Arte Tedesco

To look at him, it is not apparent that Arte Tedesco has lived a life of extremes. From living on the road as a modern-day troubadour to living with stars in Hollywood and spending time homeless in Florida, Arte has been up and down—way up and way down. Coming out of the Navy in 1970, he took up guitar and 8 months later he played at the One World Festival of Music at Pitt Stadium in front of 30 thousand people.

“That audience made a noise that echoed through many years and kept me going during some tough times,” Arte says.

Through the '70s, he performed at dive bars and major festivals throughout Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio. In 1977, Arte survived a single-engine plane crash just north of Charleston, S.C. Then from there, he went on to Florida to record with engineer/producer, Michael Laskow (Eric Clapton, Firefall, Cheap Trick, etc.).

In Pittsburgh, he became known as Rock and Roll’s “Dangerous Man”. Enthusiastic audiences came to expect the unexpected, and Arte delivered—both as a solo artist and as the lead singer and songwriter with THE HAYWIRE BAND and (later) with ARTE and the IGNITERS. Fans will remember that he was on the first WDVE: Pittsburgh Rocks! album. Arte went on to record 5 more albums, his most recent (Lightning Strikes!) was released on January 4, 2020.

Tedesco moved to Florida in 1989 and became a TV producer and owner of his own video production company, Monkey Fist Productions. He spent 20 years producing programming for the Orlando PBS affiliate, including writing and producing the music.

Now, he has returned to the concert stage and he performs in Pennsylvania and Florida, for now. His music draws on his life experiences over a half-century career and resonates with nearly everyone who sees him perform. Nobody who has ever seen him perform his songs has ever come away unaffected.

“I have missed the immediacy and the magic of performing live,” Arte says. “When I feel the connection with the audience running through me like 10,000 volts, well… there is nothing quite like it!