Originally written for the “Flamekeeper” album liner note.
June 26th, 2023
These songs have traversed the darkness of two thousand nights. Not a single day has passed without thinking of them, and I have felt broken every time I had to part from them to secure a roof over my head. I have lifted, moved, pushed, driven, collected, and delivered any cargo when strictly necessary to make ends meet and, when it wasn’t enough, my mother sent me some of her savings to ensure I could eat.
I chose to write music with unwavering devotion, neglecting everything else: I have been an absent lover, an unavailable friend, a distracted brother, a distant son.
These songs have traversed the darkness of two thousand nights, haunted by my demons: I have written them, rewritten them and abandoned them for long periods. I have hated the sound of my voice and yearned for a different one; I have believed in incurable illnesses that would never allow me to finish these nine songs or that accidents or calamities would take my life before completing them.
Yet, within me, a tender flame burns, kindled by some unknown ancestor. It awakens at the sight of a sunset, of a work of art, when I hold my family close, when I lose myself in the streets of Rome. It sings through me of the faith and strength that inhabit the heart of every creature and its voice overpowers the whispers of my demons.
These songs have traversed the darkness of two thousand nights, but I have finally brought them to the light of the day. I hope you make them yours when you need to remember that an immeasurable strength resides within you, that no one can take the pages of your story away, that you are still alive despite your deepest scars and that it is worth fighting even when all seems lost.
I hope that my singing and my guitar will accompany you in the search for the most priceless treasure: discovering who you are.
I am the Flamekeeper.
And you?
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