NOTES  2 0 2 4


 

19 November 24
now it's pretty clear that in general in Italy, what can be achieved ($) performing on a street or in a square, is decidedly inferior compared to, not only Canada & Germany (which I know well), but in general also compared to other European nations. approximately a third or a quarter lower..

that said, my goal is to improve my performance and change the status quo, upgrading not only the performance (that would be great to play with a percussionist) but also my clothing..
many times it seems you are just invisible here in Bologna.

I want to change this apathy that people have for streets music and also for original songs, because here they respond (sometimes) to covers, when instead I do play my own songs..
so, my road is very uphill.
I will have to be able to not only make people stop, but touch their hearts with songs they have never heard before.. when I have succeeded, I will have taken a truly important step in my songwriting journey..
it will be.

​

16 November 24
It was a pleasure to play in Mantua, in Piazza Erbe, (for me the first time ever in this beautiful city) with the friends of the "Casa Della Rugiada", spreading a message of peace, brotherhood, kindness... against all violence from domestic violence, to bullying in schools up to the devastation of all wars!!!

I started playing (3pm) when it was 6 degrees and when I finished (5pm) it was 5. I would never have imagined being able to play with such a low temperature.. the point is that the left hand fingers struggle to move to make the chords.. and even holding the pick, with the right hand, becomes increasingly difficult.


15 November 24
even if it's cold and usually humid, between fog and darkness, after 5pm, a nice atmosphere is created in Piazza Maggiore in Bologna, it's a kind of magic.. 
Also with the complicity of Riccardo (dressed as a cardinal) just graduated, and his friends, I played a very pleasant hour..


7 November 24
since I came back in Bologna, it's nice sometimes to meet friends or people I haven't seen for many years.
Today for example it was a great pleasure to see my Professor (and now friend) with whom I prepared my thesis, Gianluca Marzocchi..
I had the pleasure of singing him the song written for him..


2 November 24
with the one of today, Via Ugo Bassi nr 15, now I've tried all the spots allowed, where you can play in Bologna with an amplifier.
so, of course the best one is definitely Piazza Maggiore.. I do like also "Giardini Margerita" and in front of the Testoni Theatre in Via Matteotti street.
it's a shame they took away the spot in Piazza XX Settembre (close to the train station), where I felt good (even if sometimes you had strange encounters... people a bit on the edge) and at the same time, it is not nice all the constructions that are going on since months in the centre of the city to adjust the streets to the upcoming tram.
I'm here, day by day, to do my best to share my messages, thoughts & beliefs with my songs.


29 October 24
my return to Bologna is not that easy
the impact is tough
I have to rebuild everything from scratch and we are already at the fourth time..


25 October 24
I uploaded a new cool video, dedicated to the Toronto subway, where I played every day for many many years..
thanks to photographer Oz John (oz-john.com) and Thunder Thighs Costumes LTD (thunderthighscostumes.com) for the costumes and collaboration
check it out, beautiful memories, let me know what you think 
E' Tutto In Un Si


20 October 24
Cool event yesterday, among songs & poems.. dedicated to peace
(see the pic)


12 October 24

Ehi guys, I'll see you next Saturday at 6pm @ Casa Della Rugiada (Mantova) for the first show of the season !
with me, there will be other poets and artists.
here the flyer

 

30 September 24

what about this concert flyer for the upcoming season, do you like it?
check the new concert's FLYER

 

25 September 24

I grew up in Bologna and lived here for many years, but I would never have thought of playing in the square..
I was looking at the statue of Neptune and behind me there was the basilica of San Petronio.
I sang my songs, it was a pleasure..
see you next time..
here is the link to follow my street performances in Bologna : TOZ Antonio Piretti

 

22 September 24

today is the autumn equinox, the length of daylight equals the length of darkness.

I have already played in several locations in Bologna..
it is different from both Canada and Germany, it is allowed to play amplified but people react differently.

I am happy to have the license and in the next weeks I will try to understand better which location is congenial to me and I will also pay attention to the interaction with passersby..
the busking approach is completely new to me in Italy..
I feel I have to understand more and know better
step by step

 

9 September 24

I never thought I'd play in Bologna, on the street...

following this link, TOZ Antonio Piretti 
you can see the time and the locations, of all my performances updated in real time.

 

8 September 24

and so life never ceases to amaze me..
I was playing at a fair and it was a very well paid gig.
at the beginning of the second set, the G string breaks.
I search in my guitar case but I can't find the pack of strings that I always have with me.
I try to ask the organization if anyone had a guitar or if they knew anyone with a guitar who could temporarily lend me a string, nothing.
At the end of the second set (I had 1h break before the third set), I take the car and go to the small town nearby, Boostedt.
I stop some people on the street, nothing.
I see a lady in the parking lot of a building and ask her for information.
She tells me "we are a cultural center, we organize concerts, tonight there will be one, but we have a piano, not a guitar".
then she tells me, "let me make a phone call".
then she tells me "a friend of mine, who was already arriving here, will go home, take her guitar and bring it here.. come back in half an hour".
I go back to the fair, I play the third set (with only 5 strings) and I go back to the cultural center "Boostedter Cultural and Support Association Hof Lübbe eV Zur" and @sybillefliegner shows up with a guitar and says to me "I have a gift for you, here, this guitar is yours"
I didn't believe it "how is that possible, I said?"
"my friend said she didn't use it anymore, the guitar is missing a string, but you can take the one you need and you can keep the guitar too".
I thanked her and in disbelief I went back to the fair.
Unfortunately I couldn't use the string of the gifted guitar, because it is a classical guitar, while I was playing with an acoustic guitar.. but what happened is incredible!

In the middle of nowhere and in the indifference of everyone in charge, you drive looking for a guitar string and you go back home with an extra guitar.
destiny is always ready to show us that we have to get out of our routines and do things that we normally wouldn't do.. so surprises/miracles happen
(pic of the 2 guitars)

​
 

6 September 24

sometimes happiness also passes from the pain in the fingers for having created an afternoon of music..
thanks for everything Travemunde, always magical
(see of the sunset, when I stopped to play)

​
 

31 August 24

the last day of August..
a very nice concert in Wilster, at the Kulturhaus Wilster.. great people

The days are becoming shorter and shorter, the sunlight is dropping quite faster here in the North of Germany it seems the summer is leaving..
They were two good spring & summer.. Dublin, Berlin, many gigs around Hamburg, Travemunde, Boltenhagen, Zarrentin and all these beautiful little places & villages in the Schleswig-Holstein region.
The weather was not so warm, but I felt good thanks to the people who attended to all my concerts.

From tomorrow my family and I will start a new chapter, Bologna, Maya has to go to school.
So, after 15 years I come back to my own town, weird feeling.
Seedorf is really a kind of paradise for who wants to stay in peace, in the nature.. and in my case also for the training of the triathlon races.. for sure I'll miss this beautiful place, the silence, the wind and the freedom of swimming in the lake, riding my bike o running in the night alone, just in the nature..

25 August 24

and here we are, the video E' Tutto In Un Si, shot in Berlin with my friend Oz 
 

​​

20 August 24

a couple of days in Berlin shooting the video of "E' Tutto In Un Si" with my friend @ozjohn.photo
(pic of the first day shooting)

 

12 August 24

one of the best things about living in this area, Seedorf (45 minutes from Hamburg), is coming home after a concert and going for a run in the dark...
under the moonlight or the stars... it's priceless, in the silence

 

12 July 24

Today I received some bad news..
one of my best friends had been hospitalized in intensive care and intubated, following a worsening of the tumor with which he had been fighting for several months.

After the concert I went running at night in the countryside..
there was this wind, which blew constantly..
a pleasant breeze, warm, it seemed to caress you..
I was in the dark, you could only see the stars..
there was only the blowing of the wind on the trees, the bushes, it was around me..
at a certain point I stopped and tried to understand better.. 
I felt weird vibes, pleasant..
this breeze really seemed to want to tell me something..
I then, opened my arms to hug him.. in the silence
after a few seconds, the wind stopped...
 

I thought it was Nano who wanted to say hello to me..

 

2 July 24

I summarized the Irish experience in this video.
2 weeks from May 7th to 21st 2024 in Dublin / Howth.
After Street of Berlin, now Streets of Dublin.
step by step on an adventure journey

 

25 June 24

and so a lady with sunglasses and long black hair approached me and said "nice music"..
after a few songs, she came over with a couple of friends who told me "you were her husband's favorite singer".
and she "we always came here to listen to you"
wow..
I proposed to her to sing a song for him..
"no otherwise I'll burst into tears" she replied
I told her, what I think about angels, as they do exist...
and she..
"I think so, since he left, I collected several colored stones and in one of them, on the back, it was written.. Joy.."
so much emotion in her voice broken by tears..

 

10 June 24

Hi Guys,

here for you a brand new video ;-) You Have Been The One

so many cool memories in 10 years of friendship.. by Oz Photography

just check it out and let me know what you think of it 

stay always cool & tuned

 

8 June 24

it's always nice to do sport after returning from a concert.. in the dark and in silence.. great fun..

​

​

7 June 24

for the first time, in a shoes store (@ Heinrich - Das Schuherlebnis)
for the Kulturabend Holtenauer Straße, Kiel
cool concept idea..

(me at the shoe store)
 

​

2 June 24

good vibes @dirkscafetoka on a sunny Sunday afternoon..
(memory of the day)

​

​

1 June 24

Beautiful to play @bbschaalseeklause at sunset..
(check out the sunset)

 

21 May 24

I was towards the end of my shift, on Grafton Street..
the next day I'd have left, I was playing the last song, and here Jimmy appears and listens..
let's joke for a moment, he confuses "Heroes" (by David Bowie) with the one I had sung, which was my original song..
I decide to sing another one of mine that I knew he liked (he took 2 of mine USB sticks some days before).
then slowly we walk along Grafton Street..
he was nervous, because he saw so many police..
we arrive at a certain point and we go to see the statue of
Philip Lynott, where we take this photo..
we then continue to the statue of Luke Kelly and there, with his voice, very soft, calm and sweet..
"can you hear the cicadas?"
I look at him "Jimmy, this is the sound of the ventilation of the Mail next door.."
he smiles "yes, I know.. but they look like cicadas.."
he smiled under that little mustache and those glasses, he was very sweet..
he was like an angel, almost every time I finished the day in Grafton Street, he always appeared and I was feeling better.. he was calming me down and just hearing him talk..
made me smile, that is, it warmed my heart..
(picture with Jimmy @ the Philip Lynott Statue)

 

20 May 24

you're in Dublin and you don't get a Guinness?
(me & Dag drinking a Guinness, Cheers)

 

20 May 24

I was walking, I said to myself "you should cut your hair" I saw the sign and I went up to the first floor.. a fantastic place!
(pic of the barber shop, elegant & beautiful)

 

19 May 24

big or small, it depends on your point of view
(nice pic of the spot where I was playing)

 

17 May 24

a day in Howth..
(memory pics of the day)

 

13 May 24

faces of Dublin..
(memory pictures)

 

12 May 24

whatever you have, take It out !
At Grafton Street on a rainy Sunday..
(memory picture)

​

​

11 May 24

4 days in Dublin, an incredible school,
I thought I saw something, actually no.

pros and cons in everything, but Dublin definitely has an edge..

One of the few cities where there is a license to play on the street which includes amplification.. for a musician it can also finally mean the freedom to be yourself
(pic memory)

​

​

8 May 24

happy to have played in Grafton Street..
if we want to be honest there is a kind of "sound war" and my speaker is not very powerful, but the voice however defends itself well.
it looked like a film, with gangs of kids who at a certain point started throwing rubbish bags into the middle of the street or doing damage.
met several musicians, from different parts of the world.. here with Joe Hajso
(memories of the day)

 

5 May 24

done also the Italian version of the project "Music On The Roads" with some cool pics from my tours.. 
 

​

2 May 24

and here the introduction of Music On The Roads - Streets Of Berlin
realized with my friend Oz John Photography

this will be part of my future

 

1 May 24

on a difficult day, with a lot of wind..
suddenly a couple starts dancing in the square and they are good.. shortly thereafter several children with their parents start dancing and so out of nowhere, a square turns into a dance floor..
this is the best memory of yesterday afternoon

let fate do its part..

​

​

28 April 24

it was nice to go around Berlin with my friend Oz John Photography last weekend..
songs, people, places.. here we go again, @ Music On The Roads

​

​

21 April 24

Playing among people...

it's a way where you let fate act, making you meet destiny.

it's what makes people's paths cross, it's a call between souls..
(Gromitz memory)
 

​

12 April 24

one of the saddest days I remember..
I had a concert in a musical instrument shop in Hamburg, but no one showed up.
The crypto market has dropped a lot, resulting in problems for all my bots.
But what really made an incredible splash was the email from the TTC:
"Dear Antonio Piretti     

We regret to inform you that your audition was not selected for our 2024-2027 TTC Underground Sounds Subway Musician Licence."
they took a part of my life away from me.. I'm shocked

 

5 April 24

I'm relieved
finally the project is accomplished, it took more than 2 months.
here my testimony regarding, why I started this song writing project
(I became more used to this program that manages the effects and I was able to create this one)

Testimony - Why I Started This Song writing Project?

let me know your opinion, it took a lot of efforts ;-)

 

15 March 24

ehi guys,
here I'm with the last 2 videos recorded live on September of the last year. I used the video effects also for these two videos, 
We All Are One
They Are Still Here
in the next days I'll put together the real interview.. where I'll explain why I began this songwriter project 20 years ago and I'll extract some parts of the recorded songs as samples of what I mean with songs with meaning, with messages.. that was and still is my goal
stay tuned, it will be nice

 

​8 March 24

I spent time on a program that is adding effects on the videos..
I like them, even if I know I have to improve managing them.
here a couple of samples:
My Dear Faraway Friend (Charcoal)
I'm On My Way (Colored Pencil)

 

1 March 24

today I submit my self for the new TTC Undergrounds Sounds Subway Musician Audition, to received a license for the next three years. I recorded the video during the night and the camera that I had with me was not the top.. however, here my video

a live performance with a medley of 3 songs in 5 minutes

looking forward to see the results

​

​

22 February 24

I had the time to edit a couple of videos that I recorded the last September in Bologna, here a few:

Love Is (live studio recorded)
C'era Una Volta (live studio recorded)
My Name Is Not Important (live studio recorded) 
Let It Go (live studio recorded)

a big thanks goes to Boat Studio Recording and to Pietro Ballardini for the great hospitality and assistance.

These and other songs are part of a larger project, which I hope to complete as soon as possible
 

​

27 January 24

I released a new video, Love Is (Piano Version - featuring Altin Furxhi painter)

The song "Love Is" was written in 2007 for a contest of Paulo Coelho, regarding a compilation for the soundtrack of the movie of one of his book "The Witch Of Portobello".
This song, over the years, has been recorded in different types of arrangements, this is a version just voice and piano. On piano Matteo Gamberini who also followed the arrangement.

Every now and then, projects are born from a simple joke.
I was in an appliance store and I asked, jokingly, the clerk who was following me: do you have a discount for a musician?".
He laughingly tells me, I'm an artist too, I'm a painter..
We started talking and I told him that I would have liked to associate a painting of him with one of my songs, creating a video. We stayed in touch and eventually that quickly thrown out idea has now materialized in this video.

Thank you Altin Furxhi, painter and art professor (altinart.weebly.com). Coincidentally, the location that Altin Furxhi chose is a spot that I know very well, in Riva Del Garda (Italy), with a beautiful view of the lake in a magical garden.
Every time I go to Riva Del Garda I pass by that point and often take my guitar with me and play for a couple of hours... it's simply beautiful.
 

​

10 January 24

I returned to Germany.
In this period I'm trying to best structure the project created last year on crypto currencies, criptozlead.com.
I have to say it's going very well.

I hope, soon, to have the right time to write new songs, compose..
to have my head free from problems and find the right mood and tranquility.

This year will be important, I will try to live it to the fullest, as always!