Byron Zanos Bio

Byron Zanos’ lifelong love of music began in his parents’ living room, listening to his father’s opera collection. He started playing the piano almost as soon as he could reach the keys, but in 1987, the 13-year-old Zanos had a life-altering experience: he bought his very first album, Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite For Destruction. Guitar lessons were quick to follow.

Eventually, Zanos’ tastes grew to include Dave Matthews Band for its versatile musicality; Jeff Buckley’s haunting vocals; and Sting’s penchant for constant re-invention and experimentation. Zanos began to develop a voice as a performer and, not long after that, a style as a songwriter.

A Fort Lee native, Zanos crossed the river to Fordham for college. He started out with his eye on the financial world, but he could not put his instruments down, or use his textbooks for much more than a prop for his amplifiers. He took the plunge, deciding on a career in music—and, not long after graduation, things began to happen.

He released his debut CD, Somewhere In the Middle, featuring the songs “Secrets and Lies” and “Pandora’s Box.” The album was engineered, mixed, and mastered by Grammy Award-winning engineer/producer Dae Bennett (Tony’s son). Somewhere In the Middle also marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with his producer, Drew Yowell, whose has worked with Phoebe Snow, Sophie B. Hawkins, and Herb Alpert.

By this past spring, Zanos was well underway on a new project, but his time with Somewhere In the Middle was not quite over: Zanos received a phone call from 19 Entertainment’s Jesse Albert to tell him he was a finalist in the first-ever American Idol Songwriting Competition. “Secrets and Lies” was now officially a winner—complete with Simon Fuller’s elusive stamp of approval.

His status as a finalist was the crowning moment following a slew of accolades. He received songwriting honors from the 2006 We Are Listening Awards (Berklee College of Music), the 22nd Annual Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest, and the Billboard World Song Contest.

In demand as a performer, Zanos was selected to showcase at Deweyfest ‘06 (DE), MeanyFest (NY), 6-Points Music Festival (DC/VA), the NACA Mid-Atlantic Festival (PA), NJ Songwriters in the Round (NJ), Williamsburg Live Songwriter Competition (NY), The Altantis Festival (GA), and was a speaker at a panel workshop "What Makes A Star" at New York University.

Zanos’ next album, Still In a Fight, is slated for release this summer. “Basically, the record is a 55-minute pop opera, meant to be listened to from beginning to end,” said Zanos. “However, for those of us with time constraints, the disc is broken down to 10 tracks – each one a story or anecdote in itself – about the manic highs and depressive lows of a failed love. The end result is a rollercoaster ride of emotion in sound.”

“The industry says that ‘The Album’ is dead,” Zanos said, “Well, if today’s listeners want just another single on their iPods, I’ve got a few for them. But maybe… just maybe, ‘The Album’ isn’t dead – it’s just that nobody’s making them anymore… at least not good ones.”

Look for that all to change when Still In a Fight is released this summer.