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| Born of Italian immigrant parents, Joe was encouraged by his cousin to take up bass at age 9, and almost immediately began playing publicly in bands with his brother, for weddings and special occasions. Joe and his family knew early on that he would someday become a professional musician. Joe spent his teenage years practicing and continuing to play in public, and studying with bassist Willie Jarvis. Though an excellent athlete in high school, he never let his athletics get in the way of his bass. This discipline allowed Joe to gain entrance to the music program at Mohawk College in Hamilton, ON, where he studied under Michael Farquharson and Steve Wallace, among others. Upon graduation, Joe immediately began teaching bass privately, where both he and his students found that he had a natural ability to inspire young musicians. It wasn't long before Joe began playing dates for Italian entertainer Salvatore Panetta, taking him as far away as Trail, BC, and the Eastern United States. During his stint with Panetta, Joe's cousin once again played a role in his career and in 1990, introduced Joe to Bill Kent of the band Double Exposure, whom he had met while on vacation. Double Exposure, as it turns out, was looking for a bass player. After a subsequent audition and emphatic approval from John B. Miller and Thom Wolf, who were already members of the band at the time, Joe was in. The next 10 years saw Joe as a permanent member of Double Exposure, playing a variety of different engagements from corporate events for companies such as Air Canada, to weddings to nightclubs and university pubs. This period with Double Exposure formed the solid relationships with Thom and John that would lead to the formation of Coming Of Age, as a part-time project starting in 1997, and finally becoming a full-time pursuit in January 2001. In 2015 Joe began playing in the band Lipstick Scream with Cheryl Hardy. Joe has appeared on numerous live and studio recording projects for Double Exposure and others, including Matt Teeter's Gifts, a Christmas CD that raised money for the Guelph Wish Fund for Children. Joe has also appeared on recordings with latin instrumentalist and international recording artist Johannes Linstead, and guitarist Steve Manning. Joe lives in Kitchener, ON, where, between gigs, he teaches bass and guitar in Kitchener and Milton, as well as the University of Guelph. |
