Artist Q&A with Curt Di Domizio of Real Diamond

Posted Oct 12, 2010


Curt Di Domizio went from forever in blue jeans to the spangled shirts
and tight black pants of a sideburn-sporting, ’70s Neil Diamond when he
formed the tribute band Real Diamond. The nine-piece band has taken
“Cracklin’ Rosie” and “Sweet Caroline” state to state, playing to packed
houses from sports stadiums to casinos. Di Domizio answered a few
questions about Neil’s enduring popularity, how mom is always right and
fending off fans in walkers.

Q What led to the formation of Real Diamond?
A The rock band I was in just wasn’t cutting it. We were
playing bars and not making a lot of money. People in bars were seeing
it more as a party but nobody was really listening to what we were
doing. So I did karaoke one night, I did “September Morn” and the place
just went crazy, they said, “You sound just like Neil Diamond.” So we
were driving back from a show, the guitar player and I, and I said, “We
should do a Neil Diamond band.” And he said, “Do you think anybody would
be receptive?” I said, “It’s Neil Diamond, he’s a legend.” Sure enough,
we hit on something and it just happened to take off. Our first show,
the Sellersville Theatre in Pennsylvania, sold out. This is our second
year and we’ve played some of the largest casinos in the country.
People love Neil Diamond, they can’t get enough of him. And I think
they like the fact that our sound is like the younger Neil. The guy’s 69
years old, you can’t sound like a lark your whole life. They say we
sound like Neil Diamond of the ’70s and ’80s.

Q Do you ever perform your own material?
A No, we’ve thought about it, though, and that’s a possibility
because I’ve wrote a lot of love songs. We’ve been working on one, and I
sang it like Neil and it sounded really good.
It’s just my regular voice, when I sing I sound like him. My mom has
been telling me that since I was a little kid. She’s been saying, “Stop
doing rock and roll, you’ve got a crooner’s voice, that baritone.” I
wanted to be a rocker. She used to say, “You’re not going to go anywhere
with that.” Mother’s always right.

Q Why do you think people love Neil Diamond?
A I think his music crosses all boundaries. “Sweet Caroline”
is probably one of the biggest hits ever. I mean baseball and football
stadiums still play him. And then there are the hits he’s written for
other bands, like UB40 and “Red, Red Wine,” incredible songs that people
are like, “I didn’t know Neil Diamond wrote that.” And we’re a fun
party band, they don’t realize that you can dance to “Cherry, Cherry,”
and “Thank the Lord For the Night Time.”
We attract everywhere from the low 20s to 80 years old. My kids are 16
and 12; I’m a single dad raising three kids of my own, and they love it.
They bring their friends, and their friends love it.

More here: http://www.doverpost.com/entertainment/x1738173753/Artist-Q-A-with-...