Bluegrass Beyond Borders: Italy's Blue Weed plants the seeds

Based in Italy, the northern regions of the country specifically (Genova, Milano, Trento, and Rimini), Blue Weed excels when it comes to performing both traditional and contemporary bluegrass music. When the band took root in 2022, it was the result of having spun off from two well-known Italian bluegrass bands, Bluegrass Stuff and Red Wine.

The intention was to create a new project that would reflect their own intents and interpretation of a sound and style inspired by artists like Doc & Merle Watson, Tony Rice, and Norman Blake. So too, Blue Weed performs in various configurations — as a duo, a trio, and as a full band, all while leaning on material that covers the full spectrum of bluegrass at its best, from its origins to its more contemporary pastiche.

Notably, they also offer lessons in that storied history, while making themselves available for workshops, festivals, and other related events.

The band consists of Icaro Gatti on upright bass, Marco Ferretti on banjo, Francesco Mosna on lead vocals and dobro, and Matteo Camera on guitar. “It’s a special story,” Gatti replied when asked about the band’s origins. “Marco and I have known each other since childhood. I still remember when he was playing Pokémon on his Game Boy, and I really wanted to join in. But since I was younger, he didn’t pay much attention to me back then! Our dads are actually bluegrass pioneers in Italy. Marco’s father, Silvio Ferretti, is from Red Wine, and my father, Massimo Gatti, is from the band Bluegrass Stuff. Both of us grew up playing in our dads’ bands, and Marco still does in fact. We already knew Francesco as well, since he also used to play with Bluegrass Stuff. The newest member of Blue Weed is Matteo, who discovered bluegrass about five years ago while he was in Australia. The idea of putting this band together actually came from a good friend of ours, Michele Dal Lago, who really wanted to create a young Italian bluegrass group.”

Gatti went on to say that the group’s sound mostly leans toward modern and progressive bluegrass, but adds, “Our roots are firmly in the traditional style, so our shows strike a nice balance between the two.”

Gatti adds that everyone in the band excels at guitar, especially given the fact that they count Tony Rice as one of their biggest inspirations. “Yet we also come from very different musical backgrounds,” he noted. “Matteo grew up on hard rock and metal. He loves Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, you name it. Francesco has a deep background in blues and still plays it. Marco is a huge fan of Irish music. As for me, my influences go back to Bill Monroe and David Grisman. My dad and I are both mandolin players.”

Although the group has only been together roughly three years, they’ve had the opportunity to perform all over Europe. “We haven’t played too much in Italy yet, but we’ve toured in the UK, Ireland, Czech Republic, France, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and Portugal,” Gatti said. “Plus, we’ll be in Spain this November. We’ve already played at some of the major European bluegrass festivals, including La Roche, Banjo Jamboree, Bühl, Westport Folk & Bluegrass, Crossover, and many others. We’re still a young band, but we’ve already shared the stage with some great bluegrass artists like Chris Luquette, Seth Mulder, and Liam Purcell. It was so much fun!”

Nevertheless, Gatti insists that bluegrass is still quite rare in Europe, especially in their native Italy. “Not many people are familiar with it,” he admits. “Yet we’ve found that whenever we play, audiences are really fascinated and curious about the sound. Some of them even become real fans! So in a way, it feels like a mission for us! (chuckles).”https://youtu.be/nA0XM-oLPsw?si=CfO5OMv2BSXkkzTv

That said, their true mission appears to be the preservation and promotion of their music’s archetypical origins. “A big part of bluegrass is reinterpreting traditional music and American roots songs, so we love arranging, and rearranging, acoustic songwriting music,” Gatti maintains. “Recently, though, we’ve started writing our own material. For example, we play an original instrumental composition by Matteo called YAG.”

So too, Gatti has a definite opinion on why bluegrass is held in such esteem all around the world.

“I think bluegrass is really about community,” he muses. “It’s not just the music — it’s the people, the volunteers, the audience, the whole festival atmosphere. Nobody is a ‘star’ in bluegrass, and that’s something I’ve found to be true all over the world. It’s simply a wonderful place to be.”

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