Coming Soon

Moving easily from folk to rock to country to blues to pop, Fracasso is one of those artists who isn't easily pigeonholed. In fact, the only constants in his songs seem to be his gift for insight and his wonderfully expressive and bright tenor voice, the perfect accompaniment to his complex melodies. As someone once pointed out, "He's like Buddy Holly if he went to college."

The son of Italian immigrants, Fracasso did go to college, putting himself through Ohio State University by taking a job in a steel mill. After getting his bachelor's degree, he enrolled in the master's program in environmental science at Washington State University. While in Pullman, Fracasso took a job with the Forest Service to help make ends meet, slipping away to Seattle on weekends to sing. Finally, in 1978, at the age of 26, the pull of a music career became too strong, and Fracasso pulled up stakes and headed to Manhattan, where he became part of a burgeoning folk scene that included the likes of Steve Forbert, the Roches and Suzanne Vega. Fracasso enjoyed his share of success, even playing occasionally at the legendary CBGB's, but eventually realized that Austin was a better fit for him artistically and personally, so at the end of the Eighties, he packed up again and headed south.

There, Fracasso's career truly blossomed as he became a standout on a roster of local talent that never seems to dry up. Over the years, Fracasso has released six albums, with "Red Dog Blues" next on the list. Over the years, he's toured the world, appeared on the nationally syndicated radio programs "World Cafe," "Mountain Stage" and "Acoustic Cafe," and become a regular collaborator with three of Austin's best-known artists, Patty Griffin, Alejandro Escovedo and Charlie Sexton. He also has toured with the Woody Guthrie tribute road show "Ribbon of Highway, Endless Skyway" that features such names as Jimmy LaFave and former Santa Fean Eliza Gilkyson.

Fracasso -- with his modest nature, blue-collar background and gift for interpretation -- has, in fact, become a particular favorite of the Guthrie family over the years, as Guthrie's seminal "1913 Massacre" has long been a staple of his live shows. When Fracasso recorded a live disc with Sexton at the famed Blue Door in Oklahoma City in 2001, Guthrie's sister Mary Jo provided the cover art.