Meet Santino Tomasetti | Singer-Songwriter & Performer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Santino Tomasetti and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Santino, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
I’ve heard a lot of quotes and stories from artists much more successful than me that you have to constantly stay in the creative mode.

I tend to find my fellow songwriter friends using an excuse I’ve certainly used a ton of times before. The old fashioned “I’m just not feeling inspired recently.” I think creativity is like a muscle; it’s much easier to make it work if you’re using it consistently. Atrophy is less likely to settle in if you stay inspired, even if it’s only for 15 minutes a day. Pick up a guitar, write a lyric, practice a set list.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m just so lucky that I have been able to wake up every day for the last 5 years (bar a few of the emotionally hardest months of my life during 2020) and get to say I’m a musician for a living.

I took a chance in 2017 after a break up and a failed attempted at life in Los Angeles and it paid off better than I could’ve ever expected. Since moving to Branson, Missouri (google it if you need to), I’ve been fortunate enough to grow so much as a writer, singer, dancer, musician, businessman, and just as a person.

I left my home in Pittsburgh, PA over 11 years ago and have been on an incredible journey trying to hone my craft and tell some good stories. I’ve always tiptoed the line between an actor/performer and a singer-songwriter, I’ve been dreaming big and writing about it every step of the way. From discovering the work ethic it takes to succeed in New York, to learning all about the lows of working in a ruthless industry when I was in LA, to a bad stroke of luck we all had in March of 2020 after moving to Nashville, it’s all been worth it to chase the goal of performing full time.

Over the last five years, I’ve been using my incredible day job of performing at various theatres and shows to fund my desire to produce an album. So, I bought the gear necessary to make a low budget home studio, learned a ton from free mixing and mastering tutorials (thank you LinkedIn Learning for those free 30 day trials), and wrote more songs than I ever knew I had in me and spent 2021 recording in my dining room what would eventually be my album “Long Time Coming” which I released Memorial Day weekend of this past year.

And to boot, I’m now on a cruise ship traveling the world from a link I put up on YouTube. Imagine that!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well, I’d probably still be using TripAdvisor or Google for a trip any longer than a weekend. But I would definitely make sure we ate at Marabu at Brickell City Centre (I’m getting the Pan con Lechón). And if they’re into shopping then that could be an entire day there.

I’m a brewery kind of guy, so I’m spending a day in Wynwood and barhopping for a while. I heard there’s some pretty killer dives in that neck of the woods.

And then, as any proper tourist should, aside from checking out local museums, I’m headed to South Beach! Some gelato, any food you could possibly desire, grab some bikes and go until my legs feel like they’re falling off, stop for a snack, and go back again!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
To all of my friends who’ve inspired, motivated, or supported my creativity. The ones who showed up to gigs when I wasn’t feeling in the mood, the ones who wrote music that made me feel, the ones who donated their time and talent to help my vision become more focused and better. Thank you so much

I appreciate my family of performers and musicians more than I could ever express. They have given me a home I didn’t know I could ever have.

Website: https://www.santinosings.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/santinosings

Facebook: Facebook.com/santinosings

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@santinosings

Other: https://linktr.ee/santinosings

Image Credits
Ones with me and the guitar and the jumping photo: Michael Cignoli The performance shot: Roy Tan Long Time Coming album cover (forest photo) and photo of the Seabourn Quest cruise ship: Me