CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. -- Annie DiRusso, a 15-year-old Croton resident, said she loves the rush of being on stage.
DiRusso has performed at clubs throughout the area since she taught herself the guitar and began writing songs at 12. DiRusso said her music is acoustic folksy pop. She plays the ukulele and uses a loop pedal.
Her influences are Ed Sheeran, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Taylor Swift and Frank Sinatra.
"I really like people who write their own songs," DiRusso said. "Singer songwriters are my inspiration."
A Taylor Swift concert at age 13 is what inspired DiRusso to want to start performing on stage. She said she likes writing about what she sees going on in other people's lives.
"It's what I see when I take the train," DiRusso said. "I hear a tidbit of someone else's conversation and I try to make it a story. I also like writing about the things I'm going to achieve and what I'm going toward."
DiRusso's music has been featured on WHUD and she received a $1,000 grant from Keds to pursue her music,
Performing at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village was the most memorable experience for DiRusso so far.
"I went into the green room and everyone who had played there had written their signature on the wall, so I wrote my signature too," DiRusso said. "It was really cool, when I got off the stage, everyone was clapping. It was the coolest moment of my life."
DiRusso said she is nervous before she takes the stage, but performing is her favorite thing to do.
"Being on stage is the best feeling," DiRusso said. "I love sharing something with a group of people and seeing their reactions."
Webster Hall is a venue that is currently on DiRusso's bucket list.
"I saw a concert there a couple months ago and it was really cool," DiRusso said.
DiRusso said her friends are supportive of her musical aspirations and one friend has even helped establish her social media profile. DiRusso said she would like to study music in college but very few programs offer contemporary programs.
"I'm definitely looking into it," DiRusso said.
To listen to DiRusso's song, "Danger," visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNuITawyoNc - The Daily Voice

Annie DiRusso – “Gone”/”Blue Walls” – Singles Review

Every once in a while, we get lucky enough to uncover a new perspective, rare sound or an artist/band that we can be confident about hearing years after we discovered it for the first time. There are songs that leave such a stunning impression that to assume their creator or creators wouldn’t have a massive future to come, would be like a form of disrespect your own ears and personal judgment. Sometimes you hear a voice…a spark…an intangible, indefinable magic and passion for music that translates so intuitively into our emotions that it’s like a one-on-one conversation between sound & the soul.

It’s in saying all that stuff…that I confidently present to you, a future superstar just waiting to happen, by the name of Annie DiRusso. We’ve gotta be like, collectively, as a planet, only days away I figure before people are telling ME about her music and not vice-versa like I’m telling YOU about her today. Now let me tell you why that is…

As the title would imply, I’m obviously here to talk about the two latest singles that Annie has put out into the world. That being said…once I had experienced “Gone” and “Blue Walls” – I instantly became curious about where her music had been before that point; and through a handful of singles posted up at her Soundcloud page, I found myself listening to every song she had to confirm what I was hearing. What I was hearing specifically, was that the extraordinary potential of Annie DiRusso has existed from day one. At the very least, going back the three years that it looks like she’s been posting online – as far back as her first single “Danger” in its original form, Annie has had all the right ingredients as a musician and all the right instincts as a songwriter. She’d go on to continue to refine her style over the years to follow with singles “Let Us Be Free” and “Fearless Protagonist” flashing moments of that same brilliance.

And someone out there heard that same potential. A couple years back, she put out a remix of her original single “Danger” in a ‘radio demo’ – and whatever those changes needed to be in order to turn potential into practicality, all of a sudden Annie sounded like she was an absolute veteran of the music-scene. Hearing the changes made to this tune…how it retains the essence of the original writing and shows how much incredible progress she’d made in her music in such a short timeframe…I was pretty much speechless. I know this much…however she went about it, the results were clearly right there in the “Danger (Radio Demo)” – there’s a breakthrough in Annie’s sound right around this time; everything becomes incredibly dialed-in and clicks like it was always meant to be. Because that’s what it sounds like when a real artist has truly found the path they’re meant to be on. The hooks are absolutely brilliant and Annie soars with an acoustic-pop sweetness that is incredibly catchy…you can hear the confidence in her vocals and the courage to explore a melody like nobody’s business. She was never working with a lump of coal mind you – “Danger” was a great idea in its original form…but the stunning end result of the ‘Radio Demo’ version proved that there was so much more Annie could get from this song, and she polishes up this melody until it sparkles like the finest of gems.

Those of us that write about music for a living have a great understanding of just how MUCH music there really is out there in our world today. Like it or not, even the best of our new material now competes with a whole history of music available at the click of a button. It can be overwhelming in the strangest of ways sometimes; I literally want to cry about the fact that Annie’s song “Blue Walls” was released about ten months ago and I’m just hearing it NOW – that…THAT…is a straight-up crime. What she’s created in the magic of the hook & melody of this song’s chorus is SO STRONG that you could ask me about Annie DiRusso ten years from now and I’ll be able to recall the moment I heard it. I love the way she’s written the song and how its structured perfectly for the payload – “Blue Walls” starts out with a well-executed verse and renewed confidence in Annie’s artistic approach to her vocals – but what this song becomes in its chorus is pretty much beyond human. A song like this CANNOT be overlooked – nor will I allow it to be on my watch – that’s one of the strongest parts of a tune that I’ve heard in years. Hearing Annie embrace her style & sound and blossom as an artist and performer is about the most rewarding experience you can have in a day, in my opinion – I exist to hear a songwriter evolve like this. From the backing vocals to the captivating amount of charm and charisma she sings with in the lead, to the brilliant pace & tone of the music surrounding her every move – “Blue Walls” is a complete achievement and another highlight breakthrough in Annie’s music that words simply cannot do justice to explain. Whereas potential once existed in Annie, it’s now been replaced by the confident sounds of an artist that now fully understands how to wield her extraordinary powers. I don’t care what world we’re living in – “Blue Walls” is the kind of song that should absolutely be a hit – that’s what single-worthy sounds like. I truly can’t get over the vocal flow of the main chorus melody – Annie is amazing.

To think that Annie DiRusso is ultimately still just getting started and getting her music out there fills me with tremendous hope for the future. She is skipping right past entire years of experience with her natural talent and progressing at a seriously superhuman level – you can hear her music make yet ANOTHER jump in its maturity on her latest single, “Gone.” That’s the magic of this full playlist she’s got right now at work – every single moment along the way has revealed this artist getting better and better – and I’m telling you, that’s going to be the case for years to follow, even with how amazing she already IS. Her lyricism is beautiful, expressive and thought-provoking…the uplifting energy and resonating spirit of the music on “Gone” is a perfect match for the powerful way she sings this song. You’d need more fingers than you currently have to count the amount of hooks and memorable moments she’s packed into the gorgeous & empowering sound of “Gone” – she’s somehow found a way to raise the stakes yet again with this latest single…it’s almost inexplicable. Almost.



I stand by the fact that when we’re truly where we belong in life, everything around us that used to be an obstacle somehow becomes an advantage as we embrace the person we’re meant to become…and all of a sudden it feels like the universe has shifted and everything has snapped into place, right where it belongs. I’m beyond impressed with Annie’s music…LISTEN to that shift in the melody like, just past the two-minute mark of “Gone” and tell me that’s not one of the most incredible moments you’ve heard this year so far! If you do, I’m grabbing a Q-Tip to clean your ears out – this lady is radiantly stunning as a songwriter and one of the most promising sounds I’ve heard in music that I can think of. When you consider how far she’s already come and how fast she’s gotten there – we’re about ten more seconds away from Annie taking over the world – she’s given me every audible reason to believe she’s going to be a household name in all corners of the globe. I don’t know if I’ve ever been THIS sure to be truthful – Annie DiRusso is a true gift to music and an undeniably extraordinary talent. - SleepingBag Studios