Tony Catania Spreads His Wings
by Brijit Reed
Fresh from a tour with Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience, lead guitarist, Tony Catania was relaxing at his home in New York when I talked to him recently. Though on opposite sides of the country, each of us was just getting started on our day. What does a clock mean to a writer or a musician? Very little, unless you have an appointment to keep — and we did. For me, 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, which soon became 10:30 a.m. because I still wasn’t able to form words yet. Luckily, neither was Catania. After a few sips of coffee, we were each conscious enough to chat.
Much like the first time we met, we covered a wide range of topics. From music to physics to spirituality, talking with Catania feels like visiting with an old friend. His warmth, friendliness, and humble outlook continued to shine steady. He told me of his beginnings — what inspired him to first pick up the guitar. It turns out his musical roots are deep. His grandfather played guitar and mandolin, and his grandmother sang on the radio in New York City in the 40s. His father, Chuck Catania, became a session musician, playing guitar in shows and recordings during the 50s and 60s for artists like Bobby Darin and the Supremes.
Between his father’s work and his older sister’s Beatles, Cream, Zeppelin, and Steppenwolf 45s, Catania grew up around music and yet he still managed to surprise his father when he expressed interest in guitar at the age of nine. He learned to play by ear, listening to his favorite songs through headphones. In addition to guitar, he took up piano, cello, and midi-guitar, as well as more exotic instruments, like sitar and the tabla drums. His response was almost poetic when I asked him if he had a favorite guitar that he liked to play. He said, “Instruments are like paintbrushes,” and explained that he makes his selection based on what each piece calls for. Does it need a Gibson tone? A Gretsch tone? Hmmm… maybe an acoustic for this one… As someone who occasionally paints for the sheer pleasure of it, I understood completely. Musicians paint with sound the way a writer paints a picture with words or an artist creates an image on a canvas. Like I said — poetry. This creative kinship is probably why I relate to musicians and their compositions so much.
Catania first met Jason Bonham, son of famous Zeppelin drummer, John Bonham (Bonzo), through a mutual friend in 1988 when he was working on Jimmy Page’s solo album, Outrider. After hanging out in LA and jamming together with greats like Slash and Noel Redding (of The Jimi Hendrix Experience), Bonham eventually invited Catania to join the third incarnation of his band when it was in its Jason Bonham Band phase. They released two albums, In The Name Of My Father — The Zepset, a collection of Zeppelin songs, from which the revenue was donated to charity, and When You See The Sun, an album that Catania was able to make some creative contributions to. They toured on the momentum, playing 500 shows in three years.
Around 2009, Catania was visiting Bonham at his place in Florida when they learned that Zeppelin wasn’t planning to get back together and tour. It just so happened that they heard Robert Plant on the radio promoting a show at that time. Bonham called in and spoke with him live on the air, telling him he wanted to do a Zeppelin project himself. Plant’s response was, “I don’t care. Just do it with a smile on your face and make it your own.” Catania doesn’t know if Bonham ever spoke with Jimmy Page or John Paul Jones about this, but apparently word got around pretty quickly as they formed the Jason Bonham Led Zeppelin Experience with various members coming and going — Michael Devin, Dorian Heartsong, James Dylan, Stephen LeBlanc, and Alex Howland. Page was interested in how the band was doing things. In fact, when Bonham played the drums for Heart’s performance of Stairway To Heaven at the Kennedy Center, Page later asked Bonham if it had been Catania on the electric guitar down on the stage (he wasn’t). It’s clear from watching video of the event that Page’s interest in the performance was keen. Catania heard through the grapevine that Zeppelin’s response to JBLZE was positive. As he said, “They could have shut us down at any time if they didn’t like it.”
Catania played with JBLZE for 7 ½ years, in what Bonham called, “The longest one-off ever”. For Catania, it all recently culminated in his final tour which ended September 9th. From the beginning, he’s always approached Zeppelin’s body of work from a place of respect, as did the whole band, playing with a heartfelt spirit. It wasn’t a competition for Catania, but an honor. As he told me, when he was a boy he never thought he’d be performing with Bonzo’s kids, but he’d gotten to know the whole family over the years and shares many memories with them. Catania has lived by the philosophy, Friends first, business second. Bonham gave him the opportunity to put his own spin on Zeppelin’s legendary archetypal music that most people can only imitate at best, while still offering it the reverence it deserves.
And now Catania bids a fond adieu to the JBLZE, leaving while they’re still hot. It’s time to focus on his own music. He’s going to put a band together, do some shows, and keep making more music. Plans? Not so much. Catania’s only plans are to go with the flow, trusting in the Universe to lead his way…
Brijit Reed is an author, screenwriter, and freelance writer in Los Angeles.
