Traditionally, the Blues, as a music genre, gets immediately identified with United States, the homeland, since more than a hundred years, of a style that has heavily influenced the roots of many other genres, Rock'N'Roll included.
Although the birthplace of Blues has never been in discussion, many more world countries have embraced, through the decades, the spirit and the philosophy of Blues, often with outstanding results.
One of the aforementioned countries is certainly Italy, which continues to carry the love, respect and passion for the genre through many very talented artists, one of those being the singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Marco Pandolfi.
Since always a very appreciated musician not only in his country of origin, but also in many countries in Europe, this Italian gifted artist has always enchanted his many fans through his blend of Mississippi Delta Acoustic Blues and Folk, adding also, in recent years, Rootsy layers in his musical recipe.
With a new album out now and called Rain Or Shine, Pandolfi delivers once again a very organic and well balanced shuffle of his, by now, well-known trademark sound, completed with Pandolfi's usual intensity in the songwriting and his raconteur-ish vocal style.
Recorded in one of Pandolfi's favourite studios in Italy in the city of Trieste, under the expert eye of drummer, producer and music publisher Moreno Buttinar, Rain Or Shine comes across as a particularly reflective album, for a talented and inspired artist that, at the age of 60, takes now the time and the opportunity to look at his 30-plus years of career in the music business, with Pandolfi's usual disarming honesty and sensibility.
Throughout Rain Or Shine, long-time fans of the Italian artist may easily recognise, in its overall sound, some of Pandolfi's early influences of Chicago and Mississippi Blues but also, at the same time, a significant shift into a more Americana style, where Pandolfi's sonic roots are now verging into a more cinematic way of delivering his delicate and sometimes introspective songwriting, resulting in a sonic outcome that works incredibly well for this album.
Among the many praises given to an artist at 360 degrees like Marco Pandolfi, the one that our website loves the most, it is the uncompromising purity that the singer-songwriter has always privileged in all his past records, as he still does on Rain Or Shine.
The new record encapsules beautifully everything about Pandolfi's personality, both as a musician and as a human being; sometimes romantic (Glass Half Full, Stay With Me All Night), other times timidly nostalgic (Black Boy Fly, Last Train) but fundamentally always true to himself, Pandolfi's artistic growth keeps on significantly expanding, as the years go by and as testified by this beautiful, delicate and exquisitely played and recorded album by this wonderful artist.
Another record made out of passion and true love for music from one of Italy's most inspired Blues artists.
Rain Or Shine is out now and can be purchased via Marco Pandolfi's Official Website
