Local Publicist Celebrates Grammy Win

MATTITUCK, NY — Sarah DiGirolamo, a kindergartener in the Mattituck-Cutchogue Union Free School District, had big news for her classmates this week.

"Every Monday they have a 'weekend news' section of the day," said Chris DiGirolamo, Sarah's dad. "This week she got to change it from, 'I went to Target,' to 'My daddy won a Grammy.'"

DiGirolamo, who owns the publicity firm Two for the Show Media, was thrilled when his client, Cuban drummer/composer Dafnis Prieto, won a Grammy Sunday for "Best Latin Jazz Recording."

Working as a publicist for Prieto for more than 10 years, DiGirolamo said, "This was special."

The win is the second for one of DiGirolamo's clients; he had another in 2008, with a total of 25 previous nominations.

Despite the thrill of the red carpet that DiGirolamo said he's experienced in earlier years, this year, he opted not to attend the 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, which took place in Los Angeles.

"I have attended in the past and it is a long day. It is a ton of fun, but I would rather be home watching it with the kids now," he said.

DiGirolamo, who lives in Mattituck with his wife Nancy and daughters Julia and Sarah, described the feeling of seeing an album he toiled tirelessly on take home the prize.

"For some reason, this year was very emotional," he said. "I could not even tell you why, but it was. I think it is all of the work that you put in and finally getting to see it recognized. I haven’t been the same for two days. Total exhaustion."

The recording is especially meaningful, DiGirolamo said. "Dafnis is originally from Cuba. He came here 20 years ago with nothing except some friends. He left everything in Cuba to pursue the dream of music. He became one of the finest drummers in music and has forged forward to this. Not only is the recording one of the best I have ever worked on, but it also has such a good story behind it."

Trumpeter Alex Sipiagin from Aquebogue is also featured on the recording, he said.

DiGirolamo's firm specializes in public relations and media services for the jazz and music industry and has handled artists including John Ambercombie, Wycliff Gordon, Jeff Watts, Marcus Strickland, Wayne Escoffery, Jay Leonhart, Don Braden, and Reuben Rogers.

DiGirolamo's odyssey began in the Berklee College of Music in 1986. "Since then it has always been music," he said, in a past Patch interview.

After leaving Berklee to take a full time job at Systems Two recording studios in Brooklyn, "which was becoming the mecca for jazz recording in New York," DiGirolamo next moved to Sausalito, CA, for a gig as an assistant engineer at The Legendary Plant Recording Studios, where he worked with headliners including Santana.

Next, DiGirolamo taught high school music in the Bronx and on Long Island for a few years. "It has always been music. Playing it, recording it, promoting it, or teaching it," he said.

"As I saw the business changing and understood how to make those changes work, I started Two for the Show Media on February 14, 2006."

DiGirolamo said his vision for Two for the Show Media "has been to assist today's musical artists with marketing in a business that has completely changed on them. And to do it honestly."

Big names appreciate DiGirolamo's approach. "Chris DiGirolamo is a top-notch publicist while keeping his soul intact. Thank you Chris for being who you are," Ellis Marsalis was quoted on the firm's website.

DiGirolamo said he's seen many dreams come to fruition with the Grammy nominations and wins. "But in the world of music, the vision changes every day. That is why I have the best job in the world."

In 2012, DiGirolamo moved his publicity firm, Two for the Show Media, from Westchester, NY to Mattituck. Mattituck was the ideal marriage of big-name business with small-town values, DiGirolamo said.

"This is a small community and everyone knows what's happening. Business owners talk all the time and the idea that we can be here doing so much big, under a small-town umbrella, is great. So with technology where I can have meetings anywhere in the world via the Internet, we bring the heart of the music business right to Love Lane. Who would have thought?"

When he put down roots, DiGirolamo said the area was full of surprises. "One of the things that shocked me when I first moved here was how many well-known musicians live in our area that people are not aware of. There are several famous jazz artists that we have worked with — and they all live within a few miles or so of Love Lane. There is a feeling that people want to live and work here, especially in the field of the arts."

Although he grew up in Douglaston, Queens, DiGirolamo has always had a penchant for the North Fork.

"The most important factor to be here was having my kids grow up in a beautiful area. I grew up with a window view of the Grand Central Parkway. That was not happening for my kids. My family had a summer house here in Southold for years and every Sunday night I would drive home to Queens and say, 'One day I am not making this trip home.' Now, I don't."

Describing this week's Grammy win, DiGirolamo said it's an affirmation.

"The job of a publicist is a thankless one. We work 24/7 and succeed a small portion of the time. We are fighting with media to open up coverage slots around the clock," he said. "The pinnacle for a musician and the business team behind it is the Grammy Award. So aside from the accomplishment there is a tremendous exhale."

For other artists who may be just starting out, DiGirolamo has words of wisdom: "Work hard, stay to your word, do what you say you are going to do and many great things will come to pass," he said.

And, he said, a brand-new year awaits. "I hope we are talking about this next February again," he said.

Patch photo courtesy Chris DiGirolamo.