You may know Nicolo Lonato for his work in Antica Osteria del Ponte (Il Ritorno di Johnny 2006/La Strada e il Costruttore 2002) and The Thunderbirds (Gente Strana 1996). His work has always floated between Italian pop, soft rock and roots, with elements of blues, bluegrass and Cajun. The most recent incarnation of his work is in Thunderbird Café. The story goes that the musicians were all hanging out in front of the fireplace a big house in the Ligurian mountains, and at one point vocalist Nick said, "Why don’t we go pick mushrooms?” Despite guitarist Stefano saying they don’t even grow in the area, the guys went out to try anyway. When they came home with armfuls of mushrooms, they took it as a sign—a feast and a new band were about to get underway. Their self-produced, debut album, entitled Di cose e di persone, came out in 2010. It’s 10 tracks, all in Italian, but despite the language, the music harkens to the South of the United States with instrumentation including fiddle, banjo, acoustic guitar and stacked vocal harmonies, plus tons of good old southern melancholy. The opening track has a little bit of a Cajun lilt to it, reminiscent of artists like Anders Osborne based in New Orleans, but the melodies and vocal phrasings are still very Italian pop. You can listen to the whole album on LastFM. In between their original work, the band alternates with covers of Bob Dylan, Creedence, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, The Band, and The Rolling Stones. They’ve just signed up to take part in the Emergenza Festival, where they plan to compete with other up and coming bands in the Milan area. If you’re curious to hear what roots music is all about, or you just want to listen to some good, solid tunes, don’t miss out on their upcoming gig. Stay tuned to Emergenza.net for details on the show.

MC