I was born on Bastille Day, July 14, 1967. To this day, my mother still claims that she heard La Marseillaise on the radio as she was heading to the hospital to deliver me into this world.
Ever since I was a kid and discovered the Beatles, I wanted to be a guitar player and a song writer. And by the time I was in high school, I was already playing and singing in rock bands with my friends.
I was 20 years old when I co-wrote my first song to appear in a major motion picture. But it wasn’t until I was in my 30s that I really made a mark in independent music.
During my decade in New York, two French-language bands I played with and wrote songs for — Les Sans Culottes and Nous Non Plus — were headliners in the downtown indy rock scene. In 2003 we opened for Ringo Starr and Norah Jones at the storied Bottom Line in Manhattan. And in 2006, after licensing a number of songs to television shows and movies, Nous Non Plus had a college radio hit record. We stayed in the top 10 for four weeks.
You could say that I was born to be in a French rock band.
This year for my birthday, I won’t be performing with my old bandmates, now scattered across Europe and the U.S.
But I will be playing a set with some of my best friends in La Jolla, California as I celebrate my 50th birthday.
On Friday, July 14, 2017, we will be rocking out at Beaumont’s in Bird Rock on La Jolla Blvd., one of the rowdiest clubs in San Diego (no joke).
If you happen to be in San Diego that evening, please join me to celebrate my half century on this planet. It’ll be a super fun night. Stay tuned for more details.
In other news…
My newish client, Lambrusco producer Ceci, was in the news last week.
I connected with Alessandro and the Ceci family thanks to their consulting winemaker, Nico Danesi, one of my best friends in Italy and arguably the best classic-method producer in the country right now (I’m biased, of course, but there’s no question that Nico’s Arcari + Danesi Franciacorta and SoloUva Franciacorta have set a new benchmark for the appellation).
The Ceci are ramping up their presence in the U.S. with a growing presence in New York City and a new California importer coming online in just a few weeks.
The wines are great and I can’t recommend them highly enough. Taste them and I know you’ll see why they stand apart from the crowded field of Lambrusco today.
All in all, it’s looking to be a pretty good summer. Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll come out to celebrate with me and my friends on Friday, July 14 in La Jolla. Tracie P will be there that night as well.
Do Bianchi 