Five Firsts: Anthony Fallacaro

NAME: Anthony Fallacaro
INSTRUMENT: Guitar, vocals

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … Garth Brooks’ “The Hits”! That’s Garth Brooks’ greatest hits right there – hilarious. I was five or six at the time, and my family was down in New York City. We stopped at a music store in Times Square, and I got the okay to pick out one CD for myself. I picked it because the album art looked cool. I ended up digging Garth anyways… but not Chris Gaines.

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … The Beach Boys at the State Fair in Syracuse. I was real sick, and it rained a lot! Because I was so young, I thought all the guys in the band would look young and clean-cut like they did on the covers of their early albums, which is what I knew them from. Sure as rain, they didn’t, but I remember they played a killer show.

3. THE FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I EVER OWNED OR PLAYED WAS … The first instrument I ever played was piano, which I started taking lessons for around age five. My teacher, Adelina, showed me that hard work is rewarded. She also taught me about balance though, and if you love it, it won’t feel like work.

4. THE FIRST SONG THAT I EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC WAS … I don’t remember, to be honest. It was something on piano for a recital a long time ago. However, I do remember the first time I ever played guitar and sang. It was at an open mic in New Hampshire, and as soon as I started playing I literally forgot all of the words. I mumbled parts of it, made up lyrics, played through some changes and then cut my losses.

5. THE FIRST BAND I WAS EVER IN WAS … The first band I played in was with my older brother, Dominic, and we were called DNA…… get it? I played drums, and he played keyboard (organ/piano). We usually played loud and in our parents basement. Good stuff.

In support of his newly released debut CD, “Hello, My Name Is Anthony,” Anthony Fallacaro will be performing on Saturday evening at SAWFest at the Salem Art Works in Salem. Also performing at the fest are My Pet Dragon, Railbird, the Black Ships, the City Never Sleeps, Eric Margan and Josh Robin. The festival kicks off at 5pm on Saturday (August 18), and admission is $20; $5 for children under 12. Onsite overnight camping is free of charge.

AND… just GO HERE if you’d like to enter to win a pair of FREE TIX to SAWFest.