Zollo returns to his roots with Washington performance

WASHINGTON - He's a singer songwriter who has been on the road singing and playing piano doing about 175 shows a year for 25 years. His music ranges from blues to rock to country to praise music. He calls it roots music … Americana music. He's written enough songs to fill eight CD's and there is more to come. Right now, he has about a dozen songs that are almost ready to be recorded.

And it's all good. Very good.

Better than that, he's from Wellman in Washington County and he's returning to his geographical roots to play a gig at Lebowski's Rock N' Bowl on Saturday, Oct. 5, at 8 p.m.

His name is David Zollo (pronounced with a long O). He was actually born in Boston but moved to Wellman when he was one and a half years old. He went to school in Wellman and Kalona but did not play in any school band. His first performance was at an Iowa City benefit in the fall of 1991. His grandfather was a renowned jazz pianist in New York. By the time he was 21, Zollo knew he also wanted to become a professional musician.

His first gig was at the The Mill in Iowa City. In addition to recording his own music, he has produced the music of other artists and has played keyboards as a session player for many other artists in Nashville and elsewhere.

His writing process is a gift, he said. The words and melodies seem to come to him at the same time. He performs the songs live before recording them as they evolve through those performances until he feels they are studio ready.

His musical influences include Leon Russell, Nicky Hopkins, Floyd Cramer, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, and the Boogie Woogie piano players of the past. Those influence are obvious to anyone who has listened to his CD's or who has heard his live performances.

His touring takes him around the Midwest and to Europe in the winter. His songs often come from his life's experiences. Take 'Washington County Blues” for example. He said he wrote that song when he was doing session work in Nashville and was homesick for Washington County. In the song he references two characters … Bubba and the Woodpecker …. 'Two local boys with a little something to hide.” When he played recently at the Kalona Brewing Company he was asked if the characters were fictional and he said they were real. In fact, he said, Bubba was in the house that evening. The small town he references in the song is Wellman, his old hometown.

During the Kalona performance he sang 'Out of the Cradle (Endlessly Rocking)” from his 'For Hire” CD and told the audience the song was written about his divorce from his first wife. It is also inspired by a Walt Whitman poem of the same name. Later he played 'Eye of the Needle” from his 'The Big Night” CD which he said he wrote on the day his 16-year-old son was born. 'For Hire,” the title song of one of his CD's, was written in the Coralville Motel 6. 'I'm not particularly proud of the circumstances,” he said, but he had to be proud of the resulting song.

While his songs are published, he does not pursue having them covered by other artists. He said when others cover songs, they tend to want to change lyrics or melodies or chord changes. 'Everyone I know who has done that has been disappointed,” he said. When asked if that sounds like he's not in it for the money he said he's fortunate to be able to make a living with his touring and recordings. And while he does have CD's for sale at his shows, he did not mention that fact at the Kalona performance.

Zollo is fun to watch perform as he usually takes off his shoes and constantly pounds out the beat with his left leg as he leans into the mic belting out his own songs which (thankfully) make up about 90 percent of what he plays at each performance. His interpretation of other artists' tunes is fascinating. This writer thinks Bob Dylan would approve of Zollo's version of 'When I Paint My Masterpiece.” There is never a set list and he never needs a computer to help him with lyrics or chords. He just sits down and plays non-stop.