The Jack Enea story, in a nutshell…

My full name is Jack Dominick Enea, Jr. I was born the day after Ground Hog Day, a few decades ago. My mom, Lillian, gave up smoking while she was pregnant with me, felt very little if any labor pains and delivered me within an hour of arriving at the hospital (how considerate of me!). My dad wanted me named after him (even though his real name was Giacomo). And I had a two year old sister to pick on.

We lived in White Plains, NY (a suburb of New York City). Then, while in second grade, we moved a few miles down the road to Rye, NY. It was there that I completed high school.

As for music, my mom tells me that while I was still a child in a high chair, I overheard a neighborhood kid teasing another with, “Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, you can’t catch me.” I hummed it back in perfect pitch.

At 13, it was on my heart to take guitar lessons, but my parents insisted that I take saxophone lessons with my Uncle Everett. He would come down the street once a week and give me the lessons for free. I hated it. After one year, he gave up on me.

At 15, while in Civil Air Patrol (an auxiliary of the Air Force), I wrote lyrics to many of the marching songs. They were a hit! One of the cadet captains even asked me to write a song for his company. We were at a two week encampment at Plattsburg Air Force Base at the time. That’s as far as I got in the military.

At 17, with money saved from my busboy job, I called a local music studio and set up lessons with a talented guitarist named Harry Egnor. After one year, I was finally able to play a song all the way through without hesitating between chord changes. But having always been a quiet and soft spoken boy, I noticed I couldn’t sing.

A friend of Rhonda, my sister, had been taking voice lessons with a lady at a nearby college. The woman’s name was Alice Tobin Branagan. At that time, she was already in her seventies and still going strong. (As of this writing, she is 97 years young and still teaches). What a find she was! She taught me opera style singing which really opened me up on the inside. Today, people tell me I have a beautiful voice. I owe it all to her. By the way, she played Nettie Fowler in the original cast of the Broadway production, “Carousel”.

I sang in a lot of musicals, a church choir and other productions, mainly from her prompting. My claim to fame was playing the role of Pirate King in Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance”. A friend of mine invited me to sing in a folk group at his church. Later, I sang in another Christian fellowship group. I also took classical guitar with a gifted guitarist named Jamie Williams. That really elevated my guitar playing.

I began writing songs and entered a musical competition. Although I didn’t win, I got high marks from the judges, praise from the other performers and a good response from the audience. Another friend had a recording studio and recorded one of my songs. We had plans to record a whole album as well. Things seemed to be going well for me musically and in other areas of my life…

My life took some ups and downs. At one point, so far down, that I quit singing. My mom bought me a guitar to try to encourage me to start playing again, but it just sat there, untouched, for several years.

But the “itch” to perform never really goes away. I started going to open mikes and eventually hosted one. That’s where I met some really neat musical friends. A young couple asked me to sing at their wedding, a country wedding. I began doing gigs on a regular basis. Then, I returned to my Christian Fellowship group and sang there.

Eventually, I met the man who would record and produce my first two CD’s and film my first video. Another friend set up my website. Other’s have performed and/or recorded with me. Now, I’m singing in a community choral group, taking advanced guitar lessons, writing and recording more songs… And have incorporated my music, formed a band, and perform as often as possible.

My heart and dream is not just to “make it big” or have a hit record, although that would be nice. My main goal is to perform for people and to write and sing songs that minister to their hearts. I love to sing for our seniors. We need to take care of them. As well, our children need to hear “healthy” songs (have you listened to the lyrics of songs on the radio today?).

As this world gets more chaotic, I find my faith gets stronger. I love to sing songs of God’s love and deliverance. And as I get older, I become more thankful for my country and those who have and do serve. With great honor, I sing for our troops and veterans. My new song, “Red, White and Blue” is a tribute to them.

Success should be fun and rewarding. It shouldn’t tear one’s life and family apart, like so many popular artists have experienced. True success is doing things God’s way. He is there to guide and protect. With Him by our side, we have nothing to fear. As we manifest His “agape” love toward others, our lives will be (and already are) successful.

So, that’s a little bit about me. Thanks for your time. God bless you.

Agape,

Jack