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Creative Family Amps Up Productivity During Lockdown 

For Immediate Release

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Contact: 

Charlie Falgione

Vice President of Public Relations

Before & After Music Group

pr@beforeandaftermusic.com

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Pittsburgh Family Amps Up Creative Productivity During Lockdown

 

PITTSBURGH, PA (May 8, 2020) – With Governor Tom Wolf’s announcement today that his nearly two-month long stay-at-home order for Allegheny County will be lifted on May 15, one Pittsburgh-area family can reflect on a period of impressive creative productivity during the lockdown.  The Dominick Family – best known for the father/daughter vocal duo in the rock band, Chip & The Charge Ups – is that family.

 

During the lockdown, Chip Dominick, his wife Sharon, and their daughter Maleena, produced an incredible output of art, including a musical album and single, multiple music videos, multiple livestreamed performances, and scores of greeting cards while getting impressive media recognition locally and even abroad.

 

“Our family has always been prolific when it comes to putting out art,” said Chip Dominick, co-vocalist and guitarist of Chip & The Charge Ups.  “But, the lockdown really enabled – maybe even forced – us to focus on creating new content on a scale we never thought possible.  It is our hope that our family has created art that have helped people smile despite perhaps some of the most distressing times of their lives.”

 

In addition to Chip and Maleena being members of Chip & The Charge Ups, Maleena is also a solo singer/songwriter finishing up her senior year at Moon Area High School. Her song and music video “Don’t Forget Me” is a tribute to the worldwide Class of 2020 and has garnered incredible media attention for the way the song and video speak to the unique situation faced by this year’s high school seniors.

 

Sharon is a photographer as well as an independent greeting card designer for the online greeting card company, Greeting Card Universe.  Greeting Card Universe facilitates greeting cards being purchased online and shipped to the buyer or directly to the recipient, an important service as people have struggled to shop for more than essentials and traditional greeting card shopping involves lots of product touching – something frowned upon during a time of an infectious disease pandemic.

 

A summary of the Dominick Family’s creative output during the lockdown is as follows:

 

Chip & Maleena (Chip & The Charge Ups)

  • 3/18/2020:  Broadcast an impromptu livestream performance

  • 3/19/2020:  Premiered the music video for their remake of “The Tide is High”

  • 4/3/2020:  Released the latest Chip & The Charge Ups album, Lightning in Our Veins

  • 4/4/2020:  Livestreamed a Virtual Album Release Party

  • 4/5/2020:  Were interviewed on 105.9FM QWIKRock in Altoona, PA

  • 4/13/2020:  Were named “Band of the Day” by the UK’s Ballroom Blitz Radio Show

  • 4/17/2020:  Were named the week’s “Featured Artist” by the UK’s Smile Radio

  • 4/16/2020:  Released an album sampler video, featuring tracks from Lightning in Our Veinsas well as scores of live and studio photographs of the band taken by Sharon

  • 4/26/2020:  Premiered a performance video (shot in separate lockdown locations) for the song “Unbreakable”

  • 5/2/2020:  Livestreamed an Unplugged Virtual Concert

 

Maleena (solo)

  • 4/10/2020:  Premiered a music video for “Don’t Forget Me,” filmed and edited by Sharon

  • 4/12/2020:  Was interviewed about “Don’t Forget Me” for a large article in the Beaver County Times newspaper

  • 4/13/2020:  “Don’t Forget Me” was featured on the Pittsburgh Today Live television show on CBS

  • 4/16/2020:  Was interviewed on Q92.9FM’s Morning Show in Pittsburgh, PA

  • 4/17/2020:  Released “Don’t Forget Me” as a single

  • 5/3/2020:  Was interviewed on 97.7FM The Rock Station in Butler, PA

 

Chip (solo)

  • 3/24/2020 – 5/1/2020:  Launched a COVID-19 Quarantine Daily Riff YouTube video series, composing 49 guitar/bass/ukulele riffs in 39 days

 

Sharon

  • 3/23/2020 – 5/8/2020:  Created 175 greeting cards as an artist for Greeting Card Universe

 

About Chip & The Charge Ups: 

 

Formed in 2018 by the unique father-daughter team of Chip Dominick & then 16-year old Maleena, Pittsburgh’s Chip & The Charge Ups quickly created an electrifying buzz.   The band has performed at prominent music festivals and opened for national acts including Dirty Honey, Dee Snider, Nita Strauss, and Liliac.  

 

Chip & The Charge Ups captivates audiences with infectious songs, a swaggy wardrobe, fun choreography, and ingenious mashups.  The band’s three albums - Flow of the Current, Part I (2018), Flow of the Current, Part II (2019), and Lightning in Our Veins (2020) - have received impressive critical acclaim, including the following kudos for their latest release:

 

•    “It’s hard not to be swept up in the raw excitement that radiates from this record” – Pittsburgh Current

•    “Tasty for metal and punk fans” – Metal Temple

•    “One of the best records…this year” – EMSU Media

 

In 2019, Chip & The Charge Ups’ Pittsburgh-themed holiday song, “Black and Gold Christmas” was featured on two network television stations, put into rotation on three radio stations, reviewed by countless print and online publications, and received over 100,000 views of its music video. In February 2020, the band was voted “Best Alternative Band” and “Best Punk Band” in the Iron City Rocks Pittsburgh Music Awards. 

 

In its first month, six Lightning in Our Veins tracks received FM radio airplay.  This raised the total of Chip Dominick – one of Pennsylvania’s most prolific songwriters – to 24 songs having received FM radio airplay.

 

 

Chip & The Charge Ups are:

  • Chip Dominick:  Vocals/Guitar

  • Maleena:  Vocals/Bass

  • Jeff DiPerna:  Drums 

  • DJ Carothers:  Guitar

 

Chip & The Charge Ups can be found on the web at: 

 

 

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