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YSU grad pens solid-gold songs
By Denise Dick
Though his isn’t a household name, songs penned by Mahoning Valley native Bob DiPiero have become part of the American music lexicon.
“I turned on the TV last night, and they were performing one of my songs on ‘American Idol,’” said DiPiero, who lives in Florida.
That song, “Gone,” was a hit for Montgomery Gentry.
“It was just wild to see my song become part of the American song book,” DiPiero said.
DiPiero graduated in 1969 from Liberty High School and later from Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music.
He left the Valley for Nashville in 1978 and has written country-music chart-toppers for artists ranging from Reba McEntire (“’Til You Love Me’’), George Strait (“Clear Blue Sky”) and Vince Gill (“Worlds Apart”) to Faith Hill (“Take Me As I Am”) and the Oak Ridge Boys (“American Made.”)
Tim McGraw, who performs at 7 p.m. today at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, scored a recent hit with “Southern Voice,” which was written by DiPiero.
Another of his works, “Coming Home,” was nominated for a 2010 Oscar for Best Original Song. DiPiero wrote the song for the movie, “Country Song,” starring Gwyneth Paltrow. The actress performed the song during the Academy Awards ceremony. The song also earned a Golden Globe nomination.
He estimates he’s written thousands of songs over the years and doesn’t believe in writer’s block.
“Song writing even to this day is a mysterious process to me,” the YSU graduate said. “It’s mystery mixed with mechanics.”
He tries to be orderly and says he doesn’t wait for inspiration.
“I show up and go chasing inspiration,” DiPiero said.
He goes to his Nashville office, arriving about 10 a.m. and writes usually with other songwriters.
“Sometime I’ll have a song title. Sometimes it’s a piece of music, some chord changes, a few riffs or an idea or concept,” he said.
“Southern Voice,” for example came about with the title.
“It became this idea to give a shout out to those people who have had an impact on us that came from the South — Hank Williams, Dolly Parton, Tom Petty,” DiPiero said.
“It seems to be like tuning into a channel,” he said of his writing. “I listen to what’s out there. It’s like tuning into a wavelength.”
In his recent autobiography, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones described song writing as being like an antenna, and DiPiero relates to that description.
“I don’t believe in writer’s block,” he said. “If you tell yourself you have a block, then you will have one. I just write through it. There have been moments in time in my career when I have not gotten songs recorded, but I still show up and write songs. It’s very much a gift, and I have very much been blessed. I realize this, and I try not to squander it.”
Though he’s known as a country songwriter, DiPiero started out performing in rock bands in Youngstown.
“Most of what I learned, I learned in bars and frat houses in Youngstown,” he said.
Although those bands performed hit songs from other artists, he dissected the music as a biology student dissects a frog in class. He tried to determine why a particular song resonated with people.
“That’s probably been the most impactful thing in my career — learning other people’s songs, studying those songs, figuring out what’s the groove, what’s the beat, what’s this song saying,” DiPiero said.