Robin DeLorenzo is one busy woman. She has a burgeoning solo career and does shows with her own band every weekend, while also completing a new album with The Manny Charlton Band and gearing up for a tour to support the release. Manny was the force behind the classic bandNazareth, who gained notoriety with the song “Love Hurts.”
“I totally plan on doing both as best I can going forward,” Robin says. “Life has a funny way of working things out that are supposed to be, and so far that’s exactly what is happening. To date, there have been no conflicts, and it’s really all about the calendar. I will continue to book the Robin DeLorenzo Band as much as I can until I get MCB tour dates. It really helps that I have a fantastic partnership with Manny Charlton and Gary Bryant of 4818 Records. They understand that I have a solo career and they support it, but the reality is becoming Manny’s lead singer is an opportunity of a lifetime for me, and I have committed myself to doing what needs to be done to support the band and our new CD, Hellacious, which I am totally in love with!”
The way Robin ended up hooking up with Manny is a unique story in and of itself. It stemmed from Robin attending a session of the Rock And Roll Fantasy Camp, which is usually something that people do who are musically challenged, but anxious to get a chance to work with their heroes. “A total Cinderella story,” Robin exclaims. “Always looking to learn more and get myself in front of anyone who will listen to me sing, last May I attended David Fishof’s Fantasy Rock Camp, hosted by Steven Tyler inLos Angeles. One of the best experiences of my life! During the camp, I had a session at NRG Studios to record ‘Don’t Want To Miss A Thing.’ Unknown to me at the time, the engineer for the day was Gary Bryant, a multi-Grammy winning producer and 4818 Records owner. Being the social butterfly I am, when all was said and done, I left my biz card with everyone in the studio and gave the old ‘Facebook me!’ Truth be told, I never expected to hear from any of them.
“I arrived home Tuesday, May 8th. Eight days later on Thursday, the 17th at 3 p.m., Gary called me to tell me he was in the studio with Manny and their lead vocalist dropped out last minute, would I be interested? After I picked myself up off the floor, I spoke with Manny. He gave Gary the thumbs up on Friday afternoon and at 1 p.m. Saturday the 19th, I was in the booth recording Say The Word in Burbank, CA. By Tuesday we had finished 10 songs and I co-wrote our first single, ‘It Does Something.’ It was a tremendous experience.”
When not fronting Manny’s band, Robin is busy with her own group, which contains Johnny Charles on guitar, John Meola on bass, and lately Tom Papadatos on drums. The group came together from Robin’s time on theJerseyscene. “A result of years of playing out in theJerseyblues scene, doing covers and originals and constantly being introduced to new musicians at jams, open mics, etc.,” she states.
While with Manny she hits it hard and heavy, her own band is a little bluesier, with alternative country and soul mixed in. The songs come to her in a variety of ways. “It’s really different every time,” she explains. “The common for every song is being inspired and having a story. I usually sit at the piano and put myself into the character’s emotion and mood of the song. Then it just seems to happen as I am playing and throwing words, notes, and melodies around, and it clicks into a song. Some come quick and others take time. I am working on my next CD, Walking Miles In My Shoes, and I just finished a song that I had started in 2010. I couldn’t find that inspiration to finish it until just recently.
“When I was recording with Manny, it was a bit different. He gave me a song temporarily titled ‘Demo B’ and said, ‘Be a songwriter.’ I had never written a song to someone’s music before and I had no idea what to expect. It was a magical moment. I listened to the song once through. By the end, I knew what I was going to write about and when I started the music from the beginning, the words flowed like I was meant to write the song. I finished in 20 minutes and it’s our first single! Special stuff!”
You can find out where to see Robin with her band at robind.com, and where she’ll be touring with The Manny Charlton Band at mannycharltonband.com.
“Radio, touring, Late Night, SNL, Grammy’s,” exclaims Robin about what she hopes lies in the future. “With what I have in front of me today, I would like to see success for both The Manny Charlton Band and the Robin DeLorenzo Band, but I am not a greedy person and it is my goal to be able to sing to the masses for a living!”
