Tony D and Jeff Healey jam it up for 20,000 at Denmark Skanderborg Festival
By Jeff Brooke (ARTS-Canadian Content: Canada's Voice in Europe) Printed August 1995, Toronto
When Tony D took his blues band to England for the first time in April, he expected to play in obscurity.
But Tony D's songs were on BBC radio, a major blues magazine ran a profile of the guitarist (headline: "Can Canucks play the blues?"), and fans filled clubs across Britain to hear him play live.
"A lot of people knew who we were," Tony D said in a telephone interview from his Ottawa home. "I was very surprised. It was a really good feeling. I thought we'd just go over there and slowly break the ice but the ice was already broken.
The success in April has prompted Tony D and his bandmates (drummer Dave Zinman and bass guitarist Greg Fancy) to pack up their equipment and make another trip to Europe in August.
This time they'll play in at lease four countries and stay on the road for six weeks -- twice as long as the last trip. "It's great, they want us back and for more money this time," Tony D said with a laugh.
The tour's highlight will be opening at least five shows for Canada's Jeff Healey Band in Denmark in August. "This is the big break for us," said Todd Littlefield, Tony D's European manager.
The Real Thing
Tony D said he had the preconceived notion that British audiences might not be up on their blues. But this visit in April proved him wrong. He found a thriving blues scene, extremely attentive audiences and lots of clubs, even in small clubs such as Glossop, England.
"If you're from North America, they think you're the real stuff," he said.
In Canada, the Italian-born Tony D, who shortens his last name Diteodoro for the stage, has slugged it out in the clubs for more than a decade as both band leader and back-up musician.
The guitarist, singer and songwriter has never earned mass popularity outside the blues community, but he's won his dues. In 1991, he captured a Juno Award for his musical arrangements and guitar work on one of Dutch Mason's albums and he has scored several prizes at the Ottawa Rock Awards.
More impressive maybe is the list of great musicians he's played with or opened for. In addition to the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, whose aggressive guitar style and electric sound is similar to Tony D's, the list includes everyone from Albert Collins and Buddy Guy to Tom Cochrane and Bryan Adams.
Tony D got to know Healey after the blind guitar wizard from Toronto popped into the London club Tony D was playing at in April. They got along so well that Healey invited Tony D to play with him at his show the next night and on Healey's tour through Denmark in August.
After the Denmark gig, which began August 10 in Herning, Tony D and his band returned to Britain for a few solo gigs in England, Wales and Ireland before opening for the Fabulous Thunderbirds August 26 in London.
In early September, the band heads to the continent for a string of solo dates in Belgium and Holland -- with a few hops back to Britain along the way.
Tony D says audiences can expect a high-energy show that mixes covers, original songs from his two albums, Get Yourself Some and Dig Deep, and some new material he'll be recording in October. Stylistically, he moves from traditional blues to racked-up rhythm and blues.
"It's a roller coaster," Tony D said of the show, "We'll take you up. We'll take you down."
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