Fantastic Cat (clockwise from top left): Anthony D’Amato (photo: Vivian Wang); Brian Dunne (photo: Rick Farrell); Mike Montali (photo: Alan Rand); Don DiLego (photo: Clutterhead).
There are lots of songs written about Christmas, of course. And comparatively few about New Year’s Day. Fantastic Cat, though, has added to the number, with its upbeat, hopeful “New Year’s Day,” released this week. You can listen to it below.
The band — featuring Mike Montali of the group Hollis Brown and singer-songwriters Anthony D’Amato, Brian Dunne and Don DiLego — performs at the Outpost in the Burbs in Montclair, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m.
All four were well known on the local music scene in their own right before they formed this group in 2019. In a July interview with NJArts.net, D’Amato called the project “a release valve, almost, from doing your own solo thing where you have everything on your shoulders. Then you go to this band setting where it’s like, ‘Oh, you mean I just have to show up at this gig?’ ‘I get to just play bass on this song?’ ‘I don’t have to be running everything?’ It’s kind of like reconnecting with the fun part of things.”
Click here to read the complete interview.
For information on the band, visit fantasticcatband.com.
For a chance to win a pair of tickets to the Montclair show, send an email to njartscontest@gmail.com by 11 a.m. Dec. 9 with the word “Fantastic” in the subject line.)
To buy tickets, visit outpostintheburbs.org.
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