Max de Bernardi

I started to play the acoustic guitar when I was twelve and a couple of years after I put together a small combo (two acoustic guitars and a snare drum!) doing Elvis songs and other rock' n roll covers playing mostly friends parties. It was in that days that I bought a vinyl double album of Rev. Gary Davis because he wrote many of the songs I was listening done by other artists and I wanted to listen the original version. That record hit like thunder! Literally changed my life and my musical vision! Never heard an acoustic guitar played that way and from then on, I discovered guitar players like Merle Travis, Doc Watson, Blind Blake that have been the biggest influences on my playing and still are!
I began playing music professionally in 1980 in the club circuit of my hometown Milan and during the years I played all the major blues festivals in Italy, Switzerland and all over Europe sharing the stage and playing with Mark Hummell, Keith Dunn, Al Copley, The Ford Blues Band, Andy Just, Mitch Woods, Sandra Hall, Oliver Morgan.
Following a year and a half stint as a guitar player for the world known harp player Sugar Blue I decided to concentrate on my own thing putting together an acoustic set of songs drawn from the repertoires of 20s and 30s bluesmen and old timers adding some new arrangements using various acoustic instruments ( banjos, ukuleles, mandolins ) and throwing in some selfwritten new songs too.
Currently I play mostly with The Red Wine Serenaders, which I've co-founded with Veronica Sbergia & Mauro Ferrarese few years ago. For more information check www.myspace.com/veronicasbergia or www.redwineserenaders.it