LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Frank Sinatra recorded approximately 1,500 songs on over 100 records, and vocalist Steve Lippia estimates he has covered just a fraction of them. “I’m lucky if I’ve covered 10 percent of those,” he said in a telephone interview Monday from Las Vegas, where he lives. “In my performances at shows, I use about 40 to 60 of those on rotation.” Lippia is bringing his “Simply Sinatra” concert to the Fort Theater at the Honeywell Center, Wabash, at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5. Tickets are $25, $35 and $45 and can be purchased at the box office or online at www.honeywellcenter.org “I have three different shows, but the Sinatra material is still relevant as we’re still celebrating his 100th birthday,” Lippia said. He also covers pop standards from such artists as Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin and Vic Damone. Some other artists who he covers but in a lesser degree include Billy Joel, Sammy Davis Jr. and Elton John. “I try to look at artists that other people would be interested in as well as myself,” Lippia said. “I try to be responsive to artists people like.” He noted that the artists he covers provide him with thousands of great songs to choose from. His performances are tributes, but he doesn’t try to sound or look like the artists. He simply sings their music. He performed at the Rio in Las Vegas for a long time with a 21-piece orchestra. “I didn’t start out singing Sinatra, but my voice was similar and people said they wanted to hear it,” he said. He’s had other artists like Paul Anka and Harry Connick Jr. come see his show. His former music director conducted quite a bit for Tony Bennett, but Lippia’s show at the Rio ended prematurely as the Rio was bought out before Bennett got to see Lippia perform. Still, for having met the people he’s met, “I’ve been very lucky in this business,” he said. Lippia didn’t start out singing the standards. He played in a rock band when he was younger. After a long break from music – and several careers in other fields – he began singing as a serious hobby. One of his dad’s friends was an executive in the music industry. Lippia had sent his father a tape of his singing to let him know what he had been up to. His dad called him a couple of days later and asked who that was on the cassette tape. Lippia told him it was him. His dad was surprised, but sent the tape to his friend at the William Morris Agency, a big company that represents a lot of famous people. “That got the ball rolling,” Lippia recalled. At that point, he had hopes and expectations for a musical career, but thought it might be a long shot. But within months after his dad’s friend received the tape, Lippia’s path to a musical career became shorter. “My trajectory was pretty quick. I had a tape and months later I had all these people behind me. I was nowhere near a finished project, but they saw potential,” he said. As for Lippia’s biggest musical influence, he said it was his mother. She was not a stage mother but an excellent singer. In her late teens she sang professionally, but didn’t stay in music after getting married and having children. Though she passed away seven years ago, Lippia said she was always singing the standards and listening to whatever was new on the radio. She loved Earth Wind & Fire. “She had an eclectic interest in music,” he said. “A lot of us tend to get stuck in a musical rut. We poke fun at the stuff we don’t listen to,” he said. “When we’re young, if our parents listen to it we think it can’t be any good. But that’s a silly notion. Why can’t you like it all?” Lippia performs 75 to 100 shows a year. For many dates, he flies out, does a day of rehearsal and the show, then flies back the next day. For a show like the Feb. 5 date at the Honeywell Center, only Lippia and his musical director, Steve Sigmund from Miami, will fly out to Indiana. Sigmund was the musical director for Ray Charles for 10 years. A 10-piece band consisting of Indiana players that Lippia has worked with before will be paid to back him up. The band will include a piano, bass, drums, saxophones and trombones. “Indiana has some of the best talents for this type of engagement,” Lippia said, adding that the state has a vibrant community of Big Band players. “I.U. probably has the biggest and best rep. So many musicians come from that program. So many musicians get recruited from there,” he said. Lippia just finished a 40-city tour last May. He’s now regrouping and getting ready for the upcoming 2016 season. He said he’s just catching up with his “Centennial Sinatra” show now. With it, he’ll be digging deeper into Sinatra’s catalog. Sinatra’s first hit was in 1939, and he recorded material until 1994. For more on Lippia, visit his official website at www.stevelippia.com
