Early Exposure

Having a little bit of music genes in one’s body gives a better chance for one to advance in this field. While I don’t pretend to be a famous musician I do suspect that musicality - which has played a huge part in my social life - is inherited before it is cultivated.

Mum used to play the mandolin by ear when she was still single and she was the first source of music for me with her sweet voice singing Italian songs while I was still a toddler. In his youth Dad on his part played the guitar with a group of guitarists and mandolinists who did gigs for weddings and special occasions. Late in life on his retirement he was gifted a classical guitar which I inherited in turn when he started to lose his hearing.

Being born at the onset of WWII and having older siblings around me singing the songs of the era gave me a boost in acquiring an ear for music. All the wartime songs they sang became ingrained at the back of my mind and would really come in handy later on in my life.

In my teens I started to be more interested in the current English and Italian songs of the time together with a little Classical and Operatic music in the mix. There were two rival fan groups those days: those following Elvis Presley and those loving Pat Boone’s voice. I associated with the latter and still like his style, in fact we had the pleasure of being present in 2017 at a live concert of his at Niagara Falls Ontario. He still had it even in his 80’s and we were treated to all the favourites we could handle.