A Versatile & Multi-talented Career

by Anne Kaiser

MILWAUKEE’S FORMER METEOROLOGIST VINCE CONDELLA

FOR MANY PEOPLE, a shift into retirement brings opportunities to expand existing interests and explore new ones. For former broadcasting meteorologist Vince Condella, retirement has offered an opportunity to return to his lifelong interest in music, particularly guitar performance.

Music was savored in Vince Condella’s home as he grew up, though no one besides one of his older sisters played an instrument. “…We had plenty of albums and 45s and listened to the radio a lot, mainly top 40 AM radio out of Chicago,” Condella recalled.

Condella’s passion for music and music performance grew from this early exposure. As a boy, he initially took piano lessons, but rapidly decided to switch to playing the guitar. He explained, “In the mid-1960s, it was all about The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and the British Invasion in general. The guitar became front and center in the music scene, so as a ten-year-old, the switch to guitar was natural.”

Condella then purchased an inexpensive electric guitar; in his words, “We all wanted to be The Beatles!”

Condella’s interest in the guitar flourished. He played solo guitar, and then, during his undergraduate years of college at Purdue, he performed in an acoustic guitar band. Once he began his career as a meteorologist, he “hardly touched the guitar.” But during retirement, Condella has enjoyed further exploring and developing this expressive skill. He explained, “Once I retired, I was able to spend more time with music, and it reignited my passion for the guitar and music in general.”

Currently, Condella enjoys performing solo as well as with other musicians. “Most of the people I collaborate with, I met at open mic,” Condella explained. “It’s fun to jam with others.” Open mic, or the Blueberg Café, aside from a few months off in the summertime, meets once a month on Wednesday evenings at the Cedarburg Cultural Center. Condella enjoys playing in this venue, as well as at the Buechler Farms open mic in Belgium, Wisconsin, held every Wednesday evening during summer.