Entertainment

August 24, 2008

Pizano arrives with her debut CD

JANINE UNGVARSKY Times Leader Correspondent

It was a moment not many parents get to experience. During a recent family car trip with the usual kid music playing on the stereo, Jeanne Pizano heard her 3-year-old daughter pipe up from the back seat, “I want to listen to Mommy’s CD!”

Listening to her children sing along with her recorded voice was part of a dream come true for Pizano, a Wyoming native. A long-time lead singer and keyboardist for local band Flaxy Morgan, Pizano recently found herself living a dream as she recorded an album in Nashville.

A contest opened the door for Pizano. “In 2005, I entered the Wyoming County Fair talent competition and I won,” she said. In addition to a cash prize, the win earned her the opportunity to sing the national anthem and two other songs at the opening of the 2006 fair, helping to warm up the crowd for country singer Jason Aldean. In 2007, Pizano said, she opened for another country singer, Lorrie Morgan. “Lorrie Morgan’s keyboard player is also her producer,” Pizano explained. “The producer liked my voice and stage presence and asked me if I would be interested in recording.”

Pizano took the producer’s card but wasn’t really considering the option. Besides being busy with her husband and children and performing with Flaxy Morgan, she has a full-time job as director of provider services at Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Still, Pizano and the producer e-mailed back and forth, and she found herself checking out her options. Finally, Pizano said, she took a chance on the opportunity dreamed about by everyone who’s ever performed on stage in front of a hometown crowd.

“I thought, ‘I’m not getting any younger; maybe this is it,’ ” Pizano said.

So in March of this year, Pizano left husband Matt, son Adam, 6, and daughter Anna, 3, for five days and headed down to Nashville. “I loved it,” she said of her first recording experience. “It was very difficult physically because you’re there all day singing and singing, but I didn’t mind. I could do that kind of work all day long.”

Some of the recording experience was surprising, Pizano said. “The musicians are just amazing. The producer and I got together in a pre-production meeting to go over the keys and chart out the music.” She said the producer used a sort of musical shorthand that told the musicians what key and chords to play. “The musicians never even heard the songs; they just got together in the late morning,” she said. “The producer would play it once or twice, they would lay down the music, and that was it. Then I would go in and sing it and sing it, and they would pick the best parts. It was all computerized, and they can put it together from the pieces like I sang it that way the first time.”

Before she left Nashville, Pizano had her first CD with four songs. Back home, her family and friends really enjoyed the music. One liked it so much she wanted to help push Pizano to the next level. “She wanted to invest in me, and she asked, ‘What can I do?’ ” Pizano said. “I told her I’d love to record a full CD — 10 songs.”

It wasn’t long before Pizano found herself in the studio recording six more songs. Her debut album—“Here I Am”— has three songs Pizano wrote, including one about her older sister who died when Pizano was 6 and her sister Cathy was 8. Pizano chose the other seven songs from hundreds and hundreds of CDs submitted to the producer by hopeful songwriters. Though the album was recorded in Nashville, Pizano prefers not to label the music as of any one type. “Why does it have to be something?” she asked. “Some of it is very country; some of it could be any style.”

After the recording came the process of getting the CD replicated, handling copyright issues and getting cover art done. There was also the issue of what name Pizano would use on the CD. “The producer thought my name was too ethnic,” she explained. Pizano puzzled over the choice for days before daughter Anna provided the answer. “One day, my mother told me my daughter was calling her Grandma Zano because she couldn’t say Pizano,” she said. “I decided that was a sign,” she said, adopting the professional name of Jeanne Zano.

“When the box finally came with the finished CDs, I showed the first ones to my kids,” she said. “I told them, ‘This is why Mommy was away.’ ”

“It was just a great feeling to have recorded it,” Pizano said. “I’ve been waiting to do that since I started in music.” That start came when Pizano was 6 and started piano lessons. She admits she didn’t always like it. “Oh yeah, I had to be coerced to practice,” she said. “That’s how I got so good at sight reading. I wouldn’t practice, and my mother would say, ‘Your teacher is coming down the street,’ and I’d be saying, ‘Oh my gosh, I didn’t practice!’ I liked playing, but I’d rather be outside playing with my friends than inside practicing. I still don’t like practicing,” she said, laughing.

For years, her musical talents were expressed at the keyboard, including stints as an accompanist at Wyoming Area Secondary Center and at was then College Misericordia. “I was more of a keyboard player than a singer,” she said, “The focus was on the keyboards.” Then Pizano joined a garage band called Main Event. She sang back-up and one day was asked if she wanted to sing lead. She remembers the song, “What About Love?” by Heart. “I was a little nervous trying to sing and play at the same time, but I really liked doing it so we added more songs for me to sing.”

That was 1987 and it was the start of more than 20 years of performing with such groups as Main Event, Grand Tour, Fallacy, Suspect and a duo called Penny Lane besides years as lead singer and keyboardist for Flaxy Morgan. She left Flaxy to have her children but three years later found herself on stage again. “I wanted to do something but couldn’t be too busy because of the kids. I got involved with Grand Tour,” she said, because they played more parties and didn’t take on as many jobs that would keep her away from her family.

Then the singer who replaced her in Flaxy Morgan had to go away, and the band needed a temporary fill-in for a few shows. “They asked me to fill in, and it sort of clicked,” Pizano said. Soon, she was back in full swing. Summer is the group’s busy season, with church bazaars and other events often keeping them performing three nights a week. That hasn’t changed just because Pizano has a solo album. She’s continued performing at bazaars, parties and special events, such as Concert for a Cause and Women Who Rock, a benefit concert for the Domestic Violence Center. In fact, Pizano was chosen 2008’s “Most Rockin’ Woman” by fans who backed up each vote with $5 donation to the center.

Another thing that hasn’t changed is her day job. Other than time off for the actual recording, Pizano has continued to work for Blue Cross as she has for the past 16 years. She didn’t even tell her coworkers about the album, at least not at first. “I didn’t say a word in the office,” Pizano said, “but word gets around.” Before long, Pizano could see small posters bearing her likeness in cubicles and hear her voice coming from CD players as she walked through the office. “My coworkers have been very supportive,” she said. “It’s really weird and kind of humbling to see myself everywhere, and it feels weird to have people ask me to sign things.”

For Pizano, the most important thing that hasn’t changed is her family. “The hardest part of doing this was being away from my family,” she said. “I just love being with my kids every moment I can.” Both show early signs of musical talent and sing often. “And Adam can outplay anyone at Guitar Hero,” Pizano said proudly. It’s a feeling she hopes her children share. “I’m doing this with the hopes that they’ll be proud of me and look back to say, ‘My mom recorded an album,’ ” Pizano said.

About Jeanne Pizano

Native of Wyoming, Pa.

Graduate of Wyoming Area Secondary Center; has bachelor’s degree in health care administration from King’s College

Married for almost eight years to Matt Wisnewski

Mother of Adam, 6, and Anna, 3

Musical accomplishments include lead singer and keyboardist for Flaxy Morgan, voted Most Rockin’ Woman 2008, Wyoming County Fair 2005 talent contest winner

First solo album “Here I Am” under the professional name of Jeanne Zano, release party will take place in September.

Future goals: Pizano would like to record a complete album of songs she’s written

For more information on Pizano and her album, visit www.jeannezano.com or www.myspace.com/jeannezano

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