daily-sun-2024
6/26/24
The Voodoo Gypsies Has Cast a Musical Spell ON Listeners
The Mount Dora based band plays rock sounds from the 1960’s to the 1980’s at venues in the villages and beyond
The Voodoo Gypsies want to spread a little musical magic whenever the group’s traveling rock’n’roll show comes to town.
The Mount Dora based band – Kevin Howell on lead vocals, Vinny Ritoli on guitars and vocals, Marcel Lautenier on bass and vocals and Chris Valentino on drums and percussion – performs classic rock from the 1960’s though the 1980’s, with a few from the 1990’s thrown into the mix. The band’s set list includes tunes from such musical artists as Jimi Hendrix, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
“We play stuff that we grew up with,” Ritoli said. “We now have an 80 song list. We could play two gigs in a row and not play the same song twice. We keep the list fresh. The audience makes some great suggestions, especially in The Villages.”
The band has discovered that the audience at their Villages shows love it when the band plays Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell”and Deep Purple’s “Hush.”
Some times, the band members will record samples on keyboard, then have Valentino trigger the sounds from an electronic drum pad. “We try to faithfully produce how the artist would play the song live,” Ritoli said.
The band has played in The Villages since 2023 starting out at City Fire American Oven & Bar, then venturing into the squares in January of this year. “ We’ve made truly wonderful friends while we’ve been playing here,” Ritoli said. “It’s been incredible to play in The Villages.”
The Voodoo Gypsies are scheduled to perform at a few spots in the area. The band will perform 7:30 – 10:30 pm at City Fire in Lake Sumter Landing and from 7 to 10 pm July 6 at the Brownwood location. Fans also can catch them from 5-9 pm on July 4 at Spanish Springs Town Square and from 5-9 pm on July 27 at Lake Sumter Landing Market Square.
The idea of the band. Formed around 2019 in Rhode Island as a classic rock/blues band, but the COVID-19 pandemic put those plans on hold. Ritoli and Lautenier had played music together in New England for several years. In late 2020, Ritoli moved down to Florida, following the lead of Lautenier who came to the state a few years before.
They auditioned drummers and vocalists, which led to finding Howell who hailed from New Bedford Massachusetts. Valentino is originally from New Jersey. “We get on well. We see very much the same musically. We try to give the audience our best,” said Ritoli.
The “voodoo” part of the band’s name refers to the music casting spells and magic, and “gypsies” refers to the nomadic lifestyle of a band playing gigs throughout the area. The band has increased the frequency of gigs since starting in June 2022, jumping from 20 shows its first year to 80 shows in 2023 and more than 90 slated for 2024. “It’s taken a lot of hard work,” Ritoli said.
Growing up, Ritoli remembers his brother listening to Jimi Hendrix. Ritoli’s grandfather played the drums in both jazz and orchestra settings. Ritoli got his first guitar when he was 12, taking lessons for a few years, he taught himself how to play rock and blues. As an adult, he played in several popular New England bands. He stepped away from performing to help raise his daughter, then returned to the fold in 2014.
“Music takes me somewhere,” Ritoli said. “Playing is fun, the easy part. It really satisfies my creativity. When I see people getting into it, that makes me feel good.
For more information on the group, visit: thevoodoogypsies.com
