Peter Gusmano channels passion into charity

Peter Gusmano, 45, of Merrick, says he knew little about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gerhig’s Disease, until his mother, Lillian, received an ALS diagnosis in 2004.

A self-described advertising executive by day and musician by night, Gusmano watched his mother’s condition deteriorate over a 16-month period before the disease claimed her life in November 2005. ALS is “a rapidly progressive, invariably fatal neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells … responsible for controlling voluntary muscles,” according to the National Institutes of Health.

Music has been a lifelong emotional outlet, Gusmano said, and after his mother’s death he picked up his guitar and started writing new music. Following a conversation with his father, Gusmano decided the music could serve a larger purpose — helping fund research into a cure for ALS. He has sinced donated 100 percent of the profits from all his musical endeavors, including concerts and CD sales through his website, guitarforacure.com, to Project A.L.S., a leading nonprofit supporting ALS research. Gusmano said he has raised more than $25,000 to date.

“A lot of the time when my mother was passing, I found myself channeling a lot of my emotion into music.” Gusmano said. “For me, I write from the point of a memory, something very, very vivid to me … When I was done with the material … my father was like let’s put this out, it’ll be really good, you can raise money. But I wanted to take my time, so I actually went into a studio and recorded everything professionally ... It’s kind of an audio story of what I was feeling at that time.”

The result was “A Flickering Light,” an album Gusmano released in 2009. He described it as “a mix of instrumental rock and rock and blues fusion,” with emphasis on “heavier, more melodic music.” He is working now on his next album, and he has already released its first single, “Terresterial Chatter,” on iTunes.

Gusmano grew up in Oceanside, playing drums throughout his schooling. In 2000, Gusmano turned to the guitar. His band, Peter Gusmano Project, includes two friends on bass and drums and has played gigs at B.B. King’s and the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan and elsewhere in New York City and on Long Island. Gusmano has also partnered with Keeley Electronics to sell a range of limited-edition “Drive for a Cure”-embossed rock gear. He said he fronts the logistical costs for his musical projects.

“My greatest passion is music, so I’d much rather put money into research,” Gusmano said. “To me, once you lose your mother, it’s all relative at that point. I put everything I can on the side of my other job into this project. Honestly, the payoff is the emails and the notes that I get from people who have someone in their family suffering from ALS or know somebody with ALS.”

Gusmano said he aims to release his new CD by the end of 2014.