Provided by the Danny DeGennaro Foundation:
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Like Kevin Bacon’s Six Degrees Theory, the late Levittown guitarist Danny DeGennaro also seemed “just a stone’s throw away from all the big stars in the business.” That’s according to author John Farmer Jr., whose latest book, “Way Too Fast,” is about DeGennaro’s life.
“There’s a whole universe of musicians out there, and they all know each other,” said Farmer, a New York Times bestselling author and dean of law at Rutgers University, who has spent several years interviewing more than 100 people to write the recently published book. .
“Way Too Fast” will be available at the Danny DeGennaro Foundation’s fourth Creative Inspiration Concert on April 23 at Bucks County Community College.
The concert, which also serves as a fundraiser, features performances from DeGennaro’s former bandmates Kingfish, his old friend and blues musician Mikey Junior, and Hooters drummer David Uosikkinen, as well as sets from wannabes Bucks County musicians Laura Fiocco and Katelyn Cryan. . Comedian Anita Wise will serve as MC.
The foundation established in 2014 to continue DeGennaro’s legacy has awarded annual scholarships to music and arts students at Bucks County Community College. The non-profit group is working to bring a new scholarship to life, the TJ Tindall Music Scholarship. The foundation, through its GoFundMe page, has already raised more than $6,000 of the $12,000 needed to create an endowment at Bucks County Community College to ensure the sustainability of the annual $500 scholarship.
Many foundation organizers and regular performers knew and befriended DeGennaro, proving Farmer’s claim that every musician was related to the guitarist in some way. Farmer met DeGennaro nearly 30 years ago at one of the late musician’s usual haunts in New Hope. Farmer had recently lost his wife and “was about as low as I had been in my life”.
“He was playing something that expressed how I felt, but made it beautiful,” Farmer recalled. “It was a turning point in my grieving process. He had a knack for bringing out the beauty in the saddest song.
Farmer reconnected with DeGennaro in 2011 before his murder. After hearing about DeGennaro’s untimely death, Farmer “was determined to do something about it.” He wrote an op-ed that appeared in a Philadelphia-area publication — and suddenly DeGennaro’s connection was obvious.
“I heard from people all over the country whose lives he touched,” Farmer said. “It prompted me to write a story of his life that would attempt to capture the impact he had on the lives of others.”
Writing a biography was a learning lesson.
“Biographies are difficult,” he said. “There is always someone else to talk to. It’s hard to capture, I think, someone’s essence. It is a very difficult project, but it is worth it.
After interviewing DeGennaro’s friends, family, musicians he’s played with, as well as people familiar with Levittown’s history, Farmer said he hopes his book “does him justice.”
If you are going to
The Danny DeGennaro Foundation’s fourth Creative Inspiration Fundraising Concert will take place April 23 from 6:30-10:30 p.m. at the Zlock Performing Arts Center at Bucks County Community College, 275 Swamp Road in Newtown. Tickets are $50; or $70 for concert admission plus a book and CD. The seats are limited. Buy your tickets here: https://dannydegennaro.ticketleap.com/creative-inspiration-danny-book-release/dates/Apr-23-2022_at_0630PM. “Way Too Fast” is also available for purchase or digital download through Amazon.
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