I have another plucked-from-the-online-masses rock n' roll success story to share with you. Borrowing some inspiration from the way Journey found their current lead singer, the rock group Boston found their new singer - a fan from Charlotte, North Carolina - when they ran across his MySpace page.
Tommy DeCarlo, a manager at Home Depot, is a 43 year old father of two and a Boston superfan who memorized all their songs. After Boston's lead singer Brad Delp committed suicide in 2007, DeCarlo's daughter Talia uploaded some tracks of him singing along to Boston songs to share with other grieving fans. According to DeCarlo's bio, he "had to sing with the karaoke track because he had sold his keyboard in 2006, using the extra cash to buy Christmas presents for his children."
Boston founder and guitarist Tom Scholz was sitting at home one day while his wife was on the computer. He heard a track coming from the speakers and asked which live Boston performance it was. She explained that it wasn't an old live recording of Boston, it was a karaoke track from an unknown fan in North Carolina. Due to the amazing similarities, Scholz took a bit of convincing that it wasn't original singer Brad Delp's voice.
The band reached out to DeCarlo, flying him and his family out for an audition. Since DeCarlo had never been in a band before, his first live performance ever was singing with his favorite band Boston at a tribute to the late Brad Delp. He's now taken leave from his job at Home Depot (couldn't he have just quit?) to tour with Boston as their lead singer this summer. Remember, kids, share what you love with the internets and your wishes just might come true!
Here's a clip of DeCarlo performing with Boston at the tribute:
Let's wrap up this post with a truly live version of Boston's epic folk/prog/rock masterpiece "More Than A Feelin'" from 1979:
Sources:
- My post about the new Steve Perry
- Articles on Music Radar and USA TODAY
- Thanks to my friend Harold for sending me this story!