New Night Dawning

Since forming in 1978, the Italian group Red Wine has become one of Europe’s premier bluegrass bands. They have extensively performed not only in Europe, but also in Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Austria, Germany, Holland, and Switzerland, just to name a few, including the United States. Based in the city of Genoa, Italy, the current band includes Luca Bellotti (bass, vocals), Martino Coppo (mandolin, mandola, octave mandolin, vocals), Marco Ferretti (guitar, banjo, vocals), and Silvio Ferretti (banjo, guitar, vocals), and on this new project the guest players include Tim O’Brien (fiddle), Paolo Ercoli (resonator guitar, cello), Davide “Zazza” Zalaffi (drums, percussion), and Roberto Bongianino (accordion). Their music is a blend of Bluegrass, Country, Gospel, Old-Time, Swing, and Celtic, and the selections on this project showcase those influences quite well. 

The project is a collection of covers along with a few originals from the members. Covers include Tim O’Brien’s “The Church Steeple,” Vince Gill’s “Liza Jane,” Gary Ferguson’s “The Fields,” Johnny Cash’s “So Doggone Lonesome,” and an interesting take on Joni Mitchell’s classic “Woodstock.” Silvio Ferretti offers “Westport,” “Sally’s Angel,” and “Too Old To Cry,” and Martino Coppo provides “Blackout Laundry.” Some other selections are “Rusty Old American Dream,” “Make My Day,” “When Love Finds Me,” and the Genovese classic “Quelle Navi.”

The band sticks quite close to their bluegrass roots but is not afraid to let their other influences show up in the mix. Vocals, harmonies, instrumentation, and arrangements are all superb, which makes this a really nice new project from Red Wine.