Cisco: dedication to Erriquez in the new single “Greetings from heaven”
On the one hand a piece of history of the Modena City Ramblers, on the other a piece of history of the Bandabardò. Cisco pays homage to Erriquez, the historic leader of the Tuscan band that is an icon of the Italian folk rock scene, with a single. It’s called “Greetings from heaven”, it has just been released and will be contained in “Reduci”, the new (double) album by the former singer of the “I cento passi” group, which will be released at the end of February. «A double album divided between stories of the Resistance and stories of life, which sings about ordinary people», he defines it, who once again made use of a crowdfunding campaign to carry out the project, a popular collection in which people actively participated: over 600 supporters. The goal was to reach 19 thousand euros, but the 25 thousand euro mark was exceeded.
Cisco created “Greetings from heaven” together with Ramon Caraballo, historic trumpeter and percussionist of the Bandabardò. The song arrives exactly five years after Erriquez’s death. After the passing of Erriquez Cisco – who left Modena City Ramblers in 2005 – joined Bandabardò as a singer, with whom he recorded the album “Non fa scare” in 2022.
«Today music has gone elsewhere, and this must be accepted. But precisely for this reason we feel and have the duty and desire to tell what happened, to transmit that living memory, that way of hearing, creating and experiencing the music that formed us. We dived in more than thirty years ago with a counter-current approach, not aligned with the system, rejecting the trends and rules imposed by the market. For this reason, perhaps, we were “spit out”: we did not follow the trend and it left us on the sidelines. But we never gave up”, says Cisco, real name Stefano Bellotti, 57 years old.
On the first album there are songs inspired by historical events such as “Canto dei deportati”, “Piccoladaughter di Reggio”, “Born on April 25th”, “Memories of a soldier” or “Staffetta Iole”. In the second album Cisco pays homage to figures who inspired him, such as Shane MacGowan in “The Loneliest Man in the World” or Erriquez himself in “Greetings from Heaven”. There is also a tribute to John Lennon, with “The Sun at the Bottom of the Sea”.
