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Chris Ruggiero embraces sound of pop balladeers

While many of his generation listen to pop, hip hop, country or electronic dance music, 25-year-old Chris Ruggiero embraced the singers and pop ballads of the ’50s through ’70s.

“When I grew up, I spent a lot of time with family,” he said. “My grandpa grew up singing and loving the music of the ’50s. He was the one who introduced me to doo-wop music. That’s what I listened to from the time I was 12 years old. That’s when I discovered my love for music.

“I was always the kind of person who never was ashamed to do and say whatever it is that I felt, and I didn’t care what anyone else thought. But growing up, it was really, really tough to make friends in middle school because everybody was listening to Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus. I wasn’t having it. When they would talk about music, I had nothing to talk about because I love my music, and they didn’t like it. They thought it was grandparent music. In high school, it seemed to come around. People grew up.”

That interest blossomed into a singing career where Ruggiero collaborated and learned from legendary vocalists such as Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers, Darlene Love and The Duprees, and led to multiple recordings and nationwide tours. That includes a show Wednesday at Packard Music Hall.

As his online biography points out, “What Michael Buble did for the swing music of the ’40s and ’50s, Chris Ruggiero does for the pop-rock standards of the ’60s and ’70s.”

For him, it’s the difference between being a crooner singing from the Great American Songbook versus a balladeer who focuses on the biggest commercial hits during pop music’s golden era. “Buble’s singing Frank Sinatra, that kind of stuff. I’m singing these big ballads like ‘Unchained Melody’ by the Righteous Brothers or ‘Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me,’ big songs with big arrangements with big endings, but they have a rock ‘n’ roll flair to them as well.

“In my show, I don’t sing doo-wop anymore. It’s stuff of the ’60s and ’70s. But I’d say forget about what year a song came out because all that matters to me is that the song has a great melody, a timeless lyric, and most importantly, tells a story.”

The material Ruggiero sings includes classics by The Beatles, Frankie Valli, Paul Anka, Three Dog Night, Johnny Mathis and, one of his all-time favorites, Barry Manilow.

“I can’t even tell you how much I love him,” he said. “Barry Manilow was actually a late discovery for me, but it goes back to the same thing. I love singers that really know how to tell a story through a song and just sing great songs. And Barry is one of them. I’ve been to quite a few of his shows and he inspires me quite a bit. I even added two of his songs into my show — ‘I Write the Songs’ and ‘Weekend in New England.’

Told by a friend that a producer was looking for young singers, Ruggiero sent in a tape and then got his national break on the PBS special, “Doo Wop Generations,” which was recorded in Asbury Park.

“It was like a baptism by fire because I had no clue what I was doing,” Ruggiero said. “They threw me onstage in front of a camera, and I really wish I knew then what I know now.”

Years later, he appeared in another PBS special, “Doo Wop, Pop and Soul Generations.”

Afterward, Ruggiero played shows regionally around his Somers, New York, home. Taking a chance, he asked to discuss his career with an entertainment manager who went on to change his life trajectory.

“We had a meeting and he said, ‘What do you want to do?’ I said, ‘I want to do more shows.’ He said, ‘You don’t need me to do more shows.’ He was waiting for me to say that if I didn’t do anything else in life, I’d be upset, and I wouldn’t know what to do. When I said those words he was waiting for, we started working together, and we’ve been together now for four years.”

Once he admitted his overwhelming desire to be more than a local singer his career kicked into another gear.

“I really try and take the audience on a journey in my show and make them think back to their first kiss or their wedding dance. For me, it’s all about the audience. The music is just the vehicle to get to them.”

If you go …

WHO: Chris Ruggiero.

WHEN: 7 p.m. Wednesday.

WHERE: Packard Music Hall, 1703 Mahoning Ave NW, Warren.

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $45 and are available through Ticketmaster.

Starting at $2.99/week.

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