The Folk City has been an iconic venue in New York City from the 60s to the 80s. Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Simon & Garfunkel, Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, The Byrds, Pat Benatar, Suzanne Vega, David Crosby, Jimi Hendrix and dozens other artists took their first steps there. The musical tells the story of this magic place, and this is the cast album of it.
Written by Robbie Woliver and Bernadette Contreras, it involves 30 songs, six producers, numerous composers, arrangers, vocalists, musicians, all scattered around America. I wrote one song -Big Deal-, and produced, arranged, recorded and mixed nine songs. Audio clips contain the version of the songs I worked on mastered by me.
Jay Records.
"As the producer of a musical cast recording that includes 30 songs covering a wide array of genres and instrumentation, I approached a studio owner friend for a referral for the top musician he could recommend for a specific recording, and his immediate response: Filippo De Laura. And I can’t begin to express how blessed we were to connect with Filippo. While we first hired him to work on one song, we soon realized he was crucial to our whole project. Not only did he bring his extraordinary instrumental expertise to the project, he also brought incredible insight to the songs he worked on, so we then hired him for his arranging talent as well. Whether it’s cello, guitar, sitar or drums or some exotic instrument you never heard of, Filippo is a master. His in-depth evaluation of each song—the singer, the lyrics, the melody, harmonies, the scene, the character, the genre, the era—everything was taken into consideration, hitting the bullseye with each suggestion. His emails with his instrumental and arranging thoughts are pure poetry. From rock to folk, there isn’t a style of music he didn’t ace, or a song on which he didn’t capture its pure essence. And to top it off, he is just the sweetest guy, and an absolute pleasure to collaborate with. I wish the entire musical world could benefit from his multi-talents."
ROBBIE WOLIVER
Executive Producer “Folk City: The Musical,” cast recording, Former Director of the National Music Awards, New York Times Best Selling Author and Award-winning Journalist for The New York Times, Newsday, Village Voice, etc..