- Philadelphia singer/songwriter Tony Mecca serves wisdom from deep in the inner city via a delicious storytelling based blueprint that inventively incorporates elements of Pop, Blues, Folk and plain old Rock 'n Roll. His stories fuse equal amounts of humor and sympathy to thoughtfully examine life experiences, personalities and real people dealing with ordinary and sometimes surreal circumstances. But plodding and tedious meditation are avoided at all costs, and rock ‘n’ roll sensibilities are injected at every opportunity to keep the proceedings vibrant, fun and quite distant from the music of most other artists residing in the singer/songwriter region. - Through live performances with his Heavy MeNtal Gypsys, and his steadily growing recorded output: Purple Monkeys (2003) Princes of the New Dark Age (2005) Hello, Goodbye & Everything in Between (2007) Fun (2011) Heavy Mental Gypsies (2016) Fractured Poetry (2020) Mecca has developed a loyal following in and around his home town that has gradually infiltrated other regions both nationally and abroad. - His music has been labeled Classic Rock, Singer-Songwriter and Adult Contemporary among others. He calls it Adventurous Singer/Songwriter and Urban American Heavy MeNtal. - In reviews his songs and sound has been compared to Springsteen, Petty, Mellencamp, Tom Waits and Cat Stevens. In a poll of his fans he was described as: “The bastard son of Huey Lewis and Joni Mitchell” “The Who fronted by John Prine” “The Working Man’s Wagner”.
After all of these years, it is simply what I do … constantly.
Having many of my songs licensed for movie and TV opportunities is certainly one that has come true. At this point I would say to continue to be fortunate to write, record, perform … and even travel to new places and perform.
Keeping the nasty people out of the lives of the wonderful people.
So many great memories … defining childhood as my elementary school years, I'll say "How Can I Be Sure" by the incomparable Rascals.
Frank Zappa, The Doors, Humble Pie, Jethro Tull, Van Morrison, Gentle Giant, Traffic, Yes, Caravan, King Crimson, Tom Waits, Boz Scaggs, Soft Machine, Joe Jackson, XTC … So many. Don't know some of these artists? Check 'em out now!
Must be my DNA … because I've always, and continue to make the attempt.
Outside of my whimsical tunes, I focus mostly on people ,and the typical and sometimes surreal challenges that we face. "The human drill."
Privileged and electrified.
Same as it ever was, except that now instead of devoting your entire effort to obtain the majestic and elusive "record deal," artists have the opportunity to make an impression via social media and so many other avenues. You just have to truly love it and get educated on many other areas relating to musical success.
Facebook for musicians, writers and producer. Makes it easy to see how many other talented folks are out their. Even folk just doing it for their own amusement. I hear so much good material on Drooble.
Very hard to get gigs. So many clubs, bars and venues closing.
Yes. When I'm not playing I get out to the local clubs and bars to see both original and cover bands.