A Canadian singer-songwriter whose music is a personal exploration of the Italian diaspora and its folklore, Montreal’s Marco Calliari rings in 2011 with a New York City return at The Living Room on Friday, January 7, 2011 at 8:00pm.
The concert doubles as a special open-to-the-public APAP Conference Showcase for the Quebec-based artist. Following 2009 Gotham sets at Joe’s Pub and (Le) Poisson Rouge, Calliari will serve up a US preview of his new album of original compositions “Al Faro Est” (At the Eastern Lighthouse), which was released in Canada in the Fall of 2010.
During the Summer of 2010 a remix of an earlier Calliari track “L’Americano” by Montreal DJ MC Mario became the surprise international dance sensation “We No Speak Americano”, racking up over 1 Million YouTube views and debuting in the Top 40 of the UK Pop Charts. A polished performer on the live circuit in North America and Europe, Calliari has shared the stage with top flight Italian artists such as Zucchero, Carmen Consoli, Vinicio Capossela and Peppe Voltarelli.
Marco Calliari will make 2 further appearances open to APAP badge holders at the NY Hilton Hotel’s Sutton Room on Friday 1/7/11 at Midnight and Sunday 1/9/11 at 9:30pm.
Southern Italian singer-songwriter, composer and actor Peppe Voltarelli will make his New York City concert debut on Wednesday November 11, 2009 at (Le) Poisson Rouge.
Born in Italy’s Calabria region, the 40 year-old Voltarelli’s work is a modern Italian’s musical take on the diaspora of tight-knit Calabrian immigrant communities that continue to thrive throughout Europe and the Americas. At (Le) Poisson Rouge Voltarelli will offer a set drawn from his first solo album, 2007’s “Distratto ma però” (Distracted But However), a project which the Rome-based musician has supported with over 200 live shows in Italy and Europe, the results of which were released on his 2008 live album “Duisburg, Nantes, Praga”.
This New York appearance is part of Pan-American tour which will see Voltarelli perform for the first time in Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Toronto and Montreal.
New York filmgoers have already had the opportunity to see Peppe Voltarelli in a leading role in the 2006 mockumentary feature “La Vera Leggenda di Tony Vilar” (The Real Legend of Tony Villar), which showed in official selection at the 2007 TriBeCa Film Festival. The semi-biographical plot follows the path of a contemporary Italian singer (Voltarelli), on the trail of a crooner from his Calabrian village (Vilar), who found fame and fortune in 1960’s Argentina and eventually disappeared into anonymity in the Bronx’s Italian community along Arthur Avenue. Directed by fellow Calabrian Giuseppe Gagliardi, “La Vera Leggenda di Tony Vilar” will be screened on Tuesday November 10, 2009 at NYU’s Casa Italiana as a preview to Wednesday’s (Le) Poisson Rouge event.
Voltarelli and Gagliardi previously collaborated on “Doichlanda”, a 2003 documentary about Italian immigration to Germany -- their ongoing music and film relationship producing numerous award winning video clips.
The opening act for Peppe Voltarelli’s (Le) Poisson Rouge date is the Montreal-based Italo-Canadian singer-songwriter Marco Calliari. The Calabrian-born, one time Latin American star, now based in New York, Tony Vilar will make a special guest appearance in Peppe Voltarelli’s set.
Italian Canadian singer/songwriter, Marco Calliari makes another musical debut this November 11th at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. If you haven't heard Marco's music yet, this is your chance to hear an amazing artist with an incredible musical background perform the best Italian original compositions with a flare of rock, traditional and maybe even a little folk. Marco Calliari's background is one of intrigue.. the son of Italian immigrants, who trained in traditional music, becomes a heavy metal artist and then organically evolves into performing traditional Italian music.
Sit in with us, as we interview, Marco Calliari.
Marco, thank you so much for taking the time to join us on Italian American Girl for this interview:
Marco your parents are Italian immigrants and you live in Canada. How has your Italian Canadian upbringing molded your musical career? At home, my parents listened to a lot of opera. My dad had all the Pavarotti collection in vinyl and my mom always had the Italian radio on. So from Renato Carosone to Toto Cutugno to Pavarotti, these are pretty much my first Italian influences.
I think what’s most fascinating about you is that your musical genre started out in heavy metal and then organically grew into Italian traditional music, what about that process surprises you most? Do you still perform heavy metal music? I’ve always been influenced by many different styles of music, going from rock to metal and pop also. Heavy metal is the music that inspired me to learn music, it inspired me to pick-up a guitar and to scream my head off when ever I felt like it. I actually just went back to playing with my metal band, Anonymus to mark their 20th anniversary. 9 shows in one month, three years after my departure really felt good…I can still kick ass!
Do you think growing up with different cultures surrounding you has made you more of aware of the message you want to convey through music? That’s for sure, growing up in a multicultural environment just proved to me that no matter what culture, you can always find something in common. I try to create this fact in my music, I call it World music, blending traditional sounds and music from all around the world.
More recently, you made your first ever performance trip to New York City at Joe’s Pub, what was that experience like and did you feel like this is was a pivotal moment in your career? It felt great, I love new challenges and the U.S. is a pretty huge challenge. I think starting out in New York city was a great experience, I just couldn’t wait to play at Joe’s Pub especially for the Putumayo Italia CD lauch. Performing in New York was great.
What type of music and or songs will we be hearing from you in the future? Where do you want to take the “Italian” traditional influence? I’m presently working on my third album, a full length CD filled with original compositions. For the last four years I’ve been mixing different sounds from around the planet to create these new songs. The songs are mostly written in Italian with a little bit of French, Spanish and Algerian.
You’ve also performed in Italy, what was it like returning and performing in your family’s hometown as an Italian Canadian? It felt like an accomplishment, as much for me than my parents. I’m very lucky to go and play in my parent’s home country, I’ve been performing there since 1999.
Do you choose to perform certain songs for their meanings? Yes and no, I think first of all I choose a song thinking of it live wise? I think of the performance and how the public will react, will they stand up and clap or will they dance to it or even jump up and down to it?
Do you see yourself collaborating with Italian singers/ or songwriters for future albums? Yes, I have two collaborations on my next CD, one with Enrico Greppi from Bandabardò (Florence, IT) and another Italian singer I can’t reveal for now, sorry?
What kind of career do you hope to accomplish in North America and when will we see more of you here in the United States? Hopefully I’ll be touring across the U.S. in the years to come, but a goal for me would be to put out my next CD in the U.S. But for now I’ll be performing in November in New York city, and can’t wait to do so!
Lastly, what do you want the Italian Americans to know about Marco Calliari..? I want them to know that there’s a son of Italian immigrants that’s pushing our Italian heritage as far as he can for the love of the music, the history and “la patria”.
Marco, thank you so much for joining us! We look forward to seeing in New York this November.
Italian Canadian Singer, Marco Calliari, will be live at Joe's Pub in New York City on May 18th 7:30 pm. He'll be performing songs from the CD release of "Italia" presented by Putumayo World Music.
Check out his website and listen to some of his songs, amazing. He sings a few classics like "L'americano," which I love. He has a very beautiful and distinctive sound. His career is sure to take off, let's support him and check out his site and upcoming concerts.-- Better yet, go to Joe's Pub, its a trendy location with a beautiful atmosphere and if Marco is singing..its a perfect night!
Click here for ticket and concert/venue information:
Also, check out Tony Mangia's interview with Marco on Sunday, May 17th for a preview of his music and life. The Tony Mangia Show - Radio: Italian Style airs live every Sunday from 3 PM-6 PM on "Brave New Radio" WP 88.7 FM and streams at http://www.wpradio887.org/Tweet
A Canadian singer-songwriter whose music is a personal exploration of the Italian diaspora and its folklore, Montreal’s Marco Calliari rings in 2011 with a New York City return at The Living Room on Friday, January 7, 2011 at 8:00pm. 
