Joe Vitullo

Keyboardist and singer on Twin Cities stages since 1999, from the Tone Cats and The Look to Mudcat Melby, with six solo albums.

Joe Vitullo played in bands in Philadelphia and Dallas before moving to the Twin Cities in 1994. He started gigging here in 1999 with Tony O and the Guns of Soul, a band that became the Tone Cats and ran until 2018. After that came Tommy Gun and The Look. He then built a home studio and has released six albums, mostly covers, including a doo-wop album and North Star Harmony. He has played keys with Mudcat Melby for close to three years.

On the Minnesota Music Note

The Minnesota Music Note - Ep 73 - Behind the Keys: Joe Vitullo’s Life in Music

2w ago

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Fun facts from the interview

He learned piano at age seven by picking out Sesame Street songs on an out-of-tune upright. The first real song he learned was Glenn Miller's "Sentimental Journey."
For his high school talent show, his band played Rush's "Tom Sawyer" on a toy Casio keyboard from Kmart.
His first paid gig was a wedding in 1983, when he was 15. The bride and groom brought a boom box in case the band was bad. They never needed it.
One Philly gig had a plywood stage laid over three pool tables. The drummer slowly sank through it during the show, and the band made $8 that night.
In Dallas, he joined a country cover band after meeting its guitarist at traffic school for a speeding ticket.
He got back into playing in the Twin Cities when a guitar player saw him selling a keyboard at his garage sale.
On his doo-wop album he sings all four harmony parts himself. His album North Star Harmony features 12 female lead singers from Twin Cities bands.

Rock Vocals Keys Twin Cities Metro

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