Cover photo © 2023 Doug Hardesty
“Why isn’t he more famous?” That’s what most people ask when they first witness a show by Anthony Rosano. He is an extremely talented guitarist, writes intelligent songs that seem instantly memorable, and has one of those voices that could make even nursery rhymes sound great. Add in his wonderful sense of humor, humble persona, good looks. and natural charisma, and it truly seems a mystery that more people don’t know about this artist. However, that is soon to change now that Rosano is a Whiskey Bayou Recording artist and has been touring in support of Tab Benoit. Blues Blast Magazine had the opportunity to catch up with Rosano before he opened for Benoit at the Ramshead in Annapolis, MD.
Rosano was originally from Long Island, NY, but has been living in the Norfolk, Virginia area for over 25 years. His parents were not musically inclined, and he was not formally trained in music. He played in his first band at the age of fifteen, focusing mainly on rock music.
“I tried taking a couple of guitar lessons, but it didn’t work out. Then I had a friend who took lessons from an accomplished jazz guitar player, and he had a cool apartment, so I would go over and eavesdrop a bit on the lessons. But it was more just for the hang—I wasn’t really that interested in Jazz. So mainly I was self-taught. The way I got into the blues was listening to Led Zeppelin and Humble Pie and all those British blues-rock bands. I then realized that they were trying to copy Muddy Waters. Then I heard that Glen Tipton (the guitarist from Judas Priest) was into Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac, so I went to a record store and got an old Fleetwood Mac record with Peter Green, and that is how the rabbit hole started for me. I found out Green was from the Bluesbreakers, and then I learned that the song “Hideaway” was a Freddie King song, so I had to research Freddie King, and it continued from there.”
Rosano has said that he loves many types of music and considers his eclectic style to be an “on-ramp” for the blues.
“I will play any song that speaks to me, although my heart is really in the blues. However, I like playing music and having people say that they didn’t realize that they liked the blues. If I can lead someone to start to listen to Muddy Waters, then I’m happy.”
Rosano’s band, The Conqueroos, is named after the shortened version of John the Conqueror’s Root, which is often mentioned in classic blues songs. (For the few who might not know, this root, often kept in a “mojo bag” has been frequently used in spells and hexes to attract love, luck, and power.) The band’s composition has changed a few times, including trials with harmonica players and a saxophonist, before the latest version of the band was formed. The Conqueroos are now a power trio with Rosano on guitar and singing lead, Jake Fultz on bass, and Kyle McCormick on drums.
“I really like what Jake and Kyle bring musically. It suits me best. I feel a lot freer in writing and playing with them. And, they are really ‘chill’, with no attitude. We feel like the music should be in charge. It shouldn’t be one person. My name is on the drum because I sing and drive the van, but the music is what is in charge.”
The Conqueroos’ first album (Get Roo’d) turned out surprisingly well, given that Rosano recorded it in his garage. It soon became well-known around the Tidewater, Virginia area as an album so good that people didn’t skip any of the songs while listening to it. In fact, the album lost by only one vote, almost winning album of the year at the VEER music awards in Virginia, and Rosano has since won many subsequent VEER awards.
“Winning awards is cool, but the main reason I’ll even post about them is because it raises awareness to the music community. It feels good to be recognized, but the main thing is to keep the focus on the music community. Nobody in our band is doing this in order to achieve fame. I’m just doing this because I like communicating with people through music.”
Get Roo’d consisted of all originals except for one, with two of the songs making powerful references to Rosano’s journey to sobriety. For example, the song, “The Bottom” states, “Your love is a deadly poison, and I won’t drink again. Left me blinded and broken. Just a shadow of a man. Down at the Bottom, I’ve been plagued with my troubles, I took that whiskey, and I washed it down.” Rosano was asked about the moment when he knew he had to give up drinking.
“Well, I have the type of personality where I’m all in or I’m not involved. I was the same way with drinking. If one is good, then twelve is better. I was at a show and I over-did it. I couldn’t drive and slept it off at a friend’s apartment. They were supposed to wake me up in a couple of hours so I could go home, but I was so out that they weren’t able to wake me. When I finally woke up in the morning, I found out that my wife had to call out of work because I was supposed to have been the one to take the kids to school, but I wasn’t there. Also, there was a call from the State Police because my older daughter had contacted them afraid that I might have crashed on the highway on the way home. That hit me hard because I didn’t want to be that person in the eyes of my children. I figured if I’m going to have a ‘rock bottom’ I want to define it on my own terms. I knew where this was going because I had seen it play out a million times. That was nine years ago, and I haven’t had a drink since.”
Rosano’s second, self-titled album ended up being produced by Mike Zito and featured guest performances by Zito, Johnny Sansone, and Anders Osborne.
“I had written the song “Love’s Got a Hold on Me” and I sent the demo version to Zito for his feedback because I’m a fan of his and respect his work. He said he liked it and asked me if I had more. I actually didn’t have more at the time, but lied and said I did. So, he said we should do a record together and offered to produce it. It was a great experience. I went to New Orleans, and we recorded it at NOLA studios, where the Royal Southern Brotherhood demos were done.”
That album contained all original songs, including two that are extremely important to him. “Long Island Sound” is a song about being homesick for New York and references how he visits his mother’s grave when he returns there to tell her how proud she would be of her granddaughters. “Blackbird” is a song written specifically for his mother. Rosano explained how this song came to be.
“I had gone to NY for my mom and my brother’s birthday, which is on the same day. When I got to her hospital room, the sirens were going off and she was crashing. I held her hand and talked to her and she pulled through. I think she didn’t want to ruin my brother’s birthday for the rest of his life. I took a red eye home, and she passed in the wee hours of the morning, after my brother left. Then my sister told me she had gone to a show of Theresa Caputo (the Long Island medium/psychic). I don’t usually believe in that stuff, but she told me that Caputo had asked if anyone in the audience had a brother who was a musician, and then she repeated to my sister word-for-word what I had told my mother when it was just her and me in the hospital room. Nobody could have known that. Caputo also mentioned that my mother referenced the song “Blackbird” by the Beatles. I kept listening to that song, but it didn’t really mean anything to me. But my mom was Irish, and when I was looking for a design for a memorial tattoo, I looked up Celtic blackbirds and found out that they called blackbirds the birds of Rhiannon. It was believed that people who had passed on might send messages to the living through the blackbirds of Rhiannon. So that’s what I wrote about. ‘Blackbird’ is always a very difficult song for me to sing.”
Shortly after this album was released, Bob Seger was looking for someone to open his show in Va. Beach, and Anthony’s band was suggested. Seger agreed right away and then asked if the Conqueroos could open for his show in DC and New Jersey too. A month later, Seger’s production manager called and asked Rosano if he wanted to do ten more dates, including Madison Square Garden.
“That was an incredible experience. It was my first show back in NY since I left in 1996. And to be able to do the song about being homesick for Long Island and not forgetting where you came from was sort of a full-circle moment for me. It’s always hard to sing that song because of the reference to my mom, but it was especially hard to sing it while 20,000 people were holding the lights of their phone up, and my wife and daughters were in the audience. It was pretty heavy.”
Starting with the Bob Seger tour, Rosano made a change to some of his usual equipment, switching to Supro amps.
“Supro amps have a distinct vintage sound but are built to modern specs and are reliable. So, they have become a major part of my voice on guitar. I also now use Ernie Ball Paradigm strings because they rarely break. I used to break strings every show before switching to them. They hold up much better and sound great. My main ‘axe’ is a Gibson Firebird. When I was 15, I saw Johnny Winter at a small club on Long Island. I knew that night that when I grew up, I was going to have tattoos and play slide on a Firebird! The tattoos started the next year, but the Firebird didn’t come until I was in my 40s. I wanted one for so long. I would look at photos online and play any that showed up in a music store. But they always cost too much money for me to spend. Then one came up used in a friend’s store for a decent price. I was in the store playing it and while I was, my wife went to the counter and bought it for me as a birthday gift. I was trying to figure out what to trade in, and how I could make it work when my friend said, ‘Oh, by the way—your Firebird comes with a case!’ She smiled and I was like a kid on Christmas morning. I have played it on every gig since that time. It’s my number one!”
For Rosano’s latest release, Cheat the Devil, he was invited to come to Houma, Louisiana where Tab Benoit would produce and record the album in Benoit’s home recording studio, Whiskey Bayou Records.
“For Tab’s record, we had just driven 12 hours from Virginia, and we literally pulled up, unloaded the gear, set everything up, and played ten of the 11 songs. We didn’t use those tracks though because we sounded like crap since we had just driven twelve hours. But the next day we did record everything live—just the three of us with one take, with no overdubs and no going back and sweetening it up. I’m glad I listened to Tab’s direction about not going back to fix anything. The rawness and realness are what people like about it. It flies in the face of modern record-making.”
Cheat the Devil contains all originals with the exception of a unique interpretation of the classic song, “King Bee”. Rosano’s favorite song on the new album is “Rosalita,” a song about a sailor missing his home.
“My daughter was learning about Christopher Columbus in school, and I started reading some stuff with her about how he wanted to bring musicians to entertain the guys and keep them out of trouble. I thought it was an interesting concept for a song, a love letter from a musician who is sailing, writing back to his lady. My intention in singing it now has changed a bit though. To me it’s more about what I’m doing—leaving my family to go out in this new world with my guitar, trying to make a better life for us. The lyrics don’t change, but my intention when I’m singing it has changed.”
As always, Rosano has written songs from the heart, incorporating his life experiences. Cheat the Devil also contains two songs about Rosano’s evolving journey with sobriety.
“The song, ‘Sweet Little Devil” is about the little devil on your shoulder that says, ‘It’s been nine years buddy, you can certainly handle one beer!’. ‘Sin City’ is very similar. It’s about when you feel like you are going ‘mental’ and ready to just go back to Sin City, but ultimately realize it’s better that you moved on from Sin City in the end. The title track, Cheat the Devil, is pretty straight forward. I believe everyone is free to live life however they choose, as long as they realize giving in to temptation has a cost.”
Having just finished his tour opening for Benoit, Rosano is soon to be back on the road, opening for Humble Pie and Ace Frehley. However, he was happy to learn that he has been invited to go back out on tour with Benoit in the Fall. There are many similarities between the two of them, and Rosano enjoys the opportunity to learn from Benoit, and to join him for some impromptu jamming during the encores. Their unique chemistry is a magnificent experience to witness, and that double-bill is a pairing that fans will definitely not want to miss.
You can learn more about Anthony Rosano at www.conqueroos.com.
