decision to move to New York City to pursue a career as a musician. "Ever
since I bought a Bob Dylan record, I felt like I wanted to move to New York," he said. "It just struck a chord in me…
there was something about it that was, you know, the whole poet on the street. It made a big impact on me… musically,
as well.
For further information, please visit
MICHAEL FRACASSO'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE
www.michaelfracasso.com
