Conversations with Larry Bitensky

Today we’d like to introduce you to Larry Bitensky.

Hi Larry, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
My story is pretty unusual. I grew up learning classical piano, and it wasn’t until early adolescence that I got into rock and jazz- mostly the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and other 60s legends. Ultimately this led to the Grateful Dead. I became a pretty hardcore Deadhead and began learning how to jam. The experimental nature of the Dead’s music actually led me to contemporary classical music in college. I got a degree in piano performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and a D.M.A. in composition from Cornell University, ultimately landing a job teaching music at Centre College in Danville, KY. I spent most of my career as a classical composer, writing works for orchestras, bands, chamber groups, etc.

In 2012 my wife was diagnosed with a rare and advanced form of head and neck cancer, and for 4 years I was a caregiver until she passed in 2016. Major life events have a way of putting things into perspective, and I began to question how I really wanted to express myself musically. I began to explore improvisational music- playing keys and some guitar in a jazz band, in a Grateful Dead cover band, and writing songs. I became totally turned on by the wealth of ways that I could apply my musical skills in this new direction. Having real-time musical conversations with others and connecting with audiences through songs that can touch people heart to heart has been so gratifying to me, and I haven’t looked back.

In 2018 I fell in love with a woman who did so much to encourage me to continue songwriting. My life really became renewed with so much possibility, musically and otherwise, and by 2020 I had enough songs for an album. I connected with 2 amazing musicians- Dino English, the drummer for Dark Star Orchestra, and Rob Barnes, bass player of the Rob Barnes Band. Dino is also a producer, and with their help, I was able to create my first album of originals- In From the Cold. I’m super excited about how it came out, and I am in the process of working on my next album!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My biggest obstacle with this album was due to Covid. I had played with both Rob and Dino, and they had both played with each other, but the three of us had never actually played together.

So we went into the studio with songs that we were never able to really rehearse, recording one track at a time.

Fortunately, Dino and Rob are both incredibly talented musicians, and the end results sound like we’re a large band that has played together for years!

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I grew up in North Woodmere, NY on the south shore of Long Island, in a fairly conservative Jewish home. I was very close to Manhattan, so I had a huge range of opportunities to hear music- from jazz clubs in the Village, to Dead shows all over the East coast, to Lincoln Center.

As I said, my musical upbringing as well as my tastes in music are pretty eclectic and wide-ranging. I played guitar and sang with friends in clubs around Long Island, and played keyboard in a jam band for a few years at Skidmore College in upstate NY, all the while practicing Beethoven and Chopin on my own.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/larrybitenskymusic/