BRATTLEBORO-Learning one musical instrument takes years of study, possibly lessons, learning to read music, practice, and more practice. Now, imagine a band where each member has to learn four or five instruments because they swap instruments and lead vocals on every song.
You get a band called Fantastic Cat, which debuts at the Stone Church on Tuesday, May 6.
Called "gloriously fun," "the Harlem Globetrotters of Americana" by Rolling Stone and "some of New York's best singer-songwriters," by West Virginia Public Broadcasting's Mountain Stage, Fantastic Cat includes four solo performers and singer-songwriters - hence, the "supergroup" nod.
The band's publicist, Jessica Martin, described it as "a supergroup of serious musicians with a satirical view" in a phone call with The Commons.
Based in New York City, band members Anthony D'Amato, Don DiLego, Mike Montali, and Brian Dunne range in age from their 30s to their 50s and have busy professional music careers as solo artists.
Fantastic Cat released its first album, The Very Best of Fantastic Cat, to widespread acclaim in 2022. A national TV debut on CBS Saturday Morning helped galvanize the group's new fan base and catapulted the musicians into sold-out headline dates around the United States and Europe, including more than 100 shows last year.
The group's 2024 album, Now That's What I Call Fantastic Cat, showcases its members' collective strength of songwriting, leaning into their individual gifts to craft what its publicity materials describe as "an alternately poignant and absurdist portrait of a modern world populated by disgraced heroes, disenchanted dreamers, and dead end jobs."
"Fantastic Cat is one of those bands that I constantly heard about from other promoters. There's been a resurgence in catchy original rock 'n' roll, and Fantastic Cat embodies that with infectious folk rock hooks with some choice covers mixed in," says Robin Johnson, director of the Stone Church.
The Commons caught up with D'Amato, who talked about Fantastic Cat's upcoming debut show at the Stone Church and how the group got started. Here's an excerpt of the conversation:
Victoria Chertok: How did you start Fantastic Cat?
Anthony D'Amato: I live in Brooklyn and in New Orleans. Brian is in Brooklyn, Mike is in Queens, and Don is in the Poconos, where he has a studio. We started playing together in 2022, but we've known each other as solo artists and as members of different bands for over a decade.
We went to Don's studio in 2019 and all came out to spend a long weekend writing and recording for fun. Then, when the pandemic hit and everything shut down, we thought we should do something with that work. We decided to finish it, and it turned into Fantastic Cat.
V.C.: Cool! Where did you get the name Fantastic Cat?
A.D.: We were at a bar in the East Village [New York] making plans for the recording. We all agreed that all band names are stupid until it's the name of a band you like, and then it's cool.
So we asked our waitress, "If we were a band, what would this band be called?" We told her whatever she chose would be our name. Without hesitation, she just said "Fantastic Cat."
V.C.: Ha! I've never heard that before.
How do you describe your genre of music?
A.D.: The best thing we came up with is "Fantastic Cat: Folk Rock for Pussies," which is on our T-shirt. Our music is all over the place. It's rock music based [on the influences of] four different singer-songwriters. Since we are all coming to the table with folk roots, there is everything from The Band, the Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen to Paul Simon.
V.C.: Do you play all originals or do any covers?
A.D.: We all write it all. Sometimes we slip a cover in at live shows here and there. This group is four different songwriters. We swap instruments on every song.
V.C.: Wow that is very unusual! You each know how to play drums, keys, guitar, mandolin, and bass?
A.D.: Yeah. In the studio, switching instruments was a necessity thing. It felt weird at the first show, so we did it the way we did it in the studio with instrument swapping, and it worked.
My main instrument is guitar and singing and harmonica. Guitar is primary for each of us four, but we all picked up other stuff along the way.
V.C.: How did you teach yourself all these different instruments?
A.D.: Everybody has screwed around with them at some level. I mean, when you're working as a solo artist and your name is on the marquee, there is some perfectionism, there is a shared camaraderie - if we go down, we will all go down together. Because of that, we are willing to take risks and put ourselves in uncomfortable situations. It yields nice rewards when you take risks.
V.C.: Do you have a job outside of your music career?
A.D.: No, I've been doing music for 10 years full-time now. Got signed as a solo artist in 2014 under my own name, and I put out three records and toured all over the U.S. and Europe.
The original idea is we would get together every now and then, but the band Fantastic Cat started taking off and there is a lot of demand for it. So the last few years has been much more Fantastic Cat than solo stuff.
V.C.: What do you play when you're solo?
A.D.: My solo career is very folky, with guitar and harmonica.
V.C.: Who were your early music influences? Was guitar your first instrument?
A.D.: I grew up on Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Woody Guthrie, Leonard Cohen, and Neil Young. I started on the piano lessons when I was 5 and did that for quite a while. Picked up guitar in middle school, and in high school I started writing songs and got serious about music.
V.C.: You told me that you did a charity show for Light of Day Foundation in New Jersey recently and had a really famous musician listen to your set.
A.D.: Yeah, we performed for Light of Day to raise money for Parkinson's [disease and other neurodegenerative diseases] research. Bruce [Springsteen] was there and saw some of our set, and as we walked off stage, he shook our hands and said, "Fabulous, fabulous!" I was floored.
V.C.: Very cool! Switching gears, what is your biggest challenge as a band?
A.D.: Number one challenge is finding a time that all of us are free at the same time. Last year we did over 100 shows as Fantastic Cat all over, and we all did solo shows. The rare days that we are home and free, we are trying to make it up to our wives.
We're engrossed with the music, absorbing it, and studying it. We are all musical people. It's something that connects with people.
V.C.: What do you hope the audience will take away from a Fantastic Cat show?
A.D.: A lot of our merchandise!
I think one of the hallmarks of this band is the size. It's a chance for us to do something different - instrument swapping. It's a different experience for audiences, and we started it for fun.
We stumbled into something really special that audiences have responded to: When you're holding it loosely and having fun with it, they are having fun with it.
That's the No. 1 thing we hear from people after shows - that they haven't smiled as much during a concert. That's kind of the goal here. We want the show to be an escape for a couple of hours and [for the audience to] have a really good time.
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Fantastic Cat performs their debut show at the Stone Church, 210 Main Street, Brattleboro on Tuesday, May 6th. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. This is an all-ages show.
For tickets and information, visit stonechurchvt.com/events.
For more information on Fantastic Cat, visit fantasticcatband.com.
Victoria Chertok is a contributing writer to The Commons and The Keene Sentinel. She has lived and worked in Windham County since the mid-1990s.
This Arts item by Victoria Chertok was written for The Commons.