Anthony Giaccio has released his third album, The Tide is Turning, showcasing his growth as a songwriter and a stronger bond with his band, The Assortments.
The lifelong Westchester County resident’s been penning tunes since he was a teenager at Ardsley High School, culminating years later when he began assembling the band during COVID.
The seven-piece group has become tighter during the ensuing years, and the new recording gives the players a chance to stretch out more than on previous releases.
The influences of 1970s and 80s bands Giaccio grew up listening to — Bruce Springsteen, The Eagles, the Allman Brothers — reverberate through his songs, as does his affinity for Country music.
“I’m into multiple instruments, having a lot of background vocals, a lot of layers, not just piano but organ, multiple guitars,” said Giaccio, who handles lead vocals and rhythm guitar. “I’m big into the larger bands that have a lot of depth to them.”
Giaccio, who lives in Greenburgh, holds down a day job as village administrator in Sleepy Hollow, where he’s worked for 18 years.
The official launch party for The Tide is Turning is in November but he released it earlier in advance of the band’s appearance at the Sleepy Hollow Music Festival on Oct. 3.
The Assortments take the stage at noon for a 30-minute set during which they’ll debut a few of the new songs. In addition to the regular lineup, the band will be joined by guitarist David Whitehead of Irvington.
Here’s a Q&A with Giaccio, which has been edited for brevity.
River Journal: Tell me about the new album; what’s changed since your first release, Outrun the Rain, 2021?
Anthony Giaccio: The first album has more of a country style because I was doing open mics with one of the singers [Nancy Paquette] and I played acoustic, so it had more of a country feel. It was definitely more acoustic, more raw than the second and third albums.
This third album is much heavier, it’s got much more heavy guitar to take advantage of our guitar player [Tony Michelini], who likes to get crazy. The drummer [Ray Paquette] is a big Led Zeppelin fan. One song, Jacksonville Blues, is very heavy, so it definitely takes on more of the personality of the band.
The musicians had more freedom on the third album. For that reason there’s more depth to the songs than maybe the first two albums. There’s more layers to the songs. We’re together longer so we trust each other.
River Journal: Tell me about the title track on The Tide is Turning.
Giaccio: It’s about dealing with change, whether good or bad. Either way you look at it, change is coming, the tide is coming, you gotta deal with it, and how you react is what determines the outcome.
I’ve been writing since I was a teenager but I didn’t really have much substance in the songs when I was younger. Now I can retrospectively look at my life and recall a lot of things that happened. So I would say it’s more than what’s happening now, it’s just change in general. Change happens all the time. It’s more about in general dealing with the changes that life gives you throughout the years.
River Journal: Are you the sole composer of the music and lyrics or are you collaborating with your band members?
Giaccio: I work with the musicians, I give them a lot of freedom to do what they want and because I do that it enhances the music. So it’s not just me out there, it’s the musicians adding to the depth of the songs. I can’t play those guitar solos Tony does. Brad [Scheller] puts those bass lines in, Jeff [Schoen] does great keyboards and we work on background vocals. So it’s a collaborative effort for the final product, but it’s written by me and I arrange all the songs and write all the lyrics.
River Journal: Anything else you’d like to add?
Giaccio: It’s been a joy playing with all these great musicians and that they’re willing to play my music. So I appreciate everybody in my band taking the journey with us together, and they’re all talented, so I’m pretty lucky. They’re all local, they’re all friends. My sister [background vocalist Josephine Fraietta] is in the band, and Nancy’s brother is the drummer.
- The Tide is Turning is available on Spotify, Apple Music and Youtube. Visit
anthonygiacciomusic.com for more on the band.
- Sleepy Hollow Music Festival
Saturday, Oct. 3
Kingsland Point Park, Sleepy Hollow
- Album Launch Party for The Tide is Turning
Saturday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.
Carmine’s, 7 Old Road, Elmsford
Visit carminescatering.com
