From front porches, Amityville will let the music play

Amityville residents will say with pride that the strum of acoustic guitars and lilt of accompanying voices are sounds that long have flowed through the backyards and porches of their village.

This Saturday those songs will take center stage as the village celebrates its first Play Music on the Porch Day, where residents are encouraged to host live music at their homes.

Los Angeles-based artist Brian Mallman started the international event in 2014 as a way of promoting peace through music.

“Growing up in Amityville there’s always been live music,” said resident Gerry Compitello, 60. “Every party, somebody brings out a guitar. We’re kind of known as this little live music village.”

A half-dozen homeowners have signed up to have their porches showcase musicians from noon to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Compitello, who is Babylon Town clerk, has invited friends Bill Maisel, 52, and Bob Ruggiero, 55, to play on her porch.

The pair play in Long Island band The Byrne Unit, with Maisel on vocals and Ruggiero on lead guitar and vocals. Songs will lean toward classic rock, Ruggiero said, with some Roy Orbison and Frank Sinatra thrown in the mix.

Ruggiero, who once lived next door to Compitello, said he drifted away from music but came back to it in 2010. Someone asked him to bring out his guitar at a backyard party at Compitello's house and he started playing with musician Dennis Byrne. A month later the band was formed, he said.

“You’re not doing it for the money,” Ruggiero said. “You get a lot out of looking out and seeing people having a good time because of what you’re playing. That’s just priceless.”

Amityville Mayor Dennis Siry, a longtime music aficionado, first heard about the event from his daughter two years ago. Siry, 64, will be participating from his porch, likely strumming some Neil Young on his acoustic guitar.

“Music is the one thing that gets everyone together,” Siry said. “Doesn’t matter your color, your ethnicity … you get people together making music and everything else goes out the window.”

Nurse practitioner and Long Island University professor Dan Jacobsen, 59, will be on his porch getting out his guitar with his band of friends who informally play rock and roll.

Jacobsen has played since he was 10 years old and it’s become his stress reliever, he said, with musical influences ranging from Led Zeppelin and The Clash to The Beatles and John Prine.

Jacobsen lives across the street from Siry and said the two started playing music on their porches 25 years ago. Saturday’s playlist is still being formed, he said.

“We just play what we feel,” Jacobsen said. “I’m going to see what everybody else is playing and try to play something different, so we’re not all playing 'Margaritaville.'”

Anthony Abate, 27, who is the band director for Amityville High School, said he and his family and friends often played music on his porch during the height of the pandemic with neighbors able to listen from a safe distance. Abate, who plays saxophone and piano, said he hopes to inspire his students by taking part in Saturday's event.

“I want to share with my students, ‘Look at me, I do this for fun and I can make money doing it on the weekends,’” he said. “So many people regret no longer playing an instrument. Well, you never have to stop.”

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.