DelGuidice, who also plays rhythm guitar in Billy Joel’s live band and sings backing vocals, will be performing with Billy Joel on August 28th as part of his Madison Square Garden monthly residency. This will mark the Piano Man’s 113th lifetime show at the “World’s Most Famous Arena.” “That is going to be exciting,” DelGuidice admitted.
“With Billy Joel, you never know what you are going to expect,” he said. “We will see what happens on August 28.”
A few days after the MSG show, DelGuidice will be performing at The Paramount in Huntington on Long Island, on August 30. “We are hoping to gather as many people as possible. It’s hard to get people out in the summer sometimes. Everybody is barbecuing, but we are happy to get people in the venue when they show up in the summer,” he said.
Most recently, on August 3rd, DelGuide performed at Mulcahy’s Pub and Concert Hall as part of their annual Luau. “It was great to be back for that. I actually changed and I wore a red festive shirt,” he said. “I’m usually in a black T-shirt, but I changed it up and went red.”
He expressed his love for the original Bob Dylan version of “Make You Feel My Love,” which became a hit for Adele and Garth Brooks, among many other artists. “I love that song. It seems to sit well where my voice sits. It’s not too high or too low. You can make it your own and the same holds true for any Bob Dylan song,” he said.
DelGuidice acknowledged that “it does not feel good” to be an artist in this digital age. “We just don’t make money from our music releases these days. The only good thing is that I’m not writing for anybody else anyway.”
He released an original music video for his solo song, “Mona Lisa,” which features actor and comedian Kevin James in it. “That was a really special moment. Then, seeing the final product was incredible,” he said. “I am still excited about the song.”
“I have a lot more new solo music to crank out. In this digital age, it is hard to release EPs and albums since most of your work on those projects will go unnoticed. I believe in releasing singles out every few months since then the songs will get their worth,” he said.
“If it was a singles-driven world back in the late ’70s and ’80s, imagine how many more No. 1 singles Billy Joel would have had? Also, he would have had a lot more songs that are popular,” he said.
DelGuidice revealed that the title of the current chapter of his life is: “Cautiously Optimistic.”
“Mona Lisa” is available on iTunes and on Spotify.
To learn more about Mike DelGuidice and Big Shot, check out their official website.
