About Tito & Uncle Dave

In Erie Music Entertainment, you sometimes want a more mellow feel for a happy hour, outdoor venue or other place where people want to be entertained in a more intimate fashion.

Tito and Uncle Dave (two of Erie's most talented music veterans) play a WIDE variety of songs ranging from the 1950's all the way through to contemporary music you just heard on your Top 40 radio station today!

Tito and Uncle Dave are unique in that they combine acoustic guitar and keyboards to make the most unique sound Erie has to offer.

Please check out their set list for more information!  Below is an article that appeared in the Erie Times-News.

Erie Times-News Article, Thursday, November 25, 2010

Fun On The Side

By: Dave Richards, staff writer

He didn’t mean for it to happen.  It started innocently.  It wasn’t supposed to lead anywhere.  But now it’s come to this.  Tito has something going on the side.  And he’s enjoying himself immensely.  Just don’t tell Swan! 

Money Shot members Tito and Uncle Dave started as a side project, cannily named Tito and Uncle Dave.  For this new affair, they play songs their band wouldn’t go near because Money Shot tends to play rowdy gigs in front of roaring-drunk crowds that want hot current songs and others they can shout along with.  Tito and Uncle Dave allows them to scratch their classic-rock itch.

 “This kind of happened organically,” said Tito.  “We’d be practicing and (Dave) would bust out some song that Money Shot probably wouldn’t touch like ‘Moondance’ and I’d be, ‘That’s cool’ and start singing it. 

“We know damn well Money Shot is not going to do that song; it’s not going to fly.  So, we got together a set, and it happened really fast.”

“It’s great,” added Dave.  “It’s a great way for me to get out there and just play the piano.”  The piano and acoustic guitar makeup gives Tito and Uncle Dave a different spin than most acoustic acts, which rely entirely on guitars.

“It’s primarily piano driven with vocals.  I’m singing lead,” Tito said.  “But we switch it up.  Certain shows, I’ll play acoustic guitar.  On other songs he’ll play supplemental things while I play acoustic guitar.”

The Tito and Uncle Dave songbook includes artists you’d expect: The Beatles, Tom Petty, Elton John, as well as later artists such as Green Day and Uncle Kracker.  But the duo carries over the anything-goes spirit from Money Shot.  If they feel like breaking into Black Eyed Peas’ “I’ve Gotta Feeling,” playing an original, or doing AC/DC, country style, they’ll do that, too.

“We’ll throw curveballs at you,” Tito said.  “(The set) translates over to Money Shot’s crowd but, I think, has a broader audience who can relate to it more.  Said Dave: “We mix it up.  I like taking songs that everyone kind of knows and throwing a little different spin on it.  Sometimes, we’ll take things and make a swing song out of it or take a rock song and make it country.”

For Tito, the side project affords him a chance to dive deeper into music history.  “Quite honestly, I get to play more music that I really love.  I can play the Beatles or John Lennon solo songs, or the music that made me want to pick up a guitar from the ‘60's and ‘70s,” he said.  “Then there’s just great ‘60's rock I love-the Stones, Zombies, Del Shannon-stuff like that.”

Uncle Dave comes from more of a metal background.  He spun metal karaoke for years, previously played in Oz-Mosis, and says he’d love to do death metal again.  That doesn’t mean he doesn’t enjoy heritage music, especially Johnny Cash.  Dave loves to sing Cash songs like “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Ring Of Fire.”

“I mean, all this music we’ve always loved,” Uncle Dave said.  “Just now we’re finally getting a chance to hop out and do a few of them.”

Meanwhile, Money Shot-together since 2006-will roll on, unfazed by Tito and Uncle Dave stepping out.  “Money Shot is still the priority,” Tito said.  “But this is something fun to do.”

Nothing wrong with a little fun on the side.