Press Reviews

The vocal team of Russo & Noe has been delighting Dahlonega audiences for the past three years with their Rat Pack style routine of Big Band era music and ribald humor. Last year, the duo began appearing in venues outside the Atlanta area. This year especially during the month of May-the two’s lives have been downright hectic, appearing at the Holly Theatre, Bowen Center for the Arts, a cancer benefit at the new Gwinnett Center, the Waverly Hotel at the Cobb Galleria, a gig at the Atlanta National Golf Club and an appearance at the Cumming Playhouse, all the while keeping up with their day jobs.

It’s exciting, Jim Noe says. May has been our busiest month since we started two years ago.

It’s great, says Gabe Russo, and we’re looking forward to being even busier next year. The two first performed opposite each other in the Holly Theatre’s production of Guys and Dolls in 2000. Russo played the part of Nathan Detroit, a role made famous in the movie version of the Broadway hit by Frank Sinatra. Noe Portrayed Marlon Brando’s role of Sky Masterson.

After that experience, talk of joining forces and singing the music of the Rat Pack was a frequent topic of conversation.

One night while together at Dominique’s (now the Corkscrew Café), the two got up and sang a few songs ala the Vegas Sands Hotel of 1962 just for fun, Noe says.

After it was over they thought, as the song says, This could be the start of something big.

Although Russo & Noe are emphatically not an impersonation act, they do put audiences in mind of the Rat Pack crooners-Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr.-with a little Joey Bishop humor thrown in.

Although the Beatles were becoming the rage when both Noe and Russo were younger, both found it easy to fall into the style of music popular with an older generation. Russo says until the Beatles came along he never heard any other kind of music

My dad was a nightclub performer. All I ever heard was Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett until the Beatles came along, he says. In fact, from the age of eight, Russo often performed with his dad, both wearing full tuxedos.

That kind of music is all my mother ever listened to, Noe says. The only thing I could stay up late for was the Dean Martin Show or a Sinatra or Sammy Davis, Jr. special.

Russo points out that even in 1965, while the Beatles were taking the country by storm, Sinatra won a Grammy.

In high school, Russo became the lead vocalist for a rock band, but still continued to appear with his Dad off and on until he was about 25. Even with hair down past his waist he continued to wear the tuxedo. It made quite a sight, he says.

Russo’s father even appeared with his son’s band once when both were playing separate venues in the same facility.

Russo’s dad died nine years ago. Today Russo wears the tuxedo his dad used to wear when he appears with Noe.

While Russo was accustomed to performing in intimate venues and interacting with the audience, Noe’s background was the theater. He studied voice, guitar, and piano, attended the Alliance Theater School, worked with the Neighborhood Playhouse, Atlanta Lyric Company and The Atlanta Opera at The Fox Theater.

He was also one of the founding members of the Holly Theatre Company and appeared in many Holly productions.

While Noe has the voice of a crooner and a commanding stage presence, performing in a small venue was completely foreign to him.

It’s completely different from the theater, Noe says. It’s up close and personal.

Noe says all those nights at Dominique’s and the support of those who regularly came to hear them really helped him break down that wall and slip into the easy rapport with the audience that makes performing as Russo & Noe so much fun.

It’s loose. We have fun with the audience. I love to see the ladies with their eyes closed, swaying to the music. Then you know you’ve got them, he says.

This act is more about comfort…the more comfortable we get the more comfortable the audience gets. People actually listen to you, he says. It’s very gratifying.

You can see Russo & Noe live at the Cuming Playhouse May 30, or hire them for a private party or any other event.

We fit just about anywhere Russo says. We’re our own roadies, and we have any set-up you need, big to small, from sound to lights, curtains and stage. Or we can just show up.

The duo will show up locally at Hancock Park at the First Friday Concert Series October 3^rd, 6.30 p.m.