Connect with us

Create

Sing us a song, Dan Orlando, you’re the piano man

Bill DeYoung

Published

on

Dan Orlando, former St. Pete resident, plays piano and sings with the Lords of 52nd Street. Publicity photo.

And just like that, Dan Orlando became a Legend.

Take note of the capital “L.” Orlando, the prodigiously talented piano-playing singer/songwriter, has been invited to join The Lords of 52nd Street. Their marquee subtitle: Legends of Billy Joel Band.

That’s right. Liberty DeVito, Russ Javors and Richie Cannata, who formed the nucleus of Joel’s muscular studio and road band from Turnstiles through The Nylon Curtain, have tapped Dan Orlando to be “first chair” in their successful touring group. He will, in theory, be Billy Joel.

Ahead of Saturday’s solo gig at the Hideaway Café, Orlando talked about this delightful turn of events. “Over the course of about six months, I was put through an audition process to learn the catalog, and was invited to come and play a couple of songs for a live audition,” he explained. “And in October the elders of the band, if you will, called and wanted to make it official.”

Naturally, no one knows when touring will re-convene. In the meantime, Orlando, who lives in New York’s Hudson Valley, is spending a few weeks in his old stomping grounds, the Tampa/St. Pete area, before heading to Nashville to meet with prospective producers for his long-delayed solo album debut.

The Pennsylvania native and his rock ‘n’ roll band were familiar faces on local theater and nightclub stages in the middle of the last decade. He left the area in 2018, but returns often to visit with friends and fans. “I just always look forward to re-invigorating that community that took a few years to build,” he said. “And is still going strong.”

Last February he turned up on The Tonight Show, in the recurring bit Battle of the Instant Songwriters.

Oh, that was fun and all, but Orlando’s focus remains on the potential for an album of his (real) original music.

“I’m also spiritually ready to embrace what is gonna be my lead sound,” he said. “And as of now, I’d like to call the album Heritage Trail. I want it to be a pop/folk storytelling album in the style of Piano Man. So I figured, you know, having gone through the process to audition for this band and making it, I feel like creatively that’s the album I want to make. It’s a very heartland, storytelling album that’s basically going to lay bare what my story has been for the last five years.”

What he and his manager are looking for, Orlando added, is “the producer that blows my mind, challenges me, nudges me in the right direction and maximizes my potential, while still helping me make something that is spectacular and authentic.”

Indeed, the Lords of 52nd Street told Dan Orlando: We dig you just the way you are.

“In and of itself (getting hired for the Lords) was like a slaying of the dragon,” Orlando reflected. “Clearly, Billy is among the Mount Rushmore of artists that got me interested in doing this in the first place. So the process of really drilling down on all the B-sides, and trying to lock with that rhythm section … it was pretty wild once we started to play together with a level of comfort.

Turnstiles was the album that my brother and I found in my parents’ record collection, and when I put that on, it changed my life. I didn’t know a piano could do that. I didn’t know what rock ‘n’ roll was. So that was my first catalyst for everything.”

Continue Reading
2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Avatar

    Char Cooper

    October 8, 2022at10:18 pm

    Dan was fabulous along with the rest of the the Lords of 52nd street.
    Saw them tonight for the 1st time,I was truly amazed,am looking forward to next year!

  2. Avatar

    Mary Noon

    February 3, 2021at9:40 am

    Very cool!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

By posting a comment, I have read, understand and agree to the Posting Guidelines.

The St. Pete Catalyst

The Catalyst honors its name by aggregating & curating the sparks that propel the St Pete engine.  It is a modern news platform, powered by community sourced content and augmented with directed coverage.  Bring your news, your perspective and your spark to the St Pete Catalyst and take your seat at the table.

Email us: spark@stpetecatalyst.com

Subscribe for Free

Share with friend

Enter the details of the person you want to share this article with.