A mix of blues, funky, soul and rock in electroacoustic way and we have Francesco Piu, defined from Guitar Club magazine “a truly force of nature!”. Singing and playing acoustic guitar, dobro, weissenborn, banjo, lap steel and harmonica this young Italian bluesman from Sardinia, in the last years has increased his importance in italian and international blues overwiev.
FESTIVALS AND COLLABORATIONS
Playing in most of the important blues festivals (International Blues Challenge Memphis, Cognac Blues Passions, Pistoia Blues, Blues To Bop, Blues Sur Seine, Narcao Blues, Magic Blues, Santa Blues de Tenerife, Blues en Bourgogne, Blues au Chateau, Salaise Blues, Milano Jazzin Festival, Vache De Blues, Schtumm UK, Floss Festival Basel and many more.
Opened shows for John Mayall, Johnny Winter, Jimmie Vaughan, Robert Cray, Charlie Musselwhite, The Derek Trucks Band, Robben Ford, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Doyle Bramhall II, Sonny Landreth, Joe Bonamassa, Fantastic Negrito, Larry Carlton, Albert Lee, Trombone Shorty, Brent Mason, Joe Louis Walker, Eric Sardinas, The Holmes Brothers, Vintage Trouble and he played and shared the stage with artists like Jack Johnson, Tommy Emmanuel, Eric Bibb, Roy Rogers, Matt Schofield, Guy Davis, Bob Stroger, Andy J.Forest, Sugar Blue, Watermelon Slim, Kevin Welch, Sandra Hall and many others.
PRIZES AND AWARDS
On january 2010 he won the italian contest and he played at the INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE in Memphis, Tennessee, representing Italy. But this is not the only award given to Francesco Piu: in 2003 he won the first prize at the “Blues From Sardinia” competition at the Narcao Blues Festival, in 2008 he won first the prize at the “Out of the Blue’s” in Samedan (SWI) and in 2011 he won the prestigious “Premio Maria Carta”.
On May 28th he plays at the EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT in BRUSSELS, during the European Blues Challenge 2016 press conference.
ALBUM
He recorded three albums for Groove Company: the debut solo album BLUES JOURNEY (2007) where he played everything by himself; then LIVE AT AMIGDALA THEATRE (2010) a live album in trio, and the last studio album MA-MOO TONES, released in February 2012, with the extraordinary artistical production by Eric Bibb. With this album (in “Buscadero” Magazine Top 10 albums of the year) Francesco has been definitely installed in blues national scene and plays in new stages in France, Spain, Canada, UK, Norway, Switzerland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Austria and Germany. In october 2013 he plays at the legendary club “El Mocambo” in Toronto, Canada.
After the release of his last album LIVE AT BLOOM Francesco goes on tour in USA in January 2015: he plays in Mississippi, Tennessee and California (from “Club Ebony” in Indianola to the “House Of Blues” in Los Angeles and “Biscuits and Blues” in San Francisco) and records at the legendary SUN STUDIO in Memphis.
PEACE & GROOVE
PEACE & GROOVE, released on November 2016 from Appaloosa Records, it’s the second to last album, considered one of the best of the year by the press. In his fifth work Francesco cooperates with the famous writer Salvatore Niffoi for the lyrics, and the sound goes more into soul and rhythm’n’blues. In June 2017 PEACE & GROOVE wins the “Mario Cervo Prize” as the best album of the year produced in Sardinia.
His last album, released on April 21, 2018 for Record Store Day, is called THE CANN O’ NOW SESSIONS.
JOHN MAYALL
On March 2019 he opens all Italian shows of “John Mayall 85th Anniversary Tour”, on the road with the father of British Blues.
CROSSING
CROSSING, released in October 2019 also for APPALOOSA RECORDS and produced by THE BLUES PLACE is Francesco’s latest album: a tribute to the music of the great Robert Johnson in which his songs are contaminated by the sounds of the Mediterranean and Africa and from flashes of electronics.
It was elected BEST ITALIAN BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR by radio MOJO STATION and was included by the editorial staff of BUSCADERO magazine, as the only Italian, among the best productions of the past year.
Great acclaim also comes from the foreign press, from France to Norway.
The CROSSING TOUR stops in Germany, France, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria and, of course, far and wide, in the Italian peninsula.
On May 8th 2020 Francesco releases his new single “We shall not be moved” feat. the great Eric Bibb and his wife Ulrika.
On July 7th, 2020 Francesco won again The “Mario Cervo Prize” with Crossing as the best album of the year produced in Sardinia.
After the pandemic crisis concerts restarts and Francesco with his new project “FRANCESCO PIU & THE GROOVY BROTHERHOOD” (with Roberto Luti, Davide Speranza & Silvio Centamore) recorded a live show at the Théâtre Municipal de Sens and on November 19th, 2021 releases the album LIVE IN FRANCE.