HOME - City of Uniontown presents The Italian Heritage Fesitval

WE THREE

We Three is pleased entertain the fabulous audience in Uniontown, PA on August 28 and 29, 2010.
The music of WE THREE reflects a heritage that is Festive, Romantic, Heartwarming, and
Passionate. Their mission is to capture and translate into song the enjoyment of life, family,
friends, wine, and food. The artistry of WE THREE stretches from the composition of their
music to the passion and technical execution of their performance, to the advancements and
implementation of state of the art technology. On Saturday and Sunday, August 28 and 29 you
will hear WE THREE along with Vito DiSalvo and newest member soprano Daniela Pasquini.
Under the leadership of Vito DiSalvo, WE THREE has been one of the most sought after and
recognized dance bands in the Mid-Atlantic region. In their forty-five years WE THREE has
performed at thousands of corporate functions, festivals, weddings, dinner dances, and private
parties throughout the Eastern and Mid-Western United States.
In addition to their live performances, WE THREE has become one of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s
most recorded groups having eight Italian albums, one all American Dance Music album We Can
Dance, and one DVD, Matt Morgan in Concert with Vito DiSalvo and We Three to their credit.
Their music can be heard on radio stations from San Gabriel and Los Angeles, California; to
Chicago, Illinois; Warren, Ohio; Pittsburgh, Easton, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Norwich
and Binghamton, New York. National restaurant chains such as Buca Di Beppo, The Olive
Garden and Macaroni Grill also feature WE THREE recordings. Vito DiSalvo’s original music
recorded by WE THREE have been performed on the HBO American television drama series “The
Sopranos” staring James Gandolfini, on USA national and regional commercials, on promotional
videos and documentary films and on the soon to be released (August 13, 2010) international
motion picture EAT PRAY LOVE, starting Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, James Franco and Billy
Crudup, directed by Ryan Murphy and co-produced by Brad Pitt.
All WE THREE recordings are available on compact disc (CD). To sample the music of WE
THREE, visit our website at www.mhmproductions.biz. WE THREE recordings are available for
purchase online at www.mhmproductions.biz/store.html or other digital download websites such
as iTunes, rhapsody.com, cd.com, amazon.com, etc. They can also be ordered by calling MHM
Productions LLC toll free number at 1-800-733-4838. You can also purchase their recordings at
the Uniontown Festival.

DR. ZOOT

At first it was just a steady weekday gig in 1998 at a small swing club in Pittsburgh's south side, just a side project. All the musicians had good weekend work in other bands. But the band grew in popularity and soon they were packin' em in. The crowd listened to Dr Zoot but Dr Zoot also listened to the crowd and were exposed to new influences. The dancers and musicians came every week, it became a scene. Sal began writing originals for the band and encouraged the other musicians to write horn charts or chord changes and bring them to rehearsal. Ideas flowed freely, and the new songs and arrangements were really happening. It became everybody's main band. Week after week the band rehearsed, wrote and gigged.

Then it was time to record.

By the time Dr Zoot's first CD "Ghosts of Swing" was released they were playing the city's largest rooms nearly every night of the week. It seemed time to take the show on the road. Dr Zoot began playing some out of town shows. At first Harrisburg and Hershey and then Philadelphia. They were very well received in these markets. Their music caught the ear of someone at Slimstyle Records and a Dr Zoot song called "Jump Jive and Shake" was placed on the very successful compilation CD "Swing This Baby vol. 2". This opened up more doors for the band including gigs in New Jersey, Washington DC, and eventually to Los Angles and New York City.

Dr Zoot's second CD "Ragtop" is a crisply recorded romp of original swing music. It features 13 originals as well as a couple covers and displays an added depth to their music. The band continued to grow. In 2001 the band recorded its third full length CD "Housecall" its most mature record to date. Dr Zoot branched out into Latin, blues and jazz while never forgetting the dancers.

2003 marked the release of Dr Zoot's fourth full length CD "Retrohop". On this CD features special guest vocalists and plenty of Swing , Blues , Latin and even a touch of Hip Hop. Now in 2004 Dr Zoot releases its first live CD. Live at Swing City. This CD features many classic swing tunes as well as some live versions of Zoot originals.

The band knocks em dead regularly from the Showboat Casino in Atlantic City NJ to Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville in Key west FL and fine clubs and venues in between.

Mncone Howard Mincone

Howard Mincone

Take a physical comedian, a juggler, and a very personable entertainer, with what seems
to be boundless energy, as well as an emcee with a lightning-fast wit, mix them all
together and what do you have ?
The very funny and amazing… Howard Mincone !
Howard first started in showbiz as a professional break-dancer in the early eighties.
Strongly influenced by comic legends Harpo Marx, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, Dick
Van Dyke and John Ritter. Howard’s performances combine movement, comic mime,
stand up comedy, and juggling. With his very unusual and hilarious performance,
Howard has become one of the most popular entertainers for fairs, festivals, variety
shows, corporations and special events across North America. In March, 2010, Howard
returned from a successful run at the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, CA.
After twenty years in the entertainment business Howard Mincone has worked with many
world class variety performers from world champion magicians & ventriloquist to
nationally recognized comedians and jugglers from around the globe.

EGIDIO “JIMMY” FAIELLA

Egidio Faiella offers you the truly beautiful sounds of Italian and Italian-
American music as only performed on the mandolin...In the 21st Century,
the long forgotten sounds of the mandolin are still very much alive & well in
the Faiella family!
Those who have heard him play know that he surely plays from the heart!
Egidio was born and raised in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania in the United States
of America. This American-Italian mandolinista only knows of Old World
Italy through his childhood memories of visiting his grandparents. Although
he's never been to Italy, he vividly remembers beautiful Italian melodies
from his childhood days... when he was a little boy, he actually thought
everyone's grandpa played the mandolin! Young Egidio was captured by the
beautiful sounds of the mandolin and fell deeply in love with the music he
heard because music was surely in his blood!
To Egidio, nothing remotely compares to the feelings he experiences when
he plays his mandolin... “I close my eyes and feel like a little boy again all
over again... It's the GREATEST feeling!"
Be sure to see Egidio on Saturday and Sunday at the Uniontown Festival.
Pick up a recording or two.

Frankie Capri

The Fabulous Frankie Capri

Singing and playing guitar, piano, accordion and kazoo, backed by two ventriloquist dummies, a life-size plastic Snow White dwarf and countless wind-up musical monkeys, an adept Elvis impersonator, Frankie can sing in any style from Dean Martin to the Bee Gees Complimented on his talent, Capri modestly replies, "God made the pizza. I just deliver it." (Writer unknown)

JOHN BIGANTE with PAUL CALISE

Back to entertain and delight the crowd in Uniontown with traditional
favorites is Italian vocalist, John Bigante with accordionist Paul Calise.
John Bigante can entertain a crowd with the songs that he learned as a
young man in Abruzzo, Italy. John originally left his hometown of
Gamberale at the age of twenty to pursue a career in the food service
industry. Discovered while Vito DiSalvo, leader of WE THREE, was
performing as a strolling musician at D’Imperio’s Restaurant in
Monroeville, PA, John has since appeared as a featured vocalist for many of
WE THREE’s live performances. In July 1995, MHM Productions LLC
released John Bigante’s first solo album, Champagne. This album, coproduced
by Vito DiSalvo and Nick Gimiliano, features John Bigante’s
vocals along with the musical accompaniment of WE THREE. His second
album Successi Napoletani, The Best of Naples features many of the
Neapolitan favorites, produced by Vito DiSalvo.
Paul Calise, an accomplished accordionist who plays a wide variety of
romantic and energetic music, accompanies John Bigante. Paul was the
heart of I Campagoli, the renown Italian folk music and dance troupe begun
by Jane Ferro over 30 years ago.

CHRIS HIGBEE

When’s the last time you heard a high-energy lead singer blow you away on the fiddle? If your answer is
Charlie Daniels, great! . . . Then you definitely need to see the one and only Chris Higbee in concert!
Higbee grew up a farm boy with a musical curiosity and a diligent mother and father. That curiosity quickly became
a passion that drove his dreams. “Fiddles Rock,” the first track on Higbee’s new album, tells that story
and was inspired by his late father. It was co-written with Higbee’s producer Tommy Harden and Don Rollins
(“It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere”)
Higbee founded the PovertyNeck Hillbillies (PNH) in 2000, delivering uniquely wild and energetic concerts
across the country on stages, rooftops, and anything else Higbee could fathom a way to play from! PNH performed
for seven years before disbanding, acquiring an international fan base, distributing two records and
releasing a No. 2 nationally rated video, “Mr. Right Now,” starring “Big Ben” Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh
Steelers.
For the last five months, Higbee has been working diligently on his new album in Nashville, recording the kind
of music that reflects his energy and enthusiasm! After co-writing five tracks on the album, Chris is anxious
to deliver it to his fans. Other writers on the record include Brett James, Ashley Gorley, Wade Kirby and Paul
Overstreet.
Two of those tracks, (“Write to Me” and “You’re Still Gone”) are about Higbee’s wife, Sergeant Melissa Higbee.
Melissa spent several deployments away from home (including Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom), and as the story is told in “You’re Still Gone,” one of those deployments happened immediately
after their marriage. She is now serving as a Senior Drill Sergeant in the US Army. Higbee’s patriotism is
always appreciated by his fans at every show, because they can relate to it in this time of war.
Along with his writing and the new album, Higbee keeps busy playing more than 150 shows per year! Fully
equipped with production and a tour bus, he delivers a killer show and makes new fans wherever he plays.
With his presence and charisma on stage, he makes a personal impact on his fans and they return it faithfully.
He wows audiences by climbing light trusses, fiddling out in the audience, and his stage show and vocals put
an energy that people love no matter where he is!
“When I was a boy, all I ever wanted was to sport a fancy coat, pick and sing. . . I put a fiddle in my hand and
started a band” . . .
“That pretty much sums up what I want to do with my life,” Higbee says. . . “I just wanted to keep ‘Living The
Dream.’”

gallo Frank Gallo Band

The Frank Gallo Band has been on the musical scene for 40 years. Frank plays trumpet, M trombone and does vocals and comedy routines. His music has always been noted for its versatility and blend of American and Italian songs. The Band is also known for its presentation of ballroom and swing music. Frank has appeared with the likes of Dick Contino, The Gaylords, Four Aces, Carmen Canavo, Al Martino and Jerry Vale.

Billy Price, east coast blue-eyed soul man, has been entertaining audiences for the past three decades. In his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pa., he is an institution. Price's popularity isn't hard to explain. As Geoffrey Himes of the Washington Post has written, "Unlike so many blues revivalists, Price is not an imitation of older, better singers--he's the real thing."

Price formed The Billy Price Band in 1990. In addition to performing popular songs from Price's years with Buchanan and the Keystone Rhythm Band, the Billy Price Band features new interpretations of blues, R & B, and soul classics. Members of the Billy Price Band are Steve Delach (guitar), Jason Hollar (bass), Dave Dodd (drums), Jimmy Britton (keyboards), Joe Herndon (trumpet), Eric DeFade (tenor sax) and Rick Matt (baritone and tenor sax).

Billy Price first attracted national attention during his three-year association with guitarist Roy Buchanan. Price is the vocalist on two of Buchanan's LPs, That's What I'm Here For and Livestock. With Buchanan, Price toured the U.S. and Canada, playing such venues as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Newport Jazz Festival, the Roxy and the Troubadour in Los Angeles, and the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Price assembled Billy Price and the Keystone Rhythm Band in 1977. Before their breakup in 1990, the band recorded four critically acclaimed LPs and developed a reputation as one of the most exciting touring bands in the U.S.

In April 1997, Billy Price released The Soul Collection, which featured a duet by Price and his friend and mentor Otis Clay on Clay's "That's How It Is," as well as background vocals by veteran Chicago vocalists Theresa Davis (former member of the Emotions), Robin Robinson, and Dianne Madison.

In Living Blues (September/October 1997), Bill Dahl called The Soul Collection "an inspired stroll through the glorious history of soul music [invested with] uncommon passion and authenticity." In the April 25, 1997 edition of the Washington Post, Mike Joyce called The Soul Collection "an R & B homage full of revealing and compelling performances...Price is a terrifically expressive soul singer," says Joyce, "one who conveys both the pain and the pleasure in these choice songs."

Can I Change My Mind on Green Dolphin Records was produced in Los Angeles by Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams, who has also produced artists such as Z.Z. Hill, Doris Duke, Irma Thomas, Solomon Burke, Patti LaBelle, Lionel Ritchie, and others. Since its release in December 1999, Can I Change My Mind has received critical acclaim from publications throughout the world: A sure-fire winner! (Ray Ellis, Juke Blues) ...will please all fans of modern soul and soul blues (Peter R. Aschoff, Living Blues) ...the most imaginative and entertaining record in Billy Price's 30-year musical career (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Price's expressive abilities define the term "deep soul" (Pittsburgh City Paper).Here is more information about Can I Change My Mind. For articles about Billy Price and more reviews, see our articles and reviews page.

Billy Price released a double CD, Sworn Testimony: The Billy Price Band Live, in July 2002.

In July 2003, the Billy Price Band gave a critically acclaimed performance at the Belgium Rhythm & Blues Festival in Billy Price's first-ever appearance in Europe. A DVD of the concert, entitled Funky...Funky Soul!!!was released in late 2003.

Billy Price's next recording (June 2006) was East End Avenue on Bonedog Records, featuring the Billy Price Band on a set of 13 original new songs, including five songs co-written by Price with Jon Tiven.

In November 2007, Billy toured France with Fred Chapellier (MySpace). Billy sings "A Nickel and a Nail" on Chapellier's CD, A Tribute to Roy Buchanan, and Price, the Billy Price Band, and Chapellier collaborated on Night Work, released in March 2009 on DixieFrog Records and featuring a cameo lead vocal from Otis Clay on Al Green's "Love and Happiness." In Blues Revue (Oct/Nov 2009), Hal Horowitz wrote, "Price is a terrific vocalist who deserves to be a bigger star," and called Night Work "a thrilling collaboration that...should delight lovers of soul or blues." Live on Stage, a CD and DVD of Price's 2009 tour in France with Chapellier and his band, was released in May 2010.

Billy Price, whose real name is Bill Pollak, lives in Pittsburgh and works at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute as a marketing manager. See Bill Pollak's archived page of soul articles.

For more--much more--information, see this in-depth interview with Billy Price.

MARY FERRO , Tarantella Instructor

Mary Ferro has been involved in Italian folklore since the age of 7.
She is the daughter of the late great director of "I Campagnoli" Jane
Ferro and "I Campagnoli " member Leonard Ferro.
Mary was a member of the original " I Piccoli Campagnoli," then
became assistant director of the adult group and then upon Jane's
passing became vocal director of " I Campagnoli."
Mary is a graduate of Duquesne University's School of Music where
she received a degree in Music Education.
She was also a former student of the world renown , the late
Professor Lorenzo Malfatti.
Mary is a professional pianist as well as vocalist.
She has studied Italian folklore in the United States as well as in
Italy.
Come and learn how to Tarantella on Saturday, August 28, 2010 in
the afternoon near the courtyard stage and from 5:00 PM -5:30 PM
near the main stage.

Do you Lovebettie?

Named "Pittsburgh's Hottest Band" by Microsoft Windows, the Pittsburgh based pioneers of "Swagger Rock" attract fans from all walks of life with their neo-soul, rock-pop mash up. This genre-bending refreshing new take on modern rock has landed the band an onslaught of mass media exposure, major radio circulation, and a resounding buzz within the music industry.

Having toured a majority of East coast and Midwest states, Lovebettie’s persistent drive and tireless work ethic has helped them evolve from a local favorite to a national success story. They have shared the stage with multitudes of national acts including: Lifehouse, Semi Precious Weapons, Tim Reynolds (Dave Matthews Band), Guster, Bowling for Soup, Rusted Root, and many more. In 2010 they performed The Official Lady Gaga Afterparty for her Monsters Ball Tour. They were personally selected by Jon Bon Jovi as one of three bands to contend for a tour opening spot, and released two music videos for airing consideration on MTV, VH1, and Fuse.

Recently, in 2011, Lovebettie released their new EP, engineered, produced, and mixed by notorious producer Jim Wirt (Incubus, Fiona Apple, Hoobastank) and already finished a 24 day headlining US tour from Boston to Austin. They performed 7 showcases during this year’s esteemed annual South by Southwest festival, and are already gearing up for their second US tour for the summer of 2011.