Published in the Telegram & Gazette on Apr. 17, 2015.
Marco Turo is doing it his way.
After being in the restaurant business most of his life, Mr. Turo, 52, decided last year to switch courses and become a professional singer. He sold Bistro Limoncello Ristorante in Northboro, and is booking his own gigs with a busy summer coming up that will see him performing at venues on Cape Cod and in Providence. Among his regular engagements are the G Bar on Green Street in Worcester and Villa Napoletana in East Longmeadow. His most requested song is Frank Sinatra's "My Way."
"I was sitting one day and said 'I'm gonna give it a shot' — and I did," Mr. Turo said of pursuing singing. "My mind was made up to try it full time."
Regrets? Maybe one or two.
"I wish I did it 20, 30 years ago. But we had a family business and the family was close."
Mr. Turo's father, the late Leo J. Turo, was a former state representative and Governor's Council member who owned Leo's Ristorante on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester. Marco Turo grew up right next to Shrewsbury Street on Shamrock Street. There was always music being played, whether at home or at the restaurant, with quite an emphasis on Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin and other legends of that kind and time.
"I loved singing since I was a kid," he said. "I used to sing in the kitchen. I wasn't shy. I wasn't afraid to sing in front of people. I would get up and sing at weddings."
Marco, his brother Francis J. "Franny" Turo, and their father went to see Frank Sinatra open the Worcester Centrum (now the DCU Center) in 1982. "We actually fed him from Leo's. It was a great time," Mr. Turo said. Franny Turo owned Leo's for many years before passing away in 2009, and the restaurant is run by his family.
Marco Turo, who now lives in Northboro, owned and operated Bistro Limoncello and often joined the bands performing at his restaurant. He also still got up and sang at weddings. People told him he had a good voice.
"I always knew I had a good voice," Mr. Turo said.
"I think he sounds great," said Brad Pierce, owner of StarFleet Audio LLC recording studio in Whitinsville, where Mr. Turo has been working on his first CD.
"I'm not looking to conquer the world," Mr. Turo said. "But I would love singing in Florida in the winter five nights a week."
He sold Bistro Limoncello just over a year ago, hired a voice coach, and practiced in a friend's garage.
Mr. Turo has been learning how to take care of that voice. "I stopped smoking cigars. I drink a lot of tea." He's found that five nights of singing a week "is the max. Four is perfect."
Turning the tables in such a way is not without risks.
"I've had a lot of supportive friends." Mr. Turo said. One of his biggest supporters is his 16-year-old son Dante. "He said 'Go for it.' "
With the help of his contacts in the restaurant business and entertainment field, Mr. Turo was able to land some singing gigs, and then came word of mouth.
His first professional gigs were at G Bar and Padavano's Place on Shrewsbury Street. "I think I had a strong martini before I went on stage," he said of the G Bar show. But he was literally among friends.
"It was a lot of my crowd — friends, 35 to 55. With every song I got more comfortable. So we got a great crowd."
Turo's song repertoire includes Sinatra, Martin, Darin, Elvis Presley, Michael Buble, Neil Diamond, John Legend, dance songs and more. "Older music with a newer kick to it," he said.
He can perform solo with recording tracks or with band members, including Bistro Limoncello's pianist Odie Tekken. The CD he is making will have a big-band backing track, he said.
For his first recording foray, he is sticking mostly with Sinatra, and hopes to use the CD in part to introduce himself to audiences and booking establishments. "If this goes forward I'd like to go back and make a Christmas CD," Mr. Turo said.
"I guess you would say the normal set of nerves you would have (being in a recording studio for the first time), otherwise it was a very pleasant session. He did a great job," said Mr. Pierce. "I love how he sounds on the Frank Sinatra tunes."
Mr. Pierce thinks Mr. Turo could well make it here, and elsewhere.
"I think he's very well-received in the community. He has a great outlet knowing how the entertainment business is run. He has a unique perspective that will serve him very well."
"You can make a living," Mr. Turo said of his journey so far as a singer. He does also help out at Bistro Limoncello, and sings there.
Some gigs are small, some larger. He also books private shows. "There's $250 shows and $500 shows." With a three- or four-piece band there can be $1,000 shows, "but you have to take care of your band," he said. On April 11, he sang at a reunion for Notre Dame Academy alumnae held at Assumption College.
Over the winter "there were a lot of cancellations," he said. The summer wind, however, looks fair. In Providence he'll be at the famous DePasquale Square in Federal Hill, and at Hemenway's Restaurant. Contacts are being made with Foxwoods, the upcoming new casino in Springfield, and with venues in Atlantic City. In Florida, resorts such as Boca Raton and Naples could be friendly places. "I would love to be down there in January."
Meanwhile, Mr. Turo recently went to see veteran singer Paul Anka perform at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester. Mr. Turo stood in line after the show for an opportunity to talk with him. Mr. Anka told Mr. Turo, " 'I could tell you are a singer.' "
Mr. Anka is also a songwriter, with credits that include "My Way."