The Sanatoga Post

Dustin Tavella

POTTSTOWN PA – Pottsgrove High School graduate and increasingly popular national singer-songwriter Dustin Tavella is now a television star, too. He’s appearing weekly (so far, at least) in Season Three of “Sweet Home Alabama,” a reality contest series on CMT, formerly known as the County Music Television channel.

But about that “so far” part …

If you’re unfamiliar with the show, think of it as a southern-states version of “The Bachelor.” Twenty-two eligible young men attempt to outdo each other in weekly challenges to win the affection of a young woman. In this case, the woman is Paige Duke of Lancaster SC. She’s a Clemson University graduate who works as a national representative for Kruger Farms, an outdoors retailer in Minnesota.

Tavella, naturally, is one of the competitors. They are regularly eliminated from the show as Duke makes her preferences known, and family member Patti Tavella on Monday (Jan. 23, 2011) reported the news so far is good. Five men have been cut; Dustin’s still hanging in. For how long, who knows?

Tavella’s big chance to woo Duke arrives on the show Friday (Jan. 27), when an episode titled “Around The Campfire” airs at 9 and 11 p.m. Patti said during a “date” with Duke he will sing a song he wrote specifically for her and the show.

As an aside, the show’s promotional material describes Tavella as “a recording artist from Philadelphia, Penn. Dustin loves entertaining at children’s hospitals and has traveled the world doing missionary work. He is still a virgin, saving himself for marriage.”

Tavella has been an inspiration for students in Pottsgrove’s halls in recent years, and particularly at the middle school on North Hanover Street. He’s led music-fueled fitness exercises there, and served as a motivational speaker during assemblies.

It’s understatement to say Tavella – who rarely misses an opportunity to publicly poke fun at himself – is having fun on the show. His latest video on YouTube (he has 73, for anyone who’s counting) promotes “Sweet Home Alabama” in a take-off of the rap song, “Sexy And I Know It.” His twist is titled “I’m Country And I Know It,” and although it’s far from the smell of hay and the sound of twanging guitars, it has already been viewed more than 383,000 times … in just one week.

• Watch the video (above), or see it at Tavella’s YouTube channel.

Other coverage:

• Stowe native featured on reality show ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ (The Mercury)

Photos from CMT, Dustin Tavella

Dustin Tavella

POTTTSTOWN PA – Popular local singer and songwriter Dustin Tavella will perform in concert May 13 (2011; Friday) from 7-9 p.m. in the auditorium of Pottsgrove Middle School, 1351 N. Hanover St., Pottstown PA, as a fund-raiser for the school’s Parent-Teacher Organization, principal Bill Ziegler announced Wednesday (April 27). He will sing his latest releases and introduce a special guest, H.B. Monte.

The event will be “awesome,” Ziegler gushed.

Tickets are available for sale now at the Middle School office for $8 per person; family packs of four tickets also are available for $30, OR five tickets for $35. Tickets also will be sold at the door for $10 each. Children in pre-kindergarten through Grade 5 are welcome, but must be accompanied by “a responsible adult,” Ziegler cautioned.

• Watch Tavella performing his latest release with Monte, “She Got Me Singing,” (above) or see it at the YouTube user account DustinTavella.

Tavella as the Chick-fil-A cow.

POTTSTOWN PA – Pottsgrove High School graduate and local singing sensation Dustin Tavella is inviting a few hundred close friends – and hey, you can come too, even if you don’t know him; he won’t mind – to help shoot a music video March 20 (2011; Sunday) from noon to 7 p.m. in Pottstown’s Memorial Park on King Street.

Pop rocker Tavella’s fans on Facebook and elsewhere last week received messages asking them to arrive in force at the park for the filming of a video for his song, “She Got Me Singin’.”

“Come out and bring ALL your friends!,” Tavella wrote. “It’s gonna be a blast. Feel free to bring basketballs, footballs, volleyball stuff, bikes … whatever you would wanna bring to keep yourself occupied during down times.” Creating video magic, apparently, takes time and patience.

Tavella is collaborating with Dan Newman of the Lehigh Valley’s New Man Media to create the production. Newman reports Tavella is looking to leverage his musical talents into more commercial ventures. Together the two recently released a test advertisement for fast food outlet Chick-fil-A that promoted a Groundhog Day sandwich offer earlier this month (February 2011).

• Watch the Tavella commercial, above, or see it at New Man Media’s Vimeo account.

Those familiar with Tavella’s earlier videos know that in each he features his grandmother, Maria Tavella. She’ll be at the park, too, he promised.

Photo from Vimeo

Dustin Tavella.

POTTSTOWN PA – Singer Dustin Tavella and exercise trainer Aaron Christ, both Pottsgrove High School graduates, made their presence felt last week, just as The Post reported they would. The pair pranced into a gymnasium full of middle school students, who seemingly couldn’t contain any more energy, then reportedly ramped that energy up to a whole new level.

• Read the story, written by Sue Erickson and published this morning (Jan. 12, 2011) by the Berks-Mont Community Connection newspaper, here.