Watch out Carrie. Move over Kelly and Clay. There’s another “Idol” around; he’s a little bit older, and his show biz success story is even more improbable. This “Idol” is Ron Gartner, an ex-textile salesman who, a few years ago, switched from selling “schmattas” (a Yiddish word for rags) to singing songs and entertaining crowds from coast to coast. Unlike the budding young stars on today’s music scene, Ron has tasted enough wine, breathed in enough air from smoke-filled lounges, broken enough hearts and had his broken enough times to be able to warble about a lost love and really mean it.
He always dreamed of being a Pop Star, just like all the young people lining up to get on American Idol these days. But back in the '50's when Ron yearned for the limelight, the only game in town was Ted Mack's Amateur Hour emanating from New York. Trouble was, Ron lived in Los Angeles, and his mother didn't really believe he was talented enough to warrant sending him to the Big Apple.
Ron contented himself with having his own high school band and had some success playing at the Whisky A-Go Go and PJs in the early 60's. It was at PJ's where he was "discovered" by then Motown executive Billy Davis. After a few frustrating attempts to cut his first album, Ron tabled thoughts of a music career and went into his family's textile business. When his parents retired to Palm Springs in 1994, Ron moved himself and his textile business east to New York.
Single for many years, Gartner began to bring dates to a piano bar he had discovered, where he could impress them with a few tunes that he knew. That worked fine, until a matchmaker introduced him to his future wife Fran Heller. Initially charmed, she grew weary of late night forays into smoke-filled bars to wait for Ron to belt out yet another rendition of "Mack the Knife". An ultimatum followed: "Find another outlet for your singing!" He did.
After reading an article in the New York Times about dance programs at a senior center in Queens, Ron called the center and volunteered to sing there for free. They accepted, he performed and got both a standing ovation and a letter of recommendation. Using that singular letter, Ron began to contact and perform at other senior centers, nursing homes, and senior residences.
Today, Ron is bringing his Vegas-style shows to casinos, cabarets, nightclubs, community theatres and outdoor summer concerts, corporate and charity events, and golf club communities from LA to New York and all points in between. A 2005 MAC Award nominee for Vocalist of the Year, Ron is quite literally a living breathing example of how to re-invent yourself in mid-life to pursue your passions and live your dreams. A real "Idol" for our times.
Thrilling audiences from coast to coast, Ron Gartner may be the only performer in America who can go from Sinatra, Dean and Sammy to Perry Como and Tony Bennett, from Bobby Darin, Paul Anka, Neil Sedaka and Chubby Checker to The Temptations, The Four Tops and James Brown — all in the same show!
Ron has created 3 distinctly different shows to appeal to the musical tastes and preferences of different age groups. There’s Ron’s Standards Show, for lovers of the Great American Songbook, Big Band, the Rat Pack and Bobby Darin. There’s Ron’s Salute to American Bandstand and Motown Show for people who enjoy ‘golden oldies forever’. And there’s Ron’s Best of Vegas Show, which incorporates the best of everything from Big Band and Rat Pack to classics of early Rock and Roll, Motown and Soul.
