Bluegrass is the fire in his heart

Bridgeport fire inspector also country musician in 'BigApple'achia' band

By AARON LEO
Connecticut Post
Sunday, February 15, 2004 -

BRIDGEPORT - At 49, Fire Inspector Nick Novia is a tanned man with black hair, graying at the sideburns - not the look typically associated with a bluegrass singer.

The self-described "dark-skinned Italian boy" doesn't even speak with a Southern accent.

But he sings with one.

Novia can jam with the best of them, and even has won over the most hardcore bluegrass fans in the mountains of Virginia.

At festivals "I'd hear stuff like, 'Boy, where you from?' " he said, adopting a Southern accent.

They would also say, " 'Boy, I never heard anyone talk northern like you and sing southern like us. How'd you learn that music?' " Novia said.

Some even compared him to Carter Stanley of the Stanley brothers, considered bluegrass pioneers.

Carter Stanley died on Novia's birthday and Novia's middle name is Stanley, he said.

Novia has performed in three bluegrass bands over the past 15 years, just a year less than he started working at the Fire Department.

His current band is "BigApple'achia," in which he sings and plays guitar.

They play in the Acoustic Caf in the Black Rock section of the city and in New York clubs.

The name bluegrass came from Bill Monroe's band, "The Blue Grass Boys." Novia's other influences include the music of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, the "Foggy Mountain Boys" and the Stanley Brothers, who make up the "Clinch Mountain Boys".

Bill Monroe is considered the creator of bluegrass, he said.

The music genre combines country and blues. A bluegrass band consists of a guitar, mandolin, bass, banjo and fiddle.

Bluegrass produced the theme songs to "The Beverly Hillbillies" television show and the movie "Bonnie and Clyde," Novia said.

Novia took guitar lessons and heard bluegrass as a child. But said he really got hooked in the late 1970s while enlisted in the U.S. Army. He met a banjo player in Colorado, and later and heard covers of the songs.

Then he listened to the originals.

"Ninety percent [of fans], that's the way they find it," he said.

"It's very free form, but it's structured," he said as he strummed one of his three guitars in his Fairfield home.

Giving a sample of the band's music, Novia strummed a popular bluegrass tune, "How Mountain Girls Can Love."

He first played it at a festival, and wondered why some people were laughing. Some festivalgoers took him aside and explained to him that he pronunciation was too crisp.

The trick, he said, is to slur the words slightly.

The band plays several times a year in Connecticut, including the "Bluegrass & Beer Night" at the Acoustic Caf on Fairfield Avenue.

The caf, which hosts live performances of all types of music, hosts the bluegrass night on the third Thursday of every month. Owner Rich Franzino initiated bluegrass performances a year ago.

"I like it. It's a good vibe," he said. "It's cool music. It's fun."

The performances draw about 60 to 70 people to the club, Franzino said. "It draws pretty well," he said.

His colleagues, including Fire Chief Michael Maglione, see him when he performs at the Acoustic Caf, he said.

"Sometimes six or seven guys come with the wives," Novia said.

Maglione, whose musical taste spans classical to Jimmy Buffett, said he appreciates bluegrass.

"I enjoy it. They do a good job," he said of the band.

Novia also used to randomly jam with colleagues, including Assistant Fire Chief Ismael A. Pomales, who plays bass, and Fire Inspector Henry Polite.

"When I was a rookie [firefighter] on the job I would play in the hallway because I liked the acoustics," he said. He also admits to yodeling on the job.

The band is made up of Novia, Andy Cartoun, nicknamed, "Stoney Lonesome," on the five-string banjo; Bob Mavian on mandolin; Pete Elegant on fiddle; Joe Delillo, on bass. Mavian played with Bill Monroe, Novia said.

Aaron Leo, who covers regional issues, can be reached at 330-6222.