Art’s What’s Gonna Save Us with Domenic Sciortino

Domenic Sciortino isn’t a name you’re likely to have heard before, unless you live in York, Pennsylvania. He’s an old friend of mine whose day job as a barber belies his experience with art and creative expression, which includes drawing, music, and a Beastie Boys tribute band called the Brass Monkeys. Dom’s passion for the arts and his vocal advocacy for creative expression are inspiring and infectious.

In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk a lot about facing your fears in the name of art.

“If you bare your soul, there’s gonna be people who support you.”

Domenic Sciortino

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Brass Monkeys

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Transcript

Please note: This is an unedited transcript, provided as a courtesy, and reflects the actual conversation as closely as possible. Please forgive any typographical or grammatical errors.

Nancy Norbeck [00:00:07]:
Hello, and welcome to Follow Your Curiosity, where we explore the ups and downs of the creative process and how to keep it moving. I’m your host, Nancy Norbeck. I am a writer, singer, improv comedy newbie, science fiction geek, and creativity coach who loves helping right brain folks get unstuck. I am so excited to be coming to you with interviews and coaching calls to show you the depth and breadth both of creative pursuits and creative people to give you some insight into their experiences and to inspire you. Today’s guest is Domenic Sciortino. Dom’s been a friend of mine for a very long time. And if you looked at his day job, you might wonder why I wanted to interview him. He’s a barber.

Nancy Norbeck [00:00:49]:
In fact, I know him because his dad cut my hair when I was growing up in York, Pennsylvania, where he still lives. It’s not the sort of job that comes to mind when most people hear the word creative, though it should. But Dom defies traditional boundaries where jobs and art are concerned. When I first knew him, we were all sure Dom was going to become some sort of graphic artist. He was always drawing and wanted to go to art school. His path turned out to be less straightforward. You’ll hear more about that in a minute. But it’s also been much richer and more interesting than anyone could have guessed.

Nancy Norbeck [00:01:20]:
Dom is a member of several local bands in York, including the Brass Monkeys, a Beastie Boys tribute band. Over the past few years, he’s also started performing on his own and even writing his own songs. As you’re about to hear, he’s a great advocate for the arts for everyone. One of the first things that I remember about you before I even really knew you at all was being in the shop and seeing your cartoons hanging

Nancy Norbeck [00:01:47]:
on the wall.

Nancy Norbeck [00:01:49]:
And I remember, I’m guessing I had to have been in middle school because I think you were must have been figuring out where you wanted to go for school. Because I remember your dad saying to my mom, he wants to go to art school, but I told him he has to learn cut hair so that he can always make a living. And and I remember, you know, so I’m what, like, 13 maybe, sitting there going, oh, but that’s so sad.

Domenic Sciortino [00:02:12]:
Like, where do I

Nancy Norbeck [00:02:15]:
go? Because I just thought, but then that’s what he’s gonna end up doing forever, and he’s never gonna get to do the other stuff that he loves. And now in retrospect, I would argue with my 13 year old self that there’s plenty of creativity in cutting hair. But I wasn’t really seeing that at the time. But I’m just wondering, first of all, am I remembering this right?

Domenic Sciortino [00:02:32]:
You you have an absolutely 100% correct. And after I became a barber, then he said, you know, it only takes 6 more months to learn women’s hair women’s hair. So I did that. And then he said, okay. Now you can go to art school. And what you probably don’t know is that I did sit spend a semester in art school, and I absolutely hated it.

Nancy Norbeck [00:02:51]:
Oh, Oh, I didn’t know that.

Domenic Sciortino [00:02:53]:
So, I remember the the professor saying, okay, you’re going to draw a perfume bottle, and you are going to draw this perfume bottle so that people want to buy it. And I was like, I don’t wanna draw a perfume bottle. I want to draw a dragon. So I drew a perfume bottle with a dragon on it, which I don’t know what kind of women want that, but

Nancy Norbeck [00:03:16]:
Probably plenty.

Domenic Sciortino [00:03:17]:
Yeah. You know, nerdy women. Right? No disrespect there, but, bad props to the nerdy women. And, but it just didn’t stick. So, I just said, you know, I’m already making money in cutting hair, and I really enjoy it. And, that’s what I did. But what did come in handy is probably about 5 years into cutting hair and now maybe a little more like 7. I went to school for Clairol and learned how to color hair.

Domenic Sciortino [00:03:44]:
And that’s when the art and the, commerce of cutting hair really blended well. And I I educated for Clairol for 2 years. For just a day one day a week. And I really learned about mixing colors and colors are colors, whether you’re doing hair or painting a house or painting a canvas. And, so, yeah, at the time, I was like, well, I’ll just get through this so that, I can go to art school then. And then I found out that, the regimented the regimenting of my art was really not for me.

Nancy Norbeck [00:04:15]:
That makes sense.

Domenic Sciortino [00:04:16]:
Yeah. So it’s a win win because I have a business that I love, but I also get to make art without boundaries. I can do whatever I want to do. I don’t have this degree dictating. You know? Yeah. There’s nothing wrong with degree, obviously. You know? It it’s it wasn’t for me. You know, I was meant to do a different path, and I’m I’m very happy with where I ended up.

Nancy Norbeck [00:04:33]:
That’s cool. How did you feel about it at the time when your dad was like, nope. You gotta do this thing first.

Domenic Sciortino [00:04:37]:
I understood completely because it’s an Italian family. And it’s just it’s all about the business, and there was no resentment there at all. I was just happy that he was going to not only that he said I could go to school, but that he would he would pay for it. So I saw it mean soon and I’m like, of course, I’ll do this. It’s only a year and a half, and I’ll get to go to 4 years of art school. And, it didn’t work out that way. So he was right in a weird way. But I could see a lot of, you know, children being resentful.

Domenic Sciortino [00:05:04]:
Oh, how dare you tell me, you know, but it was a different kind of home. You know, is it an Italian American household is you have to have, you have to have this trade that you can make money because and it wasn’t that he didn’t believe in my art at all. He was just being pragmatic.

Nancy Norbeck [00:05:20]:
Right.

Domenic Sciortino [00:05:22]:
Which my father was. No. He totally understood art because he was an artist himself.

Nancy Norbeck [00:05:26]:
That’s right.

Domenic Sciortino [00:05:26]:
So, yeah. It all worked out. So there was no resentment for that. I completely understood it. And it’s, it’s it’s definitely kind of I have 3 boys and I have 1 in college now. And I’ve passed that down because I’m just adamant that they get a traded degree and then they do whatever they want. And I don’t care what the degree is in. It’s just that they I think education is vitally important.

Domenic Sciortino [00:05:53]:
And, you know, since I didn’t have it, by choice, I can see some of the things I missed. Some Mhmm. Educational opportunities, not the social opportunities. But, that I’ve I’ve, you know, I’ve gone back and read classics and stuff that people had to do. And I thought, you know, I should do this now. But no. No resentment at all. But I’m kind of, as you know, a Zen person anyways.

Domenic Sciortino [00:06:16]:
So Yeah. It all it all gets woven into the fabric. So

Nancy Norbeck [00:06:19]:
And and you’re also, like, one of the most amazingly self educated people I’ve ever met. In fact, probably the most I mean, can you you read more than and more widely, I think, than pretty much anybody I know.

Domenic Sciortino [00:06:29]:
So much. It’s it’s that quest for knowledge, man. That’s what I love. Yeah. That keeps me going every day.

Nancy Norbeck [00:06:36]:
There there is something about the love of learning for the sake of learning that is more powerful than

Domenic Sciortino [00:06:41]:
And as you get older, it’s more important that you learn to learn rather than I need to learn this so that I can. Right. It’s just the joy you get out of learning. You don’t always have that at 20, which is probably why I didn’t enjoy art school.

Nancy Norbeck [00:06:59]:
You will do this. You will do it my way. How much do you think your dad’s art influenced your own?

Domenic Sciortino [00:07:09]:
Boy, that’s a really good question. What I take from my dad’s art, which he was prolific. He did paintings and then he did woodcarvings. And I actually took a woodcarving class with him maybe, about 15, 20 years ago. And I didn’t enjoy wood carving, so I knew, that what he he was doing was not for me. You know, the, when he passed away, and he had all these wood carving tools, all these wood carver friends, are you gonna are you gonna do this now? No. I hate wood carving. I really despise it.

Domenic Sciortino [00:07:40]:
And, so, but what I take away from it, I love this, is that, I don’t think there’s this conception, like me going to school, that in order to make art, it has to be a certain standard of good. And it’s that’s not true at all. Not that my father’s art wasn’t good. But it’s just, that you create. That’s what’s important. And what a lot of people don’t know is the way my father got started in art was he bought my mother, his wife, in the 1st couple years of their marriage, a paint by number set because this was huge back in the early sixties. It was a street scene in Italy and it sat there untouched and one day he decided, I’m gonna do this and he did that. And that’s when he started painting.

Domenic Sciortino [00:08:31]:
And some of his, first paintings were incredibly rudimentary, but they were his. They were beautiful. And I think that’s how it inspired me, not so much as the style, because he’s he did a lot of Bob Ross stuff in the seventies. And so it’s kinda kitschy, and I love it because I love that kinda kitsch, but it wouldn’t be classified as high art, but it was it was implicitly him. Mhmm. It’s who he was. So I think what I take away from that is, it’s not important that you try to emulate your heroes or anybody that you think is great. It’s it’s more important that you get to the paper, the canvas, or the instrument what’s you.

Domenic Sciortino [00:09:12]:
That’s what art is.

Nancy Norbeck [00:09:14]:
And and that actually brings me to to your quote from Facebook. Oh,

Domenic Sciortino [00:09:20]:
okay.

Nancy Norbeck [00:09:20]:
Let’s see. How long ago was this? September of 2016. So a little while ago. And you said every single person on this planet should play an instrument or sing or draw or sculpt or paint. And if they’re not good at it, they still should. Art’s what’s gonna save us.

Domenic Sciortino [00:09:35]:
Oh, nice. Thank you there for remembering that. So I only have how much time do I have to talk about that? Because this could be the rest of the interview. Well,

Nancy Norbeck [00:09:46]:
start. And I do have a couple other questions. We’ll see

Domenic Sciortino [00:09:48]:
we’ll see where we go. We are all constantly creating, obviously. And it’s just something you do. If you make a pot of coffee when you wake up, you’re creating. If you cook dinner, you’re creating. And we can also create messes of our lives. And when messes get created, is it okay to get deep here? Yeah.

Nancy Norbeck [00:10:10]:
Absolutely.

Domenic Sciortino [00:10:11]:
When messes get created, what happens is you have, you know, people in opposition with each other, and obviously, you know, this is the human condition, and that’s why we need, the military. That’s why we need police forces. That’s why we need politics. That’s why we need, structures and institutions. But the truth is, creativity is nothing like that. Creativity is, expressing who you are, but at the same time first of all, creating is always an homage. You are emulating something. Somebody has influenced you.

Domenic Sciortino [00:10:48]:
So you never have to worry about copying because everything to a degree is a copy, even if it’s only a 1% copy. And that’s the beautiful thing about creating, and that’s why we should all create, is because you are not only borrowing from somebody. You’re making something beautiful even if it’s only beautiful to you, and you are adding beauty to the world. So it unites us. Art can divide, but it unites it is is that there’s there’s a passion there that is unparalleled in anything else. You know, you can’t drive a car with that kind of passion, unless you’re Mario Andretti or something. But, it’s a passion that comes out of you that you’re paying tribute to somebody, but you’re also expressing yourself, and it’s good to get a lot of garbage out of you. Art is a form of protest, is a beautiful thing, And the wonderful thing about that is nobody gets hurt.

Domenic Sciortino [00:11:45]:
It’s not violent.

Nancy Norbeck [00:11:46]:
It’s true.

Domenic Sciortino [00:11:46]:
And that’s why I think even as simple I think one of the easiest things anybody can do, as far as creating, is is keeping a journal. Because it feels so good to get that out and be honest. And then, you can even say things maybe you wouldn’t say out loud. And now you’ve gotten it out, and you haven’t heard anybody. You’ve reflected upon it. And, does that make sense, I guess? I’m I’m rambling on it on here. But what I’m saying is, that transcends institutions. That transcends, politics.

Domenic Sciortino [00:12:24]:
That transcends religion. It’s something and that’s why it will save us. And that’s why all the religions, the essence of religions is not in the dogma or the creeds, because those have been made by institutions. But the essence of all great religions is art. I mean, the Hebrew scriptures are it’s all poetry. It’s all beautiful poetry. The Quran is poetry. Anything Buddhist is poetry, but then you have these great gothic art pieces of Christ, and, the great, medieval art of of God.

Domenic Sciortino [00:13:03]:
And to me, that’s creating, and people can see that beauty and come together. And that’s why I think beautiful service, because institutions can’t do it, and, military might violence can’t do it. But ourselves together, expressing ourselves in a beautiful way is definitely is gonna is what’s gonna say in this. By the way, Brian Zahnd wrote a book called Beauty Will Save the World, and Oh. That’s where I get that quote. He is a Christian preacher, but he’s not your run of the mill Christian preacher preacher, so I don’t wanna scare anybody off by that. But if you get a chance, anybody to read Beautiful Will Save the World. That’s where that quote comes from, and that’s, a creed of mine.

Nancy Norbeck [00:13:42]:
Cool. I had no idea that there there were other people. I mean, there are people who are saying the same thing, but I didn’t realize that anybody had gone so far as to, you know, write a book about it. So I’m definitely gonna check that out. Sure. So in the course of managing to do your art despite art school not being for you and despite ending up cutting hair rather than drawing comics, And and obviously in some ways because you’re mixing colors and you’re Sure.

Domenic Sciortino [00:14:12]:
You’re

Nancy Norbeck [00:14:12]:
doing the things you do. You it’s so funny because I had originally really thought of you as visual art because that’s what I remember from so long ago. But then you started doing music. How was was music always there or did that come along later? Or

Domenic Sciortino [00:14:29]:
It’s so interesting because I primarily do music now. I I I do a lot of cartooning, but it’s mostly of members of my family. So it’s I must love that. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. So, my my art is is is definitely pigeonholed to a very narrow, population of 4, my wife and 3 kids, because they’re the only ones that’ll get it, and maybe an aunt or uncle here. But, it’s not that I don’t wanna draw or or paint or whatever. I probably will at some point again.

Domenic Sciortino [00:14:58]:
It’s just not now because I’m so busy with other things. But it’s funny. There’s a funny story about that too, is that I started playing guitar when I was 7. And I’m sure that I drew before that, but, so I started guitar very young. And then I took piano my senior year. I always wanted to learn drums, but my father wouldn’t let me. Now that, I was angry about. He didn’t want the noise.

Domenic Sciortino [00:15:23]:
So I would put on my Walkman, the orange headphones, and the cassette Walkman, and I would take 2 pencils and sit at my desk. I would watch the drummers in jazz band play drums, and I would learn off them. There’s no Internet at this time, so I couldn’t search. So I would learn techniques. I would ask them questions, then I would sit at my desk and learn how to play drums. So, music has always been there just as strong as art. But it’s so funny because my senior year, when we went and ordered our class rings. And you know, you you put on the side what you wanted to do.

Domenic Sciortino [00:15:56]:
So I had my, you know, I had the York suburban Trojans on one side, and the other side was supposed to be art. And it was a palette with a brush, And for some reason, at the last minute, I say, you know, I do more music than anything. I’m gonna change this to music, and I changed the little, so it has a little guitar on it now and everything. And, I think at that point in my life, I was conscious that music was was gonna pay play a bigger role than, you know, painting or drawing. So, yeah, it’s definitely been there for yeah. Since I was seven, I played guitar, and I think first time I tried to form a band, I was, like, 15. And that was great. I remember we played Michael Cinebello’s Maniac from the Flashdance soundtrack.

Domenic Sciortino [00:16:39]:
I learned that solo note for note. I was proud of that.

Nancy Norbeck [00:16:44]:
That’s so amazing though about, you know, learning to play the drums with 2 pencils is is just wild.

Domenic Sciortino [00:16:51]:
You know, it’s probably my proudest achievement because I did it all. I’ve never had a formal lesson. And then when Rock Band for Xbox came out a couple of years ago, you remember those drum pads? Like, I was so excited to get it for my kids because I’m like, I’m gonna really learn how to play drums out, which they were don’t really teach you, but there is rhythm involved.

Nancy Norbeck [00:17:09]:
Mhmm.

Domenic Sciortino [00:17:10]:
But now I actually had a kick pedal and some drums, so I had pads. So now I would put on the Ipod instead of the Walkman, and I would bang out beats. And the reason I’m so proud for it of it is because, I guess, about 10 years ago, 2 friends of mine who already had a band said they needed a drummer, and they called me because they heard I was a drummer. And I’m like, oh my gosh. They’re gonna find out I’m not a drummer. And, I went down and play with them, and I’m still a drummer. And we’ve played some pretty incredible gigs where we actually, we play many styles of media or many artists. We don’t write any songs.

Domenic Sciortino [00:17:47]:
We’re mostly cover band. But we’re also a tribute to Weezer. So, I’ve played Weezer songs on the drums, and I’ve never had to listen. And I’m pretty proud of that. I it’s I’m able enough to take it out and actually get compensated for it.

Nancy Norbeck [00:18:01]:
And and you’re proving my point about how much stuff you learn on your own. I mean, that’s incredible.

Domenic Sciortino [00:18:06]:
Absolutely. It’s, you know, who said that that I think it was Teddy Roosevelt said that success is 99 what is it?

Nancy Norbeck [00:18:16]:
Is that the Edison quote?

Domenic Sciortino [00:18:17]:
There’s a Thomas Edison. Yeah. 99% perspiration. 1% inspiration. 99 percent perspiration. Yeah. I think well, there again, don’t just try to be yourself. You know, it’s and I’m not saying you just get up there and clang on cymbals and decide I’m not using a snare today.

Domenic Sciortino [00:18:33]:
No. There’s obviously if you’re playing something structured, but you can do it. Especially now with the resources available. My gosh. You know? But, yes. I you put your mind to it, and I think we we get we get hung up on, approval. Mhmm. So that prevents us from making art.

Domenic Sciortino [00:18:52]:
But, boy, if that was the case, I would have never taken the stage with a set of drums if I was looking for approval. You know, I did it because it was and then you you know, as you get more confidence, you become more successful. Yeah. When you when you’re willing and with with painting or writing, when willing to bear your soul, just taking that stuff, you’re gonna get accolades for that.

Nancy Norbeck [00:19:11]:
Yeah. It’s true.

Domenic Sciortino [00:19:13]:
Even if it’s poor grammar. You know? People are gonna be like, wow. You you buried your soul. That’s pretty awesome.

Nancy Norbeck [00:19:19]:
Right. So now how many bands have you been in? Because I didn’t know about that one.

Domenic Sciortino [00:19:25]:
Oh, okay. I knew about

Nancy Norbeck [00:19:26]:
God bless my mobile home.

Domenic Sciortino [00:19:27]:
Like the like the the like, currently or just overall?

Nancy Norbeck [00:19:31]:
I’ll start with overall.

Domenic Sciortino [00:19:33]:
Overall, not many, actually. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. Currently, I guess, technically, 3, but only 2 are active. So and even that, I don’t play more than once or twice a month. But the first band was a bunch of high school kids. There’s actually a couple little more projects somewhere along there. But God Bless Her Mobile Home, which is kinda like hillbilly rock, that’s been going on for over 20 years. And the bass player and I are married to sisters, so that’s easy to keep going.

Domenic Sciortino [00:20:07]:
We’re always together. And, and then the Weezer tribute, we’re just 3 middle aged guys making rock rock and roll. So that’s more just fun. We’re not it’s not that we’re not serious about it, but there’s it’s very relaxing.

Nancy Norbeck [00:20:21]:
What’s that one called?

Domenic Sciortino [00:20:24]:
We call ourselves the Delfs. But, actually, what we go by is death to false metal usually, because death to false metal is the name of Weezer album. It’s the Weezer b sides album. So when we build ourselves as that, people that are Weezer fans know they’re getting Weezer music. And then Brass Monkeys, which is the Beastie Boys tribute, and that’s more like a business, which, it’s run like a business. It’s very regimented and a lot of practice involved. Not that we’re not creating. Again, it’s an homage.

Nancy Norbeck [00:20:56]:
Right.

Domenic Sciortino [00:20:57]:
And, actually, what’s more important there is, I think even if you’re playing cover songs or in a tribute band, you have great fun because you’re performing music that you love, but it’s how does that inspire you? I mean, that has inspired me to do a lot more with my music. The fact that I could take a stage and actually have a business kinda aspect, to music has affected everything in my life, as far as, making music.

Nancy Norbeck [00:21:26]:
And is that the one you spend the most time with?

Domenic Sciortino [00:21:28]:
Yes. That not as much practice because it’s a limited catalog of music. Mhmm. So we know it all already. That was the 1st year or 2 really hammering it out. But, but we we usually play every month. And, yeah. That’s that’s more time consuming because there’s a lot of travel involved.

Domenic Sciortino [00:21:46]:
And, but at the same time, the 4 of us also find time either during sound check or at other opportunities to play together in a looser environment where we are creating. It’s not just playing Beastie Boys songs. Mhmm. For instance, I think, next Monday, there, there there were 2 firefighters that died in New York, when a building collapsed. The first firefighters we lost in almost 50 years, and they’re having a benefit for them here in New York. And we are the backing band. So we get to, yeah, play behind all these great horn musicians. So, you know, all these things.

Domenic Sciortino [00:22:20]:
As long as you’re creating music, man, it leads to all kinds of opportunities. Especially in a smaller community like York PA, which is, you know, all the musicians seem to know each other.

Nancy Norbeck [00:22:30]:
Well, how far afield do you go with Brass Monkeys? Because I know you were up in Brooklyn a while back.

Domenic Sciortino [00:22:35]:
We we were in Brooklyn twice. We’ve been all over Pennsylvania. We’re going to Syracuse, I think. And we back in February, we went to Germany and spent 5 days there. And that was incredible.

Nancy Norbeck [00:22:52]:
How was that?

Domenic Sciortino [00:22:53]:
That was amazing. I I’m so blessed. I never have gotten I it’s first time I ever went to Europe. And, it’s it’s, music, man, the universal language.

Nancy Norbeck [00:23:05]:
Yeah. Are the audience is different in Germany?

Domenic Sciortino [00:23:09]:
Everybody there was so nice. I think what’s different in Europe is they just appreciate live music a lot more with no disrespect to any American music fans. It’s it’s so much more ingrained in their culture, that they’re willing to pay musicians. That they give musicians and not that it’s about us, but they did give the musicians attention. You know, that they actually come to see you perform as opposed to just, oh, I want somebody in the background making music while

Nancy Norbeck [00:23:41]:
I meet.

Domenic Sciortino [00:23:41]:
You know, a prime example is Tim Warfield. I don’t know if you ever heard of Tim Warfield. He’s, he lives right he lives not far from here, and he’s won Grammys. He’s won Jazz Grammys. He’s a graduate of York High, amazing saxophonist. And, you know, he plays here in York at the Holy Hound once a month, which is, you know, just a bar, and and and people love seeing him. But he’s gone to Europe and filled halls because he’s a Grammy nominated jazz musician. And they just, I think just think they have a different view of that, you know, than than we do here.

Domenic Sciortino [00:24:18]:
The one the one great thing about playing Germany is that there were all these people screaming the lyrics while we were singing them, except they didn’t really speak English. So they just kinda along with what we were singing. So they knew the songs, but not the words, and that was just fantastic. That’s right. It was. Yeah.

Nancy Norbeck [00:24:39]:
But, you know, that’s not keeping them from from

Domenic Sciortino [00:24:42]:
Oh, bad. Yeah. It was it was it was really probably the best show we played. Just as far as connection with the audience.

Nancy Norbeck [00:24:52]:
So you also then started performing on your own?

Domenic Sciortino [00:24:57]:
Yes. That was a huge leap for me because I had never performed solo.

Nancy Norbeck [00:25:05]:
And I think I remember your Facebook post that sounded I mean, as much as a Facebook post can sound kind of apprehensive, like, okay. I’m going I’m doing this thing. I’m kinda scared.

Domenic Sciortino [00:25:15]:
Yeah. I was Tell me what you want me to play. Absolutely terrified and which is funny for such a zen person. But here’s the bottom line is, I have to I have to, you know, if I’m trying to sell you this idea that just go out and be fearless and create, I have to do it. I have to put my money where my mouth is. So I I don’t know. I just had this feeling that I had to do it. And I even told the guy who wanted to book me.

Domenic Sciortino [00:25:43]:
I’m like, I don’t I don’t do this. He said, you’ll do fine. And you know what? Here’s here’s the thing. In the end, everything works out. It always does. There’s very few people that are gonna bear their soul and get booed. It it doesn’t happen, unless you’re making something really horrible, like hateful or you’re screaming obscenities at the audience. If you bear your soul, there’s gonna be people who support you.

Domenic Sciortino [00:26:09]:
It just speaks to the essence. So, yeah, I didn’t even know what I was gonna do. So I mapped out all these songs, and I’m like, I can’t do these songs because this song is like a singer songwriter song, and this song is like more hard rock. It’s all over the map, but then you think, well, that’s who I am. That’s what I listen to. And as long as it’s authentic and I think I’ve done, oh my gosh, a dozen since then. And I I love it more and more. I just did 1, 2 weeks ago, and it was probably the most fun I’ve ever had.

Domenic Sciortino [00:26:41]:
So, I’ll tell you what really got me over the hump with that. And, I don’t know if you know about this. I started doing these Friday night Facebook live requests.

Nancy Norbeck [00:26:52]:
No. I didn’t know.

Domenic Sciortino [00:26:53]:
Oh, yeah. This is this has been so much fun. So I pour myself an adult beverage or 2 or 3 or whatever. I’d like to get the the shakes out, and I pick up my electric guitar. And then I live stream it, and I ask the audience, the viewing audience, to request a song. And I haven’t thought too what that song would be. And I might not even know how to play it, but that’s we power the Internet. I just pull up the chords, and I say, here we go.

Domenic Sciortino [00:27:16]:
And it’s incredibly embarrassing. And because some of it sounds horrendous. I think one night somebody requested, Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Mila, which I I don’t like that song. I don’t like Mila. And, but, hey, that’s the rule. If I know the song, I have to play it. And that’s been really cathartic for me in getting over stage fright, which is always present. It’s always present.

Domenic Sciortino [00:27:44]:
But that’s a good thing. Stage fright is good because it’s that adrenaline, man. You know, that’s what spurs you into creating. So, yeah, the the Friday night live request has been a lot of fun. So now I’ve taken that into 2 bars and clubs. And I I do a 3 hour set with breaks, and then the last hour is request a song. This is not just gonna be played over the Internet, but to these people in the bar, and that’s been a blast.

Nancy Norbeck [00:28:11]:
And they go for it even if you don’t know the song well, and whatever.

Domenic Sciortino [00:28:14]:
Yeah. Last, the last 2 weeks ago, I butchered, absolutely butchered, I think Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden. And there was one more. The first request was Sweet Home Alabama. Really did not wanna play that one, but I did.

Nancy Norbeck [00:28:30]:
And how I mean, what’s the response like in person if if it’s something that you’ve butchered?

Domenic Sciortino [00:28:35]:
Everybody, you know, that’s warn them? I I tell them, you know, like, if I’ve never played it, I tell them I’ve never played this song. And so that those there’s maybe a modicum of understanding from the audience. But, so I think what it’s it’s funny because everybody’s so in on the act that if you fail, they’re you know, you’re failing with them. You know? They’re almost just guilty, like, oh, we shouldn’t have requested this. And everybody just laughs and claps. But

Nancy Norbeck [00:29:04]:
So then it’s not your fault.

Domenic Sciortino [00:29:05]:
Yeah. I think everybody, man, we’re all taking dares when we create art. I think, you know, you go big or go home, man. Take that dare. If if you’re being told inside to do it, just do it even if you feel. Again, you’re not failing. But I think if you fail to yourself, you’d be surprised how it inspires people. Yeah.

Nancy Norbeck [00:29:22]:
I think the only failure is not to even try.

Domenic Sciortino [00:29:25]:
Exactly. There you go. Nancy Norbeck quote or did you borrow that?

Nancy Norbeck [00:29:29]:
I don’t know. I probably read that idea

Domenic Sciortino [00:29:31]:
so many places that I couldn’t really claim it. But Absolutely. No doubt.

Nancy Norbeck [00:29:36]:
Yeah. So what about writing your own music?

Domenic Sciortino [00:29:40]:
Yes, I have. I haven’t for quite some time. But it it was easy with God Bless Her Mobile Home because most of the songs are about drinking or cars or Domenic, Because we’re kind of a tongue in cheek country rock. I don’t know what. The most frustrating thing to me about writing music is that there’s a limited number of chords. And there’s a limited number of chords that sound good together. Now you can be extremely daring like we talked about and put a b flat next to a a, but you better know it’s your dimmer, whatever, Some kinda ascending or descending way. But, so you always get this stuck in your head that, oh, this has been done before.

Domenic Sciortino [00:30:28]:
This progression is, of course, it has. Every single song has already been written in some way, shape, or form. The notes are in a different order. So that that’s my biggest hurdle is just trying to be myself and and, write, and not worry about what it sounds like. And, yeah, because I remember writing a song once and thinking, oh, this is pretty good. And then listening to my iPod one day, and I think, oh, wait. I just rewrote that song because I listened to so much music that it gets ingrained in your head. But that doesn’t matter.

Domenic Sciortino [00:31:07]:
I still wrote it, and I’m not gonna play it out maybe Mhmm. And not record it. But I still made something, and it’s part of that journey. And studying song structure is fascinating to me. And I was always scared to do it because I didn’t want to willingly rip off another song.

Nancy Norbeck [00:31:27]:
Mhmm.

Domenic Sciortino [00:31:27]:
But I was wrong. I mean, just studying it, and you think, oh, they went from there to there. That’s really interesting, and they use that in a different way. So everything is borrowed, but songwriting is definitely the hardest aspect to my art, for me. I can I can play till the sunsets? I can sing till the sun sets, but to write a song, I have to I have to force myself to do that.

Nancy Norbeck [00:31:52]:
Fair enough.

Domenic Sciortino [00:31:53]:
I’d rather jam.

Nancy Norbeck [00:31:56]:
That sounds like fun.

Domenic Sciortino [00:31:57]:
Right.

Nancy Norbeck [00:31:58]:
So how do you balance everything that you do?

Domenic Sciortino [00:32:05]:
It’s easier now that my children are older, but I I don’t really. Because what if if it sounds fun, I do it. And it doesn’t matter if I have the time or not. I’ll move something to make the time. So sometimes I look at my calendar and just, like, oh my gosh. What am I doing? And I have to push that aside because I know once I do it, I’ll have fun. The just this week, you know, I’m doing this, and then I’m I’m actually going to record Wednesday night, going to play guitar tomorrow night for a youth church service practice. So every night but what would I be doing? I would be binging something that’s probably not even worth binging on Netflix.

Domenic Sciortino [00:32:42]:
You know? It’s not like work where they say, oh, if you spend too much time on this, it’s going to take away from this. The the thing with creating is it’s it’s fun. It’s who you are. So, you know, if you work all day, but then come home and create from 5 to 11:30 PM, you’re not wiped out because of it. You’re in you’re invigorated. Now if you hang yourself up on the thought that, oh my gosh, I just did this for 6 and a half hours, you can’t because you would be doing something else. If it’s relaxing, it’s the same as reading a book or taking a walk. It’s, you know, it’s really igniting you.

Domenic Sciortino [00:33:15]:
So I just make sure that, my relationships don’t suffer with my children or my wife, which is not difficult because, like I said, the kids are grown. My wife and I are 26 years in. We have pretty understanding with each other, so I kinda just do it. And, yeah, When we played Brooklyn with brass monkeys, it was interesting because, that was a huge opportunity for us because it was MCA day, which is the day that honors Adam Young, who was one of the members of the BC boards. Actually, the one I portray. So we would be performing for his friends and family. So I really couldn’t pass this up. And, it turns out it was in the same day that I was moving my son in college 5 hours away.

Domenic Sciortino [00:34:01]:
And I immediately made the decision, I can’t do this because I have to move my son into college. But, my family was incredibly supportive. That’s that’s really important. And they said, you you have to do this. So I showed my my son at the college at 5:30 in the morning, and then at noon, I drove to Brooklyn and performed at 5:30. And, but I mean, that’s what it’s all about. Like that’s Yeah. So you talk about how you juggle.

Domenic Sciortino [00:34:30]:
It’s you make time for what’s important to you.

Nancy Norbeck [00:34:32]:
And you obviously don’t regret doing all that.

Domenic Sciortino [00:34:34]:
I do not regret doing any of that. Not only did it open so many doors for us, as a business, but it it introduced me to so many incredible artists from different communities that I’ve become friends with now, and they come to my shows, and one of them is actually an artist that does, almost exclusively portraits of, hip hop artists, and they’re amazing. They’re lifelike portraits. And he lives right in, Annapolis. He’s, like, an hour away from me.

Nancy Norbeck [00:35:10]:
Wow. Are they gonna do some for you guys?

Domenic Sciortino [00:35:13]:
I don’t think so. I think if we asked him, I bet he would. I wouldn’t ask him to do that. He has to create what he wants to create. You know?

Nancy Norbeck [00:35:19]:
Oh, that’s true.

Domenic Sciortino [00:35:20]:
I’m sure we could commission him for a piece, but I do have one of his pieces. And, but, yeah. So just, you know, I thought I was doing it for the opportunities for the band and stuff, but it was so much more than that. I mean, I meant, a photographer, who we formed a connection with, and then this artist. And with social media now, it’s so easy to keep connected with these people. And, but, yeah, to your original question about, juggling all that, if it’s fun, just do it. It’s part of your life. As long as, you can support yourself, then the rest should be what you wanna do, or what what makes you come alive? Absolutely.

Nancy Norbeck [00:36:01]:
And that’s a good way to put it.

Domenic Sciortino [00:36:02]:
Yeah.

Nancy Norbeck [00:36:03]:
And and I think too that they’re you know, it’s so easy to think of the reasons why you can’t do something.

Domenic Sciortino [00:36:11]:
Mhmm.

Nancy Norbeck [00:36:11]:
You know, that it’s but I was gonna do this this weekend or, you know, then I’m not gonna get any sleep that night or whatever. Which I will admit is a big one for me. But but then when you actually do say, wait a minute, when am I gonna get a chance to do this again?

Domenic Sciortino [00:36:29]:
Absolutely.

Nancy Norbeck [00:36:30]:
And, you know, something may come out of it that I can’t even predict. And it’s worth going just to see what happens, see what I can do, see who I meet, have the experience of of doing it. I think that a lot of people tend to forget about all of that part when they’re looking at a calendar and saying,

Domenic Sciortino [00:36:47]:
I have to

Nancy Norbeck [00:36:48]:
do this and I have to do that. And so

Domenic Sciortino [00:36:51]:
I’ve had to take off so much work to do this band, and that’s always scary from a business standpoint. But, you know, I’m I can’t do this till I die. The you know, that that part of

Nancy Norbeck [00:37:04]:
the band. Mhmm.

Domenic Sciortino [00:37:05]:
Because at some point, when you are paying tribute to somebody, that tribute doesn’t seem authentic if you’re 20, 30 years older. You know what I mean? You you know, if you wanna see a Michael Jackson tribute, you’re not gonna see a guy that’s 80 doing God bless him if he can, but Right. So, so I know I have to do this now. So if I have to miss work, I miss work. But, yeah, it’s interesting you say about sleep, because work you can get back. Or, but sleep’s not something you get back. That’s, you know, you can’t make it up. You can’t say, I only sleep 4 hours tonight, so I’ll sleep 13 hours tomorrow.

Domenic Sciortino [00:37:38]:
You still you still have not made it up.

Nancy Norbeck [00:37:41]:
Right.

Domenic Sciortino [00:37:41]:
And so that is that is a dangerous gamble, absolutely, for for health reasons.

Nancy Norbeck [00:37:45]:
Yeah.

Domenic Sciortino [00:37:45]:
You know? So that’s the one. Yeah. I I am that guy that would be in bed every night at 10 just watching TV. I have to be pushed to so we’re we’re recording some music Wednesday night with God bless her mobile home. And it’s a great opportunity for us. And my first thought was, oh my gosh, it’s in Mechanicsburg, and I’m not gonna be home till after 10 on a weeknight. And then I just kinda have to slap myself and say, come on, man.

Nancy Norbeck [00:38:10]:
Yeah. And I’m certainly not saying that, you know, everybody should stay up until 3 hours. Yeah.

Domenic Sciortino [00:38:14]:
They don’t do that.

Nancy Norbeck [00:38:15]:
Sleep’s not important because it definitely is.

Domenic Sciortino [00:38:17]:
If you if you think you wanna do it, then you need to do it. Yeah. Even if there’s that, oh, I shouldn’t but. Well, there’s that but. You need to do it.

Nancy Norbeck [00:38:27]:
Fair enough. Yeah. So what do you think is the most creative thing you’ve ever done or that you do now?

Domenic Sciortino [00:38:42]:
Wow. Well, make music, of course, is definitely even though I’m not writing, when there’s something beating a room with a couple other musicians, That’s it’s unparalleled for me. When that sound comes together, that’s amazing. That’s really incredible. And it’s just as satisfying, you’ve heard this said, and it’s just as satisfying if there’s a 1,000 people there, or 2 people. Just something about that connection. But as far as the most creative thing I’ve ever done, that’s a really good question. I think one of the things I’m proudest of is my father’s eulogy.

Domenic Sciortino [00:39:25]:
Oh. And that kinda opened a gateway to public speaking for me that I was never really comfortable with, and I’ve done more public speaking now than ever. And so that’s been really interesting to me. And I think probably that might be what I’m proudest of is just to summarize somebody’s life in

Nancy Norbeck [00:39:44]:
Yeah.

Domenic Sciortino [00:39:44]:
In 10 minutes. That was such a nuanced character. So yeah. I mean, even through all the art and drawing and music, I think that’s that might be my my proudest moment. And I did it for my grandmother too, who died at a 104.

Nancy Norbeck [00:40:00]:
Good for her.

Domenic Sciortino [00:40:01]:
Yeah. I know. Right? But I just have more opportunities to do that, and it’s been amazing. There’s a little there’s an event here in York, called York Craftic Crafted. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard the pekacuka format, where you okay. So it’s 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide, and you have to give a talk.

Nancy Norbeck [00:40:25]:
So Wow.

Domenic Sciortino [00:40:27]:
Actually, I think architects started this format, and now it’s known globally. The format is because apparently, and you can ask any architect architects you might know. Gee, wonder who that might be. That architects tend to talk forever. Somebody decided this, so they said, we’re only gonna let you have 20 sides and we’re only gonna you have 20 seconds per slide. And somebody recognized this as this is a great way to present anything because it’s only 2 minutes and 40 seconds.

Nancy Norbeck [00:40:53]:
Mhmm.

Domenic Sciortino [00:40:54]:
And let’s make this. And so I was to go talk about barbering for 2 minutes and 20 seconds, or 2 minutes 40 seconds, whatever it comes out to, with 20 slides. And that was a blast for me. And then 5 or 6 other people that, like, get up and do the same thing. Now you rehearse it. I mean, obviously, you put it together yourself. I’m rehearsing. But, yeah, the speaking has been a lot of fun for me.

Domenic Sciortino [00:41:16]:
To I like to be organized, so having a beginning, middle, and an end is very satisfying to me. Music doesn’t always give you that. So, because if it’s an open jam or something but this is like, okay. This is the way it’s gonna go. I like that.

Nancy Norbeck [00:41:32]:
That’s cool. I had no idea that you did the public speaking at all. So

Domenic Sciortino [00:41:36]:
There you go. Telling you every time I talk

Nancy Norbeck [00:41:37]:
to you, I learn

Domenic Sciortino [00:41:38]:
new stuff too.

Nancy Norbeck [00:41:39]:
Like, how many of you are there? Because there’s gotta be, like,

Domenic Sciortino [00:41:42]:
3 documents in front of your house. You know? And I’m super proud of this. I’ve actually been asked to give a sermon on June 10th at a church. So, they sent me the passage and everything. I’m like, yeah, I’m down.

Nancy Norbeck [00:41:56]:
So Wow.

Domenic Sciortino [00:41:57]:
Yeah, I’m excited for that.

Nancy Norbeck [00:41:59]:
You are just such a renaissance man. Amazing.

Domenic Sciortino [00:42:02]:
Well, I think I think the actually correct term is Jack of all trades man. Renaissance Renaissance man sounds nicer, but Well,

Nancy Norbeck [00:42:11]:
you know, whichever. You’re just doing so many things.

Domenic Sciortino [00:42:14]:
Well, I think you just have to you have to get it out. Right? I mean, you create you have it’s in there. You have to get it out. If you don’t get it out, you’re unsatisfied. You’re restless. And

Nancy Norbeck [00:42:24]:
Yeah. There’s

Domenic Sciortino [00:42:25]:
out, man.

Nancy Norbeck [00:42:26]:
I don’t know if you know who Brene Brown is. She did the TED talk 7 years ago.

Domenic Sciortino [00:42:32]:
Yes. Yes.

Nancy Norbeck [00:42:32]:
Went viral. And and she’s got a great quote about how unused creativity is not benign. And it and I’m butchering this, but the basic idea is, you know, it metastasizes and it turns into resentment and anger and all of these

Domenic Sciortino [00:42:46]:
things. Oh, wow. Interesting.

Nancy Norbeck [00:42:47]:
You know, which is basically what you’ve been saying.

Domenic Sciortino [00:42:50]:
Absolutely.

Nancy Norbeck [00:42:50]:
And I think she’s totally right.

Domenic Sciortino [00:42:53]:
I’ve never been as unhappy as Yep.

Nancy Norbeck [00:42:55]:
You don’t let it out and you feel like you can’t let it out, you know, no good comes in that.

Domenic Sciortino [00:43:00]:
Absolutely. I agree with that a 100 10%. If I have not been there was not a long stretch where I wasn’t in a band, but when that happened, I was not a happy person. Yeah. Yeah. There’s which speaks to purpose. Yeah. And I think that it’s all in us.

Domenic Sciortino [00:43:17]:
We all have a part in it.

Nancy Norbeck [00:43:19]:
Yeah. Definitely. So how has travel or geography or sense of place, whatever that might look like for you, influenced all the things that you do?

Domenic Sciortino [00:43:36]:
There’s there’s so many places I haven’t been, and one of them is the Midwest and the West. I’ve always wanted to go to Wyoming and Montana and South Dakota, and I haven’t. And I always wonder if that’s why I’m drawn to that type of music, like the Plains, like if you think of a Spaghetti Western.

Nancy Norbeck [00:44:03]:
Mhmm.

Domenic Sciortino [00:44:03]:
Like that kind of music, surf rock, and there’s bands like the Old 90 Sevens, and, the Reverend Horton Heat are from Texas, and, the refreshments who were out, like the Las Vegas area, that had this kind of rustic desert sound to them. And I’ve always wondered if I’m so drawn to that that type of music. And I play that type of music with God Bless My Home because it’s such a mystery to me. I’ve never been there, and I’m so intrigued by that. But as far as travel goes, I haven’t got gotten to travel much at all before, I started playing band in band seriously. It was basically, I was either here in York or any beach trailer that my family has in Delaware. So, this past past 3 years, I’ve probably traveled more than I’ve ever traveled. And it it’s definitely inspiring, and it shows you, just that art is the great connector.

Domenic Sciortino [00:45:02]:
You know? You go somewhere else, you got different currency, politics, you have different means of transportation, different sides of the road you drive on. Yeah. But, you know, when I was just in Hamburg, we went out our hotel and went to the coffee shop right on the corner, and right across You know, you just picture all the like there’d be a big Saint Poligoro with a

Nancy Norbeck [00:45:32]:
You know, you just picture all the like, there’d be

Domenic Sciortino [00:45:33]:
a big, say, poly girl with a pretzel. You know, you have these preconceived notions. So when you walk out of this coffee shop and you see doctor Dre, you’re like, oh, wow. And, that’s why, yeah, I think that expands all boundaries and that’s why art is so beautiful like that. That the Sistine Chapel is known around the world, that Doctor. Dre is known in Hamburg, that Elvis Presley is known in China, you know, Good good stuff. And again, it’s universal even though it’s, you don’t have to be accomplished. I mean, if anybody asks you, oh, who’s the greatest guitarist of all time? They’re not gonna say Scottie Moore, who’s Elvis’ guitarist.

Domenic Sciortino [00:46:15]:
If they if anybody asks you that, you know, who’s the greatest singer of all time? They’re not gonna say doctor Dre. It it’s just a unique art form that is so honest that it it speaks to a common place around the globe. So I I guess that’s has to do with travel. Yeah. I’m terrified of flying, by the way. Like, absolutely paralyzing fear. So, that’s part of it. That was huge step for me to get humongous.

Domenic Sciortino [00:46:43]:
You could ask my bandmates and my family. I was borderline.

Nancy Norbeck [00:46:48]:
Do you feel better about it now?

Domenic Sciortino [00:46:49]:
Absolutely. I can’t wait to do it again. Yeah. Might need a little help to get there, but, like, what? That It’s

Nancy Norbeck [00:46:55]:
funny because there it

Domenic Sciortino [00:46:56]:
wasn’t bad.

Nancy Norbeck [00:46:56]:
There are a lot of stories like that. You know, people who are so terrified to do something. And then once they do it, they’re like, let’s do it again. So I think that’s what’s

Domenic Sciortino [00:47:05]:
going on now. Things with

Nancy Norbeck [00:47:07]:
the Taking a chance.

Domenic Sciortino [00:47:08]:
Phobias is exposure therapy. You know, it works. Cognitive therapy exposure therapy. So when they say face your fears, that’s it, baby. Just do it. Now you might need professional help to do it. I’m not telling everybody to just go out and grab a snake or whatever you’re afraid of. Don’t do that.

Domenic Sciortino [00:47:25]:
But, face your fears in the name of art. What a better thing to, you know, to Yeah. To sacrifice your your security and even, like, part of your sanity to for your art and then to realize, oh, hey. You know?

Nancy Norbeck [00:47:41]:
Yeah. Maybe this isn’t so bad.

Domenic Sciortino [00:47:43]:
Exactly. Because there’s plenty of people that are forced

Nancy Norbeck [00:47:46]:
Mhmm.

Domenic Sciortino [00:47:46]:
Out of their countries or forced to travel, you know, and, you know, don’t want to. If you had given this choice Right. For something you’d love to do, yeah, better do it. Boy, I sound like a dad. Like, you better finish your vegetables because there’s kids starving and wherever. It’s horrible. I don’t know.

Nancy Norbeck [00:48:04]:
I I think it’s horrible. So if somebody were to come to York

Domenic Sciortino [00:48:10]:
Mhmm.

Nancy Norbeck [00:48:10]:
And spend, I don’t know, a week here, what are the top three places that you would recommend they go to eat? Because I know that this is your thing among many other things.

Domenic Sciortino [00:48:23]:
I think, number 1, Victor’s Italian restaurant on Ogot Street has the most amazing Mediterranean food ever. And the chef, George, has been there 10 years, which is unheard of sometimes in the restaurant industry. He really loves what he does. He has a great passion with it. So definitely Victor’s Italian Restaurant. The 2nd place, kinda unique, would be Rob Burritos because, York had no burrito places until Rob McGrath opened his and called it Robburritos, and there’s a story behind that. He played in a band. I believe the band was called 6 South, and he toured the country with that band, and he made it a point to eat a burrito in every town.

Domenic Sciortino [00:49:06]:
He stopped that because he had this dream of opening burrito requests, right? He wanted to take the best of so he he accrued like 2 years of knowledge and he claims, I don’t remember, an insane amount of burritos. And then came back and opened a burrito shop. And, there’s a couple locations in York now, so I would say raw burritos would be number 2. Number 3, number 3 is a toughie. I this is a kind of a chain. Can I do that?

Nancy Norbeck [00:49:39]:
Sure.

Domenic Sciortino [00:49:40]:
I love the Carlo’s pizza. Have you had the Carlo’s pizza? No. So DeCarlos Pizza is based out of Ohio, and it’s just the most amazing pizza you’ll ever have. So those would those would be my top 3.

Nancy Norbeck [00:49:52]:
Alright. Any final thoughts?

Domenic Sciortino [00:49:55]:
No. I really wanna thank you. I’ve I’ve never I don’t know that I’ve ever been interviewed this in-depth. So I wanna thank you for giving me the opportunity to, bare my soul, and I hope it inspires somebody.

Nancy Norbeck [00:50:06]:
Me too. Thank you. Because this has been really fun and and very interesting and educational and entertaining. Awesome.

Domenic Sciortino [00:50:13]:
Thank you, Etsie. Sure. See you again soon.

Nancy Norbeck [00:50:16]:
That’s our episode. Thanks so much for joining me, and so many thank yous to Domenic Sciortino. You can find show notes and learn more about how you can work with me to follow your curiosity at fycuriosity.com. I’d also love for you to join the conversation on Instagram. You’ll find me at f y curiosity. Follow Your Curiosity is produced by me, Nancy Norbeck, with music by Joseph McDade. If you like Follow Your Curiosity, please subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to tell your friends.

Nancy Norbeck [00:50:47]:
It really helps me reach new listeners. See you next time.