Every year, the KFAN radio show broadcast from the State Fair closes out their last show on the last day with “dueling mouth guitars.” If you’ve ever heard the song “Dueling Banjos,” it’s a novel take on that. In this version, they’ve swapped out the banjos for a capella guitar noises brought to you by DJ Common Man Dan Cole and Tony “Mouth Guitar Guy” Delmonte, who has been a recurring guest on Common Man’s radio show since 2000.
Delmonte, age 50, was diagnosed with classic autism, a developmental disorder that challenges a person’s social communication abilities, at the age of 5. During the isolation of the pandemic, Delmonte began making videos from his Northeast Minneapolis apartment and posting them on YouTube to showcase his a capella music. It was a way to share something that made him happy when a lot of people were going through a very difficult time. He said he thinks the isolation of the pandemic may have given people insight on what living with the isolation of autism feels like.
“A lot of us don’t have much in the way of social skills,” he said. “But we have hidden talents, and we want to have a voice.”
Delmonte has been on YouTube for 15 years, but he only recently began making videos. Over the past year, he has posted over 1,000 videos to his channel, youtube.com/user/MDSONG. Almost of them are a capella covers where he sings the guitar parts of famous songs, though he does some originals as well. The Clash and The Who are his favorite groups to cover.
“I decided to bring air guitar to the next level,” he said, explaining why he calls it “mouth guitar.” This kind of a capella singing is something he’s done since childhood, when he could easily hum songs from memory in perfect pitch (the ability to recall and recreate a note without a reference tone).
Performing makes Delmonte feel like he’s giving other autistic people a voice and a space to be visible, he said. His performances on KFAN, as well as his YouTube channel, have allowed him to bring that voice to many people. He has also performed with a capella groups in Japan and New Zealand in 2009 and 2010, respectively, and was a special guest with Minneapolis-based cover band Metallagher at the Triple Rock Social Club in 2012. He hopes to be able to find someone to help him handle publicity in the future so he can have an opportunity to continue putting himself and his voice out there.
“April is Autism Awareness Month, but I call it Autism Acceptance Month,” Delmonte said. “I’m autistic, and proud of it, and never will be guilty by it … There’s no such thing as normal! If we were that, we’d all just be robots!”
Below: Mouth Guitar Guy Tony Delmonte. (Provided photo)
