There’s nothing that brings people together quite like music.
And that’s what St. Joseph resident Vinny Santanelli loves to do with his guitar, harmonica and soulful songs.
Santanelli grew up on the east coast with a musical family.
“I was surrounded by music growing up,” he said. “I started on the piano and moved on to guitar and then other instruments soon followed.”
A “folk ‘n blues” musician at heart, Santanelli drew from greats such as Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan and B.B. King to produce his own music.
Santanelli began performing originals and various cover songs in East Central Illinois a few years ago, and quickly became a regular at Silvercreek, Alto Vineyards, Riggs Beer Co. and Sleepy Creek Vineyards, among others.
This Saturday, April 6, he will perform at the Wheelhouse in St. Joseph.
Santanelli said he plans to provide a mix of originals and cover songs, ranging from a wide variety of genres, during his performance.
“I really enjoy connecting with people through music; seeing them sing along or listen or tap their feet as they enjoy their meal or drink. It’s all fun for me to see,” he said.
Santanelli said he uses his intuition to select songs for each crowd.
“I usually feel out a crowd and select songs more intuitively rather than draw from a pre-selected song list,” he said “If there are a lot more adults in the crowd rather than say, college students, I play songs that I think will resonate most for each that particular group.
“If I’m at the Krannert I choose songs that I feel may appeal to that sort of crowd, whereas, if I’m playing in Arthur at the Pumpkin Patch, I’ll probably play songs that I think may appeal to the audience there. So, when it comes to playing, I guess I’m pretty free-flowing and sensitive to the crowd.”
Santelli currently is the Associate Pastor at Urbana First United Methodist Church, helping the pastor with various pastoral duties ranging from preaching and teaching to visitations and outreach. He is also on track to being ordained as an Elder in the United Methodist Church.
