Songwriter/guitarist/singer Brian DiPlacido (b. 1970) is the sole member of A Bullet for Fidel. He hails from the tiny city of Erie, Pennsylvania, and discovered music at a young age, being exposed to the likes of Harry Chapin and Johnny Cash from his parents' eight-track collection. After discovering the Ramones as a teenager, he joined a friend's punk band as the singer. He quit after a few unsuccessful tours, and soon after began teaching himself how to play guitar and to sing more conventionally while writing acoustic numbers. He began recording demos at this time, with 12 of these comprising his full-length debut on Scat Records. To whet the public's appetite, Scat released two singles prior to the debut's release, "Don't Want Mama to Know" and "The Last Day of Fall (alternate)," which did a good job introducing the listener to A Bullet for Fidel's non-electric sound. Heartfelt vocals, strummed acoustic guitar, and reflective lyrics turned out to be the key ingredients to DiPlacido's songs. The production of the album was wisely kept basic and completely devoid of any studio trickery, letting the compositions take flight as naturally as possible. On a few tracks, Brian was joined by Prisonshake guitarist Robert Griffin and drummer Rich Masarik, who add an obvious fullness to the tracks (it would be interesting to hear a full album by this trio). Although DiPlacido possesses the talent to become popular with the folk crowd, he has put music on the back burner and began studying to take the state licensing exams for nursing in Erie. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi
