This musical project
started in the mid of 2015 because I got a permit to play in the
street of my hometown. At that time, I was rambling around the world,
playing instrumental Appalachian mountains banjo music and earning my
living busking (I know it's crazy!). When I got the mail from the
city hall of Firenze informing me I won a place for busking, it made
me really happy to have the chance to play in my hometown after
waiting for 13 years to get a permit!
Among other criteria, my
degree in Music, Art & Cinema from the University of Bologna
played a crucial role in winning the public competition for a spot to
play in the street. This made me particularly proud and I felt better
with myself because my parents thought I wasted a lot of time and
money at university.
Nowadays too many cities
consider the street musician to be a problem (like a terrorist, a
thief or a beggar) and it's very common to find a policeman that
stops your performance and tries to give you a ticket or simply sends
you away. There is a slow process of considering the “public”
places to be more “private” place, as water was free years ago
and now you have to pay for it. Until 20-30 years ago you could play
in almost every square or street or public places without a permit. I
consider myself a musician, a busker and a traveler and in the last
10 years, I always tried to find a balance between those three things
and earn a living doing what I love.
I never sang until I was
34, but I made a bet with myself that if I get the permit to play in
the street of Firenze, I will sing every day just to learn and try to
find my voice. For one year and half after that, I sang the music I
love just in my hometown (and a couple of months in Australia in
wintertime). I called this project “Roots Flavour” because I
wanted to sing and play just with one acoustic instrument (guitar or
banjo) to get the sound to the bone, respecting the tradition of
minstrels, medicine shows and old bluesmen that used to play in the
streets during the last century and before. In medicine shows there
was often a guy playing the banjo while trying to sell miracle
elixirs (combined with alcohol, morphine or cocaine) to cure any
disease. I like to think that this music will heal listeners from
postmodern stressed technological life and allowing them to enjoy the
simple sound, cut to the bone... the sound that makes you tap your
feet!
This is a selection of
acoustic American folk and roots music (country blues, piedmont
blues, bluegrass, old time) with acoustic guitar and banjo,
representing a recorded photoshoot of my personal musical journey
until November 2016. Every song is recorded and mixed the “old
school” way, no overdubs, just live.