Sitting With Gianluca

Sitting with Gianluca is writer, historian and musician Banning Eyre. Banning & Sean Barlow co-run afropop.org, the go-to music resource for any global non-western music. He’s also written books on African guitar styles and will take us on a journey through the African “guitar regions” and demonstrate the different styles from different regions on his guitar. From Detroit house music & hip-hop, old time banjo music, New Orleans rhythm & blues, rock & roll, jazz, flamenco, Mediterranean folk music and even some classical music - it all leads back to Africa. It was a real delight to have someone so knowledgeable connect the dots through the years and I’m sure it will set your mind on fire as much as it did mine.

Sitting with me is veteran traveling musician, Ray Bonneville. Ray has spent the last few decades in a van performing anywhere and everywhere. He’s also been nominated for several awards and has won a few as well. I don’t use the term “journeyman” lightly, Ray has had a long journey – from Juvenile delinquent, marine in Vietnam, bush pilot, taxi driver all before his first record. Here he performs especially for Sitting With Gianluca music podcast. Subscribe for more sit-downs at SittingWith.com

The Mini-Mekons - a scaled down version of 70s UK musical art collective The Mekons is lead by Jon Langford & Sally Timms. They join me in an apartment in New York City for a fun conversation and three exclusive performances.

Listen some exclusive, never-been-told recollections from people that worked with him on his last two records along with an audio documentary on the closing Magic Shop recording studio he recorded in. I was granted complete access to the iconic studio in its final days and the documentary also includes some David Bowie recollections as the engineers show me where he recorded and what set-up he used. Originally aired in March 2020

Sitting with Gianluca (in exile) from Radio Grenouille in Marseille is first-call harmonica player Elie Coquard. If there is a group anywhere in the Provence region that needs a harmonica - Elie will get the call. 

To celebrate psychedelic punk revivalists The Fuzztones 45th anniversary, Deb O’Nair - co-fouder and former keyboard player, takes Gianluca through a history of the band and the New York City downtown music scene of the 70s and 80s.  

Sitting with Gianluca celebrates the life of British blues guitar player Kim Simmonds leader of Savoy Brown who, along with his contemporaries Eric Clapton & Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac, turned America and the world onto blues music. Sitting with Gianluca is his former manager and producer Arnie Goodman with recollections.

If you’re a fan of Levon Helm, The Band, BB King, Bob Dylan or a myriad of other amazing American artists you won’t want to miss this sit-down with piano wizard Brian Mitchell who has been a first call ivory tickler for a few decades. 

Sitting with Gianluca celebrates iconic folk giant Dave Van Ronk, who would have been 85, together with folk singer David Massengill who toured with him for many years. Dave Van Ronk was the center for the 60s folk boom and was mentor to many fresh-faced folk-nick, including a young arrival called Bob Dylan. His knowledge and guitar arrangements of traditional music are legendary

Sitting with Gianluca is New York City acoustic blues player, recording artist, actor and author Guy Davis. After soaking up the arts as a child through his parents Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee, he has kept the family tradition alive by performing all over the world for the last four decades.

If you’re a fan of Texan songwriting icon Guy Clark, Sitting with Gianluca is Tamara Saviano, Guy’s friend, former publicist, biographer and producer of “Without Getting Killed or Caught” a documentary on the songwriter available for screening online.

"Sitting with Gianluca" will air an exclusive archive interview and radio session with late Texan songwriting legend Guy Clark. In seventies Nashville, a group of Texan songwriters that included Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle and honorary Texan Jerry Jeff Walker ushered in a grittier, road-weary type of roots music that allowed long-haired, pot-smoking hippies and the short-haired, conservative country music tribe to bond. To coincide with the release of a documentary of Guy’s life and music: “Without Getting Killed or Caught”, Gianluca airs a conversation with the songwriting legend himself with an exclusive performance of two of his songs. It serves as a good primer for the documentary’s producer Tamara Saviniano’s sit-down next week. 

Sitting with Gianluca is New Orleans funky piano player and bandleader Jon Cleary who carries the funky gumbo-ya-ya piano stylings that the Crescent City is known for. Gianluca and Jon celebrate what would have been funkmeister and musical chameleon Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s 86th birthday with some cuts and conversation about what made Watson such a singular talent.

In honor of Justin Townes Earle, who passed away a week ago I am airing one of the conversations I had with him. I was one of the first people to ever interview Justin after his first CD and the second to interview when he came out of rehab. He lived down my street and we drunk at the same bar (before he went to rehab!). Justin was a really lovely lad - genuine, friendly and straight talking. Here is our candid conversation about recovery and songwriting when he stopped by my apartment after getting out of rehab. 

Have you ever wondered how bands make it and keep their edge? Well it’s because publicists and record pluggers like 30 year veteran Dylan white who’s worked with everybody from Oasis and Joe strummer to U2 and Elton John. Behind every artists is a team of people that make the trains run on time with military precision. Dylan sits with Gianluca and gives him sneak peak behind the scenes of working with legends we’ve all heard on the radio. Expect great music including up-and-comers and a sneak peak at an un-released Joe Strummer from Joe Strummer demo

Sitting with Gianluca is Italian singer-songwriter Andrea Tarquini from his apartment in Milan. Andrea speaks good English and will run down how an American artist his hometown of Rome changed Italian songwriting and also play a couple of songs. You’ll even get to hear Gianluca say things in a thick Italian accent with those amazing rolling "R"s!

In this episode, journeyman JP Steinberg - lifelong DJ, diehard raver, NYC promoter and event producer with an up-and-coming EDM journalism dedicated to the true school underground - will takes Gianluca deep into the heart of hip hop and electronica and turns him on to the genres through its history.

Sitting with Gianluca is transgender singer songwriter Mya Byrne who will also be singing a couple of songs.

Sitting with Gianluca is queer country pioneer Karen Pittelman of Karen and the Sorrows band leader and organizer of the annual Gay City Opry.

In honor of Indigenous Peoples Day Gianluca pays tribute to First Nations musicians that formed the basis for rock and roll. Expect to be surprised who comes up.