Nick Piunti

Nick Piunti, a singer and songwriter based in Detroit whose influences draw from classic rock along with the initial wave of power pop, grew up in Riverview, Michigan, situated near Detroit. Back in 1972, while in sixth grade, he assembled his debut group Dwarf alongside two classmates specifically to perform during a school talent show. This ensemble persisted for fourteen years, issuing their debut single during 1975 and attracting local notice through energetic shows and catchy melodies that would eventually earn recognition as power pop. Upon renaming themselves the Take, the group shifted to Los Angeles during the middle of the 1980s, though they struggled to align with the prevailing hard rock and hair metal trends, leading to a breakup and return to Michigan.

During the closing years of the 1980s and opening of the 1990s, Piunti kept up with recordings, put out an album under his own name, and performed in the area. Following a hiatus from the business to raise his children, he reentered the recording studio in 2002 for a self-titled long player that marked the start of his current phase.

Soon afterward he assembled the Respectables, another power pop outfit, whose first record appeared in 2005. Their follow-up effort, Sibley Gardens, came out in 2008 and drew wider notice when tracks featured in the movie Jeff Who Lives at Home and the series Mercy. The band issued one last EP titled 3 during 2010 prior to splitting. Piunti then teamed up with Detroit-based guitarist and songwriter Ryan Allen to develop material that landed on his well-received 2013 album 13 in My Head. Cut in Ann Arbor under the guidance of producer and engineer Geoff Michael, the project launched an ongoing collaboration responsible for two additional full-length releases in the subsequent three years: the lively Beyond the Static from 2015 and Trust Your Instincts, which Jem Records put out in 2016 after reactivating the label.