David Ippolito

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David Ippolito
Origin	New York City, New York, U.S.
Years active	1992-present
Genres	Folk, rock

David Ippolito is an American singer/songwriter who lives in New York City. Although he has released seven albums, he is best known for his summer performances in Central Park, which are attended by anywhere from 100-500 people each week. He is sometimes said to be "the most famous person in New York that nobody knows" and is perhaps best known as "That Guitar Man from Central Park."

1 Career
2 Press Coverage
3 Central Park
4 I Love the Company
5 Discography
6 Links
7 External links

[edit] Career

In 1992, while recovering from a battle with alcoholism and drug abuse, Ippolito performed an impromptu concert on a hill in Central Park in front of a few people who gathered. Among those present was Jack Rosenthal from the New York Times, who the next day published a report on the performance. The next week, Ippolito performed again, and began to gather a following. He has since performed almost every summer weekend to large crowds of passers-by and regulars, including visitors from around the world, and has become a New York icon.

Ippolito also performs at venues throughout New York City, including an annual December performance at Merkin Concert Hall.

[edit] Press Coverage

Ippolito's performances have been covered by the New York Times on several occasions, the New York Post, The Daily News, Parade Magazine, PBS, CBS-TV, ABC-TV, and WB-11 news, and his song "City Song", was used to close NBC's television coverage of the 2001 New York City Marathon. He has also appeared on ABC's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire".

[edit] Central Park

Due to the number of people passing through the area where he plays every weekend, Ippolito has become well-known throughout New York as a fixture of Central Park. However, in 2000, the Parks Department ordered him (and all other musicians in the park) to unplug his small speaker, which led to a degree of public outcry and several letter to the New York Times by angry listeners.

[edit] I Love the Company

In 2006 Ippolito began a daily podcast called "I Love the Company," which is broadcast globally through the "That Guitar Man" website, and which has gained listeners all around the world due in part to the high volume of tourist traffic at Ippolito's weekly Central Park performances. The podcast features new works by Ippolito as well as music by singers and songwriters around the world.

The "I Love the Company" podcast has recently been joined by an "I Love the Video" videocast.