About

Modena City Ramblers is an Italian Band from the Modena area that started in 1991. After travelling to Ireland they were inspired by Celtic music so they began to play together as a hobby. In Ireland many of the bands consist of people that come together for the love of music. They also adopted this philosophy and the concept was that people could come and go as they pleased, so it was a sort of open musical project. Their name was inspired by the Irish band, the Dublin City Ramblers which had a similar concept. Massimo Giacci who is the bass player is the longest standing member of the group since he started in 1992 and has been with them ever since. Francesco Fry Moneti has been with the group since 1996 and he plays the violin and mandolin. Their newest album is entitled Riaccolti and it's available on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/3xSMNI6NIjvvrmJd3nTy7J?si=JBBih1-mSayqCzwfXwRBbw, or record stores. In this interview we talk about some of the adventures that they have had touring around the world. They have played in some incredible places and had the opportunity to meet some important people, but they have also taken part in some really positive projects like working with NGO’s and Francesco worked with OXFAM in Palestine where he had an unforgettable encounter with Arafat. We also talk about a very special guitar that Fry had the possiblity to bring on a MCR tour. It was made entirely out of pieces of migrant boats that sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Lampedusa, Italy. We talk about the significance of the guitar and touch on a handful of people that played it. Several people have approved of this project including Carlos Santana, Avici, Patti Smith, Jovanotti, Vencio Caposella, Franz Ferdinand