Mé, Pék e Barba
Vincanti

Does folk rock still make sense in 2018? As long as there's an audience that loves this music, I would definitely say yes, considering that it's not a genre where innovation and following the latest trends are fundamental.

Instead, the classics on which the genre's foundations are based are essential, such as the classics of singer-songwriters, Guccini (with and without Nomadi), Ivano Fossati, and Fabrizio De Andrè, but also the groups that managed to capture and modernize this trend around the '90s, namely Modena City Ramblers, Folkabbestia, and Bandabardò.

I Mè, Pék e Barba are part of this tradition, deeply embedded in it while still trying to contribute their personal and current twist, succeeding in their effort.

The decision to create a concept album about wine proves to be winning, a pretext for exploring various genres and atmospheres, topics that may seem distant, all united by a single thread.

"Vincanti" is an album outside of fashion trends, even in its duration, in a historical moment when many are abandoning this format, here instead it is reconsidered as something more than just a simple container of songs, and the truly well-crafted graphics and packaging show great respect towards the audience.

Among the songs shines the single "Filastrocca", a choral work with musicians from all over Italy, in their dialects or languages, including in particular Gigi Sanna from the Sardinian group Istentales, Puccia from Après La Classe, directly from Salento, and then Franco Giordani from Friuli and Dario Canossi from I Luf from Valcamonica.

Not least Omar Pedrini who in life is also a great wine enthusiast and producer, and his song is "Sarà Festa (Una Storia Nel Bicchiere)".

The album is produced by Elisa Minari, bassist in the band with a past in Nomadi and alongside Freak Antoni and Francesco Baccini, a very well-curated and at the same time eclectic production.

And, as if to ideally close the circle depicted on the cover, in the booklet there is also a story by Marino Severini of the Gang, the father of this entire scene.

It's hard to extract single episodes from the context, although my preference leans towards the more choral tracks, "Filastrocca" and then the rock blues of "Peronospera", the funk soul of "Etichetta","Enoteca", the "Codice Cichero" and the concluding "Ramezolfo", with its magical and archaic touch.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oad7DpgSlWQ