Biography

Beppe Gambetta is a guitarist, vocalist, researcher, and composer born in Genova, Italy, in 1955. His distinct style of concert presentation brings American and European roots together with one voice, blending energetic grooves with passionate melodies and giving new life to sources from different times, periods, and places. In addition, the original music he composes has contemporary influences on traditional roots music.

Gambetta has focused primarily on his solo career since 2002, touring constantly between Europe and America, creating a musical fusion where American roots music and Ligurian tradition, emigration songs and folk ballads, steel string guitars, and vintage harp guitars not only co-exist but interact, weaving a deep dialog unaware of any rigid classification.

Gambetta's 2018 release Short Stories reached #2 on the RMR Traditional Bluegrass Album Chart, #8 on the earshot! National International Chart, and #18 on the Folk Alliance International chart. In 2019, Mayor Marco Bucci of Genoa bestowed upon Beppe the title of "Genoa Ambassador to the World." With the release of his 14th CD (Where the Wind Blows, Borealis Records, Canada 2020), Gambetta revealed himself to be not simply a master guitarist but also a new songwriter of great feeling, wisdom, and maturity.

TERRA MADRE (Mother Earth) is a musical key to opening a world of tales and dreams related to the motherlands of infinite possible itineraries and to the cries of pain and hope that rise from them. The record weaves together the experience and wisdom of a fifty-year career, and the work is further enriched by the participation of internationally renowned guests from different musical genres.

The album also reflects Gambetta's distinct style, which brings American and European roots together with one voice, blending energetic grooves with passionate melodies and giving new life to sources from different times, periods, and places. In addition, the original music he composes has contemporary influences on traditional roots music.

TERRA MADRE features six original compositions, including the beautiful instrumental closing track "Season of Suspension" and two well-chosen songs in the public domain: "Saint James Hospital," an homage to Doc Watson, and "Mis Amour," a medieval Provençal ballad about thwarted love that originates from a tiny linguistic minority of the Italian Occitan valleys.

Americana singer-songwriter Tim O'Brien joins Beppe on vocals, and American mandolin icon David Grisman, acoustic guitar pioneer Dan Crary, and celebrated bluegrass artist Travis Book lend their talents to the featured single “SIT AND PICK WITH YOU” along with Beppe on guitars. View the accompanying video, a nostalgic photo album featuring Beppe and many musical friends and collaborators throughout the years here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbtIH2NJH2I

Different dimensions are added to the album by the presence of New York avant-garde drummer/percussionist Joe Bonadio, the versatile acoustic jazz harmonica player Howard Levy, and from the world of "Newgrass” Jam Bands, the hugely popular bassist, Travis Book.

Gambetta plays traditional acoustic guitar, baritone guitar, 12-string guitar, slide guitar and dobro, bouzouki guitar, two types of Cuban tres, banjo guitar, and some "prepared" guitars designed to achieve particular sounds. The record is sustained by timeless emotions evoked from the reasoned succession of songs, like the successive chapters of a book. This sonic opus draws its energy from new journeys and explorations within the vast creative territory encompassed by acoustic guitar mastery, musical composition, and songwriting, and by conscious choice relies foremost on the intensity of expression and emotion.



"Terra Madre, an album that sounds now like a soft cry, now like a prayer: so much so that that feeling of connection seems to become something close to a powerful sense of the sacred, a glimpse into a “beyond.” Gambetta ... has made an album of real songs, sturdy folk songs that get their hands dirty, that have the ambition to say something about the world and say it without reticence.” Max Giuliani -www.giannizuretti.com

Produced by Beppe Gambetta
Executive Producer: Federica Calvino Prina
Recorded at Red House Studio, Stockton, NJ; Sweet Creek Studio, Ottsville, PA
Editing by Nicola Bruno, John Sonntag
Additional editing by Rob Griffin at AcousTech Music Productions in Panama City, Panama
Mixed by Bruno Costa at Tabasco Studio, Sori (GE), Italy
Mastered by Mario Bertodo at SMC Records, Ivrea (TO), Italy
Cover Art and design by Sergio Bianco
Photography by Giovanna Cavallo
Booking: Federica Calvino Prina, SL Promotion, fedcalv@gmail.com
CD catalogue number AMSC2024-1
UPC code 0 803173 187703

All songs FCC Compliant


1. Terra Madre (4:29) (Giuseppe Gambetta - SIAE, Italy) Mid-tempo/ folk, world, Americana. ISRC: QZHN92430449
The dream of a better life propels the fleeing couple in Terra Madre (title track of the album) as they jump a border wall and plunge into the darkness beyond. The precise setting is intentionally undefined, to symbolize situations of despair that are sadly ubiquitous in the world today. Beppe Gambetta: vocal, acoustic guitars, bouzouki, slide guitar; Travis Book upright bass; Joe Bonadio drums, percussion. (Italian)

2. Saint James Hospital (5:39) (Public Domain) Slow tempo/ Americana, folk. ISRC: QZHN92430450
Dreams of a peaceful end motivate the lyric of Saint James Hospital, a melancholy tune on the theme of repentance. The tune was notably recorded by Doc Watson and is included here to commemorate the centenary of Doc’s birth. Beppe Gambetta: vocal, acoustic guitars, tres; Travis Book: upright bass.

3. Sit and Pick with You (4:06) (Giuseppe Gambetta - SIAE, Italy) ISRC QZHN92430451 Mid-tempo/ Grassicana, bluegrass, folk, roots, Americana.

(Featured Single) The dream that inspires the song "Sit and Pick with You," composed in vintage country style, is that artistic spark ignited among musicians who were and are the fathers of this music, and who have left their indelible mark on time, and a legacy for all of us that follow. Beppe Gambetta: vocal, acoustic guitars; Tim O'Brien: vocal; David Grisman: mandolin; Dan Crary: low harmony guitar; Travis Book: upright bass.

4. Per Poco o per Niente (3:29) (Giuseppe Gambetta - SIAE, Italy) Slow tempo/ folk, roots, Americana, world. ISRC: QZHN92430452
A barrage of verbs comprises the lyric to Per Poco o Per Niente, as it evolves a dream of concord and peace, contrasting the meager returns from violent and oppressive actions against the enduring good that results from positive, empathetic action. Beppe Gambetta: vocal, acoustic guitar, bouzouki, glockenspiel; Carlo Oneto: French horns; Travis Book: upright bass. (Italian)

5. Dark Yellow Thread (5:54) (Giuseppe Gambetta - SIAE, Italy) Mid-tempo/folk/ Grassicana, bluegrass, roots, folk. ISRC: QZHN92430453
A dream of forgiveness is fulfilled in Dark Yellow Thread, set in the Great Plains of Colorado, south of the Sand Creek dunes. A typical murder ballad scenario unfolds, but the inevitable gory ending is unexpectedly avoided, thanks to the remembered teaching of an old Native American sage. Beppe Gambetta: vocal, harmony vocal, acoustic guitars, slide guitar, bouzouki, tres, banjo; Travis Book: upright bass; Joe Bonadio: drums, percussion.

6. Un Panino (3:43) (Giuseppe Gambetta - SIAE, Italy) Mid-tempo/ world, folk, roots. ISRC: QZHN92430454
Un Panino presents an emotional dream, where the listener can imagine hearing Fabrizio De André's voice as it might sound today, with his fascinating ability to read and interpret society from the viewpoint of its most fragile. Beppe Gambetta vocal, acoustic guitars; Howard Levy: harmonica, piano; FJ Ventre: upright bass; Joe Bonadio: drums. (Italian)

7. Mis Amour (3:24) (Public Domain) Mid-tempo/ Grassicana, Americana, roots, world. ISRC: QZHN92430455
Mis Amour (a medieval Provençal ballad about thwarted love) originates from a tiny linguistic minority of the Italian Occitan valleys and summons the mood of Beppe’s Genoese Acoustic Nights concert for which it was originally arranged. Beppe Gambetta: vocal, acoustic guitars, 12 string guitar, tres; Travis Book upright bass; Joe Bonadio: percussion.(Provençal)

8. Season of Suspension (3:33) (Giuseppe Gambetta - SIAE, Italy) Mid-tempo/Instrumental/ Grassicana, roots, folk, Americana. ISRC: QZHN92430456
The album closes with the sanguine dream of Season of Suspension, an instrumental composition whose voluptuous melodic arcs serve to end our journey on a note, or notes, of sweetness and optimism. Beppe Gambetta: acoustic guitars, bouzouki; Travis Book: upright bass; Joe Bonadio: percussion.