Ricky Ferranti is a talented and accomplished guitarist from Somaglia, in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy. He studied with guitar legends throughout his home country and currently teaches a new generation of players. Since the 1990’s he has been reocrding original music and winning awards. In those years the multi-instrumentalist composer worked in Rock, Blues, Folk and Classical music. As a solo artist and with his bands ‘Animalirari’ and ‘Ricky Ferranti & the Rusty Miles,” Ricky’s music has appeared on TV, movie soundtracks and his own impressive catalog of albums.
As is the case with working musicians across the globe, Ferranti’s packed schedule nearly came to a halt in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemeic. Italy was one of the first and hardest hit infection areas, and Ricky’s home region was ground zero. In February, when the comune of Codogno was locked down, the artist found himself alone at home with his guitar. So, he began writing.
“Hope” is Ricky Ferranti’s new EP of beautiful acoustic guitar instrumentals. The record is less a collection of individual pieces than a five step journey through the different waves of emotion experienced in quarantine. This unprecedented worldwide crisis has found us all exploring the entire range of human emotions, from darkness and despair to unexpected reassessments of our priorities and goals.
Recorded and arranged much as it was written, the record is a sign of our times; solitary, complicated and beautiful. Through these dark times we look to the future for something better. “Hope” is music born of the search for meaning and the faithful devotion to the possibility of a brighter day.
From the masterful melodic fingerpicking of the title track to the percussive staccato guitar rhythms and subtle overlapping embedded melodies of “Empty Streets,” Ferranti takes us on a personal yet universally relatable journey composed of almost entirely solo or duo acoustic guitar. The pieces ride on steel and nylon strings (“Arise”). They explore the possibilities of the distance (“Fly”) and the Zen of the moment (“Attimo”).
It is an instrumental album of acoustic guitar with a few touches of pad every now and then, it is a true and sincere album, practically recorded live. It has helped me to live a difficult moment and I hope it can help those who will listen to it to travel with fantasy in wonderful worlds
Ricky Ferranti
You can hear Ricky Ferranti on the Deep Indie Chill playlist, or listen to the beautiful “Hope” in its entirety on Spotify. Follow the links below to connect with the virtuoso and stay in the loop on all of his current and future projects.