Vinnie Mirisola - History

"Music is a part of me"

In second grade I started taking violin in the  school system. I liked playing violin, I liked music and I liked hearing Mom & Dad sing together. In sixth grade I started to play guitar, jamming with friends in their backyard and my basement. In Junior High I fell for Steve Howe of Yes, Pete Townsend and Carlos Santana. I was hooked. I took jazz and classical lessons and taught myself rock.

In high school I started playing out. Cover Bands and a few original projects became my past-time. After a few gigs - wow, this was fun. I loved doing this more than anything else with very few exceptions. I went to college for engineering and continued my musical sideline. It's no wonder my life decisions are always influenced by the thought "how would this affect my music?".

"Music is a large part of my heritage."

There was always music at our family gatherings. It seemed everyone could sing or play an instrument. Mom and Dad would sing beautiful harmonies in the living room while Dad strummed a guitar. Dad would bribe me with an ice cream sundae if I learned one of the Italian folk songs! I've heard stories about my grandfather acting in New York, my uncle playing drums in jazz bands, and I backed up my great uncle Sal when he sang & played violin. I would sit right in and play the guitar or violin for everybody.

We sang and danced at family gatherings for no apparent reason but to sing and smile and laugh. Those are the wonderful memories of my youth.  I was never without a place to play or without someone to play with in that family. And it continues to this day! That is my blessing in life.

"The stage is the safest place in the world".

After college I played in Norstar doing the Disco Hotel Circuit. Funk 49 and Tower of Power was where it was at. In the early eighties I joined Gunsmoke, a smoking' Southern Rock band. The Allman Brothers, Outlaws, Lynard Skynard, CDB & Marshall Tucker became part of me. It was full-time club after club. We ended up with a large local following. I picked up the fiddle again, this time with the influence of Charlie Daniels. At that time an original project with Sam And The Buca's yielded some great music and great friendships. In the nineties I dove into Classic Rock with Broken Pieces and Run For Cover.

"I was introduced to Country Music"

In the late nineties I met a girl from Arkansas who turned me on to New Country. Kim Poesse lit my fire again.  Within a years time I was rocking in a most successful and popular band named Kim and the Jukebox Cowboys. I started playing a pedal steel guitar. We were so busy we had to turn down gigs. We joined the New Hampshire Country Music Association and through them we competed. We won state, regional and national awards in a two year period.

"Ultimately, my family is the most important thing in my life"

With that priority in mind, I slowed down the full-time gigs and marketed myself as a utility musician. It has been a great experience and has opened my eyes to the rest of the performing world. I have made many new friends and I find value in what I do. It has provided opportunities I may have never had. Out of the clubs and into the Fairs and Concert-openers. I've had the honor of opening for B.J. Thomas, Colin Raye, George Jones, Gary Allen, The Kentucky HeadHunters, Wade Hayes, Travis Tritt, Mark Wills, Molley Hatchet Foghat and Billy Yates.

I am proud to have been part of The Jimmy Lehoux Band, Tracilynne and American Pride, Jonathan Scott and Hearts on Fire and Shana Stack and Fastlane.  I have developed a close musical bond with these groups.  They give me a wide range of diverse styles to play.  In addition to those groups I continue to make myself available to sit in at other shows.

"If I had to do it all over again, I'd come back as a cute dog"

I enjoy bringing my experience to a band environment. I find value in being a good utility player. I've won solo and band competition awards several times in Boston and Las Vegas. I like to entertain the crowd with a fiddle, and I  get serious with a band when sitting at the pedal steel. Playing rock guitar, mandolin or classical and acoustic guitar comes second nature to me. The fiddle is fun. The pedal steel is colorful.

I owned and operated a Stringed Instrument Building and Repair Shop. I enjoy writing music, building Tube Amplifiers and maintaining my equipment as a hobby. When time allows it I explore the folk music of the Irish and Italians for diversification. I donate time to the strings department in our local school district.