Rochester-rooted singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and cause-artist Angelo Rose is set to release his new album Glisten on August 30th, single song “There’s A Hole” is out now.
Angelo Rose delivers a heart-on-the-sleeve collection of melodious anthems, as he combines honest lyrics with soulful melodies. Glisten kicks in with the emotionally melodic opener “A Little Too Long” while the song “There’s A Hole” is a heartfelt, soul-searching blend, and “Love This Town” is an affectionate tribute to the grit and personality of New York City. Elsewhere “Hammer Named Kindness” crafts an honest and uplifting spirit with its chiming guitar lines and “Temple of The Sea” and “Idyllwild” feature a passionate vocal delivery and storytelling at its best. As you listen to the songs on Glisten, you will take a poignant ride with Rose, who not only wrote, produced and sang on every track he also played every instrument throughout the ten-song set.
Rose began playing and writing music after a chance encounter with a wayward acoustic guitar in his teens. His first guitar, a gold Gibson rip-off, was used proficiently during his formative years at Rochester’ s T. Rizzo Music where he took lessons up until he finished high school. After his high school graduation, Rose was set to start his college career at St. Lawrence University, but shortly before he departed for Canton, he discovered that he could play the piano by ear. During his four years at SLU, he would often retreat to small, studio rooms in the basement of the University Center, where he would brood and craft his art. At one point, Angelo was offered an opportunity to pursue the study of music while at St. Lawrence but declined fearing it could interfere with the free-flowing style of his writing. He rarely played guitar during his four years in college, but consistently spent time in the basement boxes learning the intricacies of the keys. From SLU, Angelo followed in his father and maternal grandfather’s footsteps and enrolled in law school at Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio. Again, he was drawn to the piano though he would have to drive miles to the nearest facility to play. On his first day in Columbus, he met another student, Jason Cohen, who introduced him to the likes of Big Head Todd and the Monsters, The Samples, the Freddy Jones Band, and the BoDeans, all of whom became significant influences in his writing.
After graduating, he returned to Rochester and began practicing law, although music remained a constant in his private life. Then one day, Rose received some tragic news, his law school ally, Jason, was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Confronted with his friends battle and his own mortality, he took his leap of faith, with a desire to reconnect fully to his passion. His drive to write, play, and record his music was ignited. The immediate goal was to record a full album before he was to meet up with his ailing friend, Jason, who at the time was living in Baltimore, MD. This was quite an undertaking because he had no prior experience recording with present-day DAW’s. Undeterred, he took out a loan, built a small room in his basement, purchased Pro Tools software and a Mac and set out to create Shadows, his first full studio album. Ultimately, the album was completed and pressed on July 4th, 2007, weeks before his scheduled meeting in Columbus with his friend, Jason. On July 22nd, Jason passed away, never hearing the album.
Over the next two years, he wrote and recorded his second album, Behind this Nonchalance, which was dedicated to his departed friend. Rose’s music began garnering the attention of Rochester’s WBER and was added into the station’s regular rotation. The exposure on WBER created significant opportunities, including countless gigs and opening for national touring acts such as Mike Doughty of Soul Coughing. With the advent of increased web-based forums for sales and streaming, his music began to get global exposure. His next release was the song “Under the Mango Tree” written in response to the horrific earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, proceeds were donated to Haiti’s St. Damien Pediatric Hospital. In 2014 came Meet Mr. Starliter, with the stand-out single “I’m Leaving You” garnering airplay on WBER and other independent radio outlets. The songs from that album continue to track consistently on download and streaming services across the globe. In October of 2016, as more devastation hit Haiti with Hurricane Matthew, Rose wrote and recorded “Haiti’s Rain” and released it as a pay-what-you-want single with all donations going to an organization he simultaneously founded – http://haitisrain.org/.
In 2017 Rose released the album, Afterglow, and all proceeds from sales, streaming and downloads exclusively benefitted the children of St. Damien’s Pediatric Hospital. The album is currently streaming in over thirty countries. Continuing his journey as a cause artist Rose will be donating all proceeds from sales, streaming and downloads of Glisten to Haiti and St. Damien Pediatric Hospital.
Overall, Rose’s music has helped to raise over $150k for Haiti’s St. Damien Pediatric Hospital and Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos.
