Who Needs An Orange Apron When You’ve Got A Lighted Stage?

The story of how Tommy DeCarlo hooked up with classic rock group Boston is a lot like that of Arnel Pineda, the new lead singer for Journey, although DeCarlo had a much shorter trip to meet up with his new band mates than Pineda who came all the way from the Philippines.

What’s most remarkable about DeCarlo is that the guy wasn’t really a singer. Sure, the guy can obviously sing or he would not be on the road with Tom Scholz & Company, but DeCarlo worked at a North Carolina Home Depot store as a credit manager, and didn’t make his living as a singer.

Pineda, on the other hand, was already working in a band and had experience playing in front of an audience and covering Journey songs with his band. He was eventually discovered by Journey when they found a video of one of his performances on YouTube.

DeCarlo’s singing experience consisted of solo sessions in his bedroom where he would sing a little bit and play keyboards after work. When he decided to create a tribute video to late Boston singer Brad Delp, he unknowingly set in motion a chain of events that would change his life.

When Tom Scholz’s wife saw DeCarlo’s video posted on his MySpace page, she showed her husband who had a hard time believing it wasn’t Brad Delp’s voice on the recording at first. Shortly thereafter, an e-mail arrived for DeCarlo inviting him to come try out for the band. His first performance in front of an audience with Boston, or with any band, for that matter, was at the Brad Delp Tribute last summer.

Currently, DeCarlo is on the road with Boston and he recently did a short interview with The Boston Globe from a stop in Toronto that’s worth checking out.

At the end of the interview, DeCarlo is asked if he has had a chance to meet Arnel Pineda yet. He responds by saying: “I haven’t yet and I would love to. I really would because we have kind of a similar situation, and I would love to sit down and say, “Man, isn’t this crazy?”