Russell Fama

Riveting Rock N’ Roll- Irresistible Melodies

Russell Fama could’ve been a classical guitar virtuoso if not for two things: his grandfather’s insistence on naming him Russell instead of Salvatore, and replacing his mother’s classical Giovanni with a Washburn Semi-Hollow.

Fama (whose name translates to “fame”) was born in Massapequa, NY and moved to Clearwater, FL at age 10. He started playing guitar at 13 and performed in various punk bands in the Tampa area before evolving into an acoustic songwriter early on. He recorded various albums with two of his former bands, Mowzer and The Pursuit, as well as two stand alone albums. In 2011, Escape Tonight joined with Grammy award winning producer Joe Quinde to record at Oldtown Recording Studio.

episode 5: how to stay incognito

Fama fuses influences from earlier punk days

(The Vandals, Propaghandi) with a variety of new favorites (Death Cab, Ben Folds). “My acoustic rhythms go beyond sounding like anything ordinary,” he says, “when jazz chords are introduced to hook-upon-hook rhythm progressions and subtle leads fill in the harmonies... now that’s a song.”

His lyrics are personal and focus on events in his life that have affected him deeply. “All of my songs carry some particular importance to me,” he explains “and when I play it feels like a journal.”

Fama was also the subject of a short documentary filmed by Brooklyn College students. The documentary, titled

“Russell Fama’s Hopes & Dreams,” focuses on this rising star in the NY music scene. His song, “Hopes & Dreams,” was then featured in the short film “Brothers.”

Russell Fama is currently in Florida performing with

Escape Tonight, and working on his comic book series

“The Adventures of Super Russ”.