11/5/2009 10:50:02 AM

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By Christina Killion Valdez

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

It's not like Tony Pucci, who is probably the area's most prolific songwriter, to ruminate over a CD. By taking advantage of his abundant creativity, home studio and the Internet, he's put out more than 100 CDs just as quickly as he could make them. Yet for his latest release he took a long-view approach.

	Listen: "Your Smile Never Fades" by Tony Pucci and Leah Pinnavaia.

For the past three to four years, Pucci has been working on a CD, not for himself, but for his younger sister, Jennifer Ann Fischer, who died May 6, 2008 of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. ALS, often called Lou Gehrig Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Fischer was 37 years old and left behind a 12-year-old son Andrew.

"It's a frustrating disease," Pucci said. "They are finding new ways to treat the disease, but a cure is a long way off."

Nonetheless, Pucci said his sister remained strong.

"She was very brave and never once said, 'Why me? This is terrible,'" he said.

Although she died before the CD was complete, Pucci said his work on the "Songs For Jenny" CD made her proud.

She often said, "Hey, do you know what my brother is doing for me?," he said, noting that Fischer saw the CD as a legacy. All proceeds from the CD sales will go to the ALS Association of Minnesota, an organization that provided support, equipment and resources for Fischer.

The CD also proved to be a positive outlet where Pucci could focus his energy during a difficult time.

"For the CD, I took two approaches," he said. "First I had a dream list of people I wanted to work with and I had a lot indie friends I like to work with."

Among the musicians who made up the dream list are Australian singer Margot Smith and Tim Powles, drummer for The Church, who both agreed to help out.

"Everybody donated their time and talents," Pucci said.

Even Annie Haslam, singer for the prog rock band Renaissance, who isn't doing music anymore in favor of visual arts, donated a painting titled "Jenny's Lake" to Fischer. The painting hung on Fischer's bedroom wall and was used in the CD art.

Most of the artists selected a song from some of Pucci's instrumentals and wrote and recorded lyrics for it. A few artists, including Hitchcock's Regret and Powles, also remixed the music.

"Those songs have a different sound," Pucci said. "Otherwise it's my dreamy pop kind of sound."

The CD was released Oct. 6 on Heyday Records, the same label on which Pucci put out his "Unfolding" CD.

And while he had hoped to have it ready for the Sept. 12 ALS walk in Rochester, Pucci said the wait was worth it.

"As soon as the CD came out the frustration of waiting was water under the bridge," he said. "It's not only a great cause, but it turned out to be a good CD as far as I'm concerned."

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