Biography

Alfio Antico is considered worldwide as the master of frame drums. Born in a Sicily’s remote country village, Alfio lived as a shepherd until the age of 18 surrounded by pastoral life, in deep nature connection, absorbing from his grandmother local tales, myths and a rich cultural baggage of traditions. The voice of the wind, the animals’ sounds, the tales of the ancestors, in a land of more than thousand of years of history, with deep ties with the ancient Greece. But Alfio is not only the keeper of this tradition and in the 70s he became a professional musician, and with over 40 years of career where he performed worldwide, his instruments gave his signature sound to many Italian singers/songwriters’ hits. He also worked with Fabrizio De Andrè, Lucio Dalla, Vinicio Capossela and others. All his instruments are handmade and decorated by himself: from the skin to the frames and cymbals. His rhythms lie in the complete control of the instrument, from the skin to the resonating buzzes of cymbals, and the drawing of melodic patterns. The dialect, the phonemes, the sounds of animals, all mixing in connection with nature and its ecologist message. Alfio Antico is active both live and in studio performing in jazz festivals, world music, electronic events like Berlin Atonal, and theatres . His new album “Trema La Terra” is going to be released in March 2020 and it featurea electronic and electric instruments, everything at the service of his music and poetry.