Guitarist/educator/composer Carl Baldassarre is set to release his inaugural solo album, GRAND BOULEVARD. Due out on April 28tht, the offering runs the gamut of musical genres, incorporating guitar rock, funk, ballads, R&B, reggae and orchestral pop, all featuring Baldassarre as chief axeman and composer. Of the body of work, Baldassarre commented, “You live life going forward, but you understand it by looking backwards. Sometimes in your journey forward you can lose perspective of the value of the journey (especially if the road forward is extremely hard). It’s only as you look back to see how far you’ve travelled in life and all that your journey encompassed; it is only then that you realize the hard road you travelled, was in fact, a GRAND BOULEVARD after all.”
Composed primarily during the isolation of covid, GRAND BOULEVARD is produced by Phil Naish, who has produced Grammy Award-winning albums for Steven Curtis Chapman and has played on albums with such luminaries as Elton John, Kenny Rogers and Kenny Chesney, along with Mark Hornsby (Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Foreigner) and Baldassarre himself. Hornsby also engineered the album. GRAND BOULEVARD was recorded at world famous Abbey Road Studios in London as well as Soultrain Sound Studios in Nashville and Sweetwater Studios in Fort Wayne, IN. GRAND BOULEVARD features vocals by Marcus Scott (Tower Of Power) and Charles Iverson (of alt-pop trio Iverson), drums by Nick D’Virgilio (Genesis, Tears For Fears, Big Big Train), bass by Dave Martin (Billy Ray Cyrus, Dweezil Zappa, Bootsy Collins) and keyboards/piano/programming by producer Phil Naish. Click here to get a sample of the first single from the album, “You’re Wrong (Dead Wrong)”. Click here to access the cover art and see below for the track listing.
Also during the covid lockdown, Baldassarre decided to don a new hat, “Professor Of Classic Rock,” creating a popular YouTube channel that has now amassed millions of views. Guided by decades of experience as a musician and as a serious student of composition and technique, Baldassarre’s channel focuses on the inspiration behind some of classic rock’s best-known hits from Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Rush and many more, with an added focus on guitar legend Jimmy Page. Baldassarre deftly breaks down and demonstrates the world’s most famous classic rock guitar riffs with a warm pedagogy. Click here to visit the channel.
Born and raised in Cleveland in trying circumstances, Carl Baldassarre experienced early success as guitarist for rock bands Abraxas and Syzygy, respectively. Although music was still very much part of his soul, he opted for stability and eventually became a highly sought-after private equity manager in the United States. Fast forward several decades and Baldassarre has returned to his roots with fervor, composing, playing, studying and teaching music. He has already amassed a significant and diverse recording catalogue with product to be released over the next several years.
