Early life
Andy's father taught him his first chords on an acoustic guitar when he was in the fifth grade. A year later his mother bought him his first electric guitar, and Vallario began writing songs that were heavily influenced by "hooky" melodies from his early idols, The Beatles. Vallario spent his high school and college days in several rock bands, writing, recording and performing his own music. Although Vallario never stopped writing, he accepted a full time position as a high school English teacher.Career
Handy Productions
In the mid Eighties, Vallario left his tenured teaching job to start his own music jingle company, Handy Productions, which he named after blues pioneer W.C. Handy. Vallario began writing jingles for Greater Boston clients, but soon started producing music for regional and national advertisers like McDonald's, Burger King, Goodyear, Gulf Gasoline, Honda, Toyota, Fila and Dial-A-Mattress. In New England, Vallario is known for creating the 1-800-54-GIANT jingle for Giant Glass. According to an article inMedia Results
By 2002, Handy Productions had morphed into a full-service marketing firm, and changed its name to Media Results. Vallario was not just producing jingles anymore. He was creating ad concepts, writing copy and overseeing the agency's media buying department. By mid-decade, Media Results began specializing in automotive marketing.Songwriting
Vallario continues to write and produce his own music, which he describes as contemporary pop/rock, but he says he just never got into writing for labels. He recently told a radio talk show host, "My jingles pay my bills." Stealing a line from Paul McCartney he added, "I tell my wife, I'm going to the studio to write a swimming pool."References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vallario, Andy Living people American male songwriters Jingle writers Year of birth missing (living people)