Roberto Cassani

"I have seen the future of rock 'n' roll - well actually, beautifully judged Scots-Italian songs that bring a smile to your face and a tear to your eye - and his name is Roberto Cassani" (Ronnie Gurr - Scotland's music guru);

"You gotta see this guy live. He is like nothing on Earth. Folks are just stunned, like a 19th century clown with the razor sharp poet energy of Leonard Cohen. Outstanding!" (Martin Stephenson - Indie legend);

"Roberto Cassani: Mental-brilliant!" (Chris Blanden - musician, producer and musical darling of the flowering counterculture);

"If he wasn't amongst us already, somebody would have to invent Roberto Cassani, he's such a blast of fresh air in a tired, self-regarding world." (John Davy - Music News);

"A true emerging star with side-splitting humour and clever lyrics which will see him firmly in place as a national icon" (Alan Wilson - The Courier);

"Roberto transports you to the beautiful undulating landscapes of Italiano, and then smacks you over the head with a haggis supper! A very funny man" (Nick Low - radio producer, Demus Production, BBC Janice Forsyth show)

"Roberto's songs are life-affirming in the best sense of the word. Full of joyful and witty observations of everyday humanity. I am a fan!" (Nuala Kennedy - Magically mercurial Irish flautist and songwriter);

"This guy makes you fall in love with music again." (Bruce Morton - very funny comedian and very clever man);

"A superb songwriter and a master entertainer" (The Scottish Parliament - News);

"Marvellously distinctive!" (Iain Anderson - BBC Radio Scotland);

"True to life, funny and says something different about Britain today." (Mark Coyle - Woven Wheat Whispers);

"In a sea of band and copyist singer/songwriters, it is inspiring to hear somebody with such wit and storytelling ability. Roberto encapsulates the quirky intricacies of Scottish life with a unique twist and originality" (Gordon Logan - Burnsong and Seinan Music);

"A real original and an unbelievable performer" (Orkney Today);

"Unique...Manages to weave a great tale with every single song" (RubyRuby);

"Absolutely brilliant" (Jim Tait - Shetland Times);

"Cassani Rocks!" (Rob Ellen - Medicine Music);
"Irresistible!...A real one-off!...Hoorah for Roberto Cassani!" (John Davy - Music News);

"Roberto Cassani makes people happy: he should come free on the National Health!" (Jayne Scanlan - a good friend).

"A true one off. Thankfully."
"The best Scots-Italian offering since the invention of the deep fried pizza."
"One of the nicest, funniest, most talented people called Roberto Cassani you'll ever meet."
"How come it takes an Italian to write some of the best songs you'll ever hear about everyday Scottish life?"
"Is he the baldie Italian guy?" (the last 5 quotes come from Scottish singer-songwriter Andy Tucker, the best sandal wearing song writer of all times, and the second best sandal wearing man of all times. The kind of man who lent me socks when I was bare-footed. The kind of man I'm happy to call a friend).
- various

When we heard Roberto’s music we were both fascinated and bemused. He has a distinctive Scottish Italian voice that performs with a mixture of humour and sadness over his strummed acoustic guitar. He has a conversational way of writing lyrics that had us laughing along with the music. Roberto is like the best street musician, one who has you standing around him longer than you had imagined, throwing far more money into the bucket than you intended.

This is his second release, first there was the EP we distribute and now the first album proper. The title refers to the conclusion many people draw about Italians in our country... that they must sell ice creams. Well Roberto doesn't, right! Instead he can always be found with either his guitar in hand playing or a pen writing more songs.
Roberto is one of those people observing all that is going on and writing it down in his own funny songs. Whilst never offensive, he's certainly not concerned with political correctness. His observations about how male brains work on 'It's A Randy World' will have you smiling and 'Why Does A Man Have To Work 'Till He's Knackered?' will have you nodding in agreement.
Such an artist won't appeal to everyone of course, the uptight, narrow minded will no doubt recoil. I think of Roberto Cassani as comedian with a guitar, just let his comic stories wash over you (even better with a few beers) and it all makes sense. He can touch your heartstrings on such as 'I'm In Love' but then you hear his wit on overdrive singing about spending his last one pound twenty on a vegetable samosa and you're amused once again. He makes a bloody good point too on 'We Ain't Gonna Vote For You'. At last someone says - it's not good enough, go away to politicians. That's reason enough to buy it in my book.




He's genuinely an enigma, I've never heard anyone else like him. I don't even know who or how to compare him. It's best just to give in. He'll get you in the end. Folk isn't just about guitars and May Day, it's about capturing the stories of the common people to retell down the ages. Well that's what we've got here. It's true to life, funny and says something different about Britain today, which makes it as much folk as Shirley Collins for us.

- Woven Wheat Whispers

When we heard Roberto’s music we were both fascinated and bemused. He has a distinctive Scottish Italian voice that performs with a mixture of humour and sadness over his strummed acoustic guitar. He has a conversational way of writing lyrics that had us laughing along with the music. Roberto is like the best street musician, one who has you standing around him longer than you had imagined, throwing far more money into the bucket than you intended.
Here we have an EP of six tracks that explore relationships, office Christmas parties and politics all with a cheery wink. There’s something of the clown about Roberto, the seriousness covered over with humour, the sadness of the clown with smiling makeup. He’s one of the last wandering troubadours, enlivening all of our lives a little for a few songs. You really do need to hear it, you’ll scratch your head, you’ll laugh then you will hear the caring, contemplation at the heart of his music.

- Woven Wheat Whispers

Our Rating: *********

If he wasn't amongst us already, somebody would have to invent Roberto Cassani, he's such a blast of fresh air in a tired, self-regarding world. A native of Milan who married and settled in Scotland some years back, he performs his material with raw throatiness in a voice that slides between Joe Dolce-like amusing foreign fellow and extremely idiomatic Scots English. In America, this cd would be plastered with 'parental advisory' stickers.
Recorded live in Perth at the end of last summer, Chicka Boom 'Live' has all the atmosphere of a rowdy pub gig; sometimes the guys at the back get more involved in their conversations than Roberto's rants but then he'll gather them back in and everybody will be joining in with a beery chorus of 'We ain't gonna vote for you!'. He's irresistible, really, wearing his working man's perspective on his sleeve but wrapping it in such broad good humour that you can't help but be on his side. I saw him at Belladrum Festival last year, with a marquee full of half-drunk punters grinning broadly; laughing with him, at him and at themselves for joining in. He's totally in-yer-face, but you'd have to be overly prim to be alienated by him.
Tackling the subject matter of everyday life, Roberto casts an eye over drunken women, the office party, the internet and other familiar, everyday stuff, bringing a good-humoured lairy knowingness to it all. Ferociously strumming his guitar and exploding his stream of words into the microphone ( 'Come closer!' he exhorts his audience, at the outset. 'But watch out! I spit!' ) sometimes something like a song emerges; he's more storyteller than musician, though, with a stream of gags that are difficult to catch all in one go and football crowd choruses, easily learnt and easy to join in with.
There's that many good lines, everybody will find their own favourites, but for me nothing tops:
'Money, when accumulated, will change your personality/ - And that's a bloody fact -/It turns you from working class angel/ Into a pretentious ridiculous twat!'
Subtle, sensitive and intensely musical it ain't, but Chicka Boom 'Live' has more raw fun and atmosphere than anything you're likely to have heard in a month of Sundays, so hoorah for Roberto Cassani, a real one -off.

John Davy
- Music-News