DiCroce embarks on musical trek
By Daily Bruin Staff
March 7, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 Andrew Morris Agency Chris DiCroce is
promoting his new album "American Dream," and will perform at the
House of Blues tonight and in Anaheim Friday.
By David Holmberg
Daily Bruin Contributor
Neither snow-covered roads nor broken down busses can keep
singer/song writer Chris DiCroce from doing what he loves best
““ playing music.
Come hell or high water, he will be at the House of Blues on
Sunset Boulevard tonight and in Anaheim Friday, all as part of a
nationwide tour to promote his new album, “American
Dream.”
If the public wants to get to know America, there is no better
way to experience it than by driving through it, and if the public
wants to get to know Chris DiCroce, there is no better way than to
listen to his songs. Ultimately, however, getting to know one
means learning about the other.
DiCroce talked about life, music and America in a phone
interview from his bus traveling through the snowy Midwest.
“My songs are personal ““ you have to write about
what you know,” he explained. “They are a vehicle to
get through things that are otherwise hard to deal with.”
Music did not become his means of expression until he was 18
years old, when he first started playing the drums. That is
not to say he lived a musically sheltered childhood.
“Coming from an Italian-Catholic family in Philadelphia,
my parents listened to a lot of Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra. But
I was the youngest of four kids, so I also had my sisters who were
listening to Simon and Garfunkel and Elton John, while my brothers
had on Led Zeppelin.”
DiCroce’s background is diverse and his own style has
become a fusion of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and even
Tom Petty. DiCroce’s vocals and guitar are a soulful and
emotional trek through his personal life. He fits perfectly
into the quintessential singer/songwriter category.
Nashville, then, was an obvious choice for someone of his talent
and style. He moved there and played with a band called
Rockfish ““ which he describes as The Replacements meets The
Smithereens ““ until his group broke up in 1993. Several
years later, he struck out on his own by creating the record label
Flyboy Records and by releasing his debut album “Brand New
Fool” in 1998.
Now that the road is wide open for him, DiCroce is getting to
know America just as America is getting to know him, and a
nationwide tour means a lot of introductions.
“I love being on the road because I love
playing. There is an immediate response with the audience
which creates a conversation that you don’t get anywhere
else.”
But not everyday on the wonderful highways of America is
paradise because you never know when you are going to hit a
pothole.
“It’s like (the road) caught me in bed with its
wife. Between breakdowns and being stuck in an alley in
Chicago, you lose your routine and don’t have any down time.
It takes a lot to remain focused,” he said.
“I can feel like crap five minutes before a show, but I
walk out there and it all changes. You’ve driven 1,400
miles and you can either play shitty or suck it up and do
it. The people who’ve come don’t care what kind of
day you’ve had, so you go out there and give it your
all.”
Sounds like the American attitude. In many ways, DiCroce
embodies American ideology, but with an introspective slant. Part
of this comes from reading such American authors as John Steinbeck,
whose many California-based novels offer a nostalgic yet painfully
humanistic view of American life.
Drawing on a slightly aged perspective ““ he is now in his
mid-thirties ““ and his curiosity with the idea of America
itself, DiCroce decided to do something different from the typical
musician.
“The country is in a weird time right now. The dreams and
the pride that we grow up learning are quickly being
forgotten. There is so much that’s negative, but as I
see it we’re still alive and there’s still inspiration.
So I went out to see what the hell was going on and if there are
people out there who feel the same way.”
So DiCroce and some of his friends in the film industry piled in
a van and took off for a four day journey across the
country. Their odyssey resulted in the creation of a work of
art traveling in a different direction than music: a film titled
“American Dream.”
“I fell in love with the visual image, because it’s
completely opposite of music,” DiCroce said. “It
started out as a three-minute music video, but that changed along
the way. The film is very different and people don’t know
what to make of it. I like that.”
Although the symbolic ideal of America is a difficult one to
catch up with, DiCroce’s album and film are certainly making
a run for it. His works hunt for the truth behind the
“American Dream,” just as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s
“The Great Gatsby” and Hunter S. Thompson’s
“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” have done in the
past.
With America as his highway, music his engine and his hands
firmly planted on the steering wheel, Chris DiCroce is charting his
way to a destiny that will mean one thing ““ success.
MUSIC: Chris DiCroce will be performing along
with the Pat McGee Band and The Samples at the House Of Blues in
Hollywood tonight, and at the House of Blues in Anaheim Friday. For
tickets go to www.ticketmaster.com.
