Tenor Banjo, Mandolin
Lorenzo Testa
Professional banjo player, passionate about folk & traditional, especially Irish traditional music. Touring Europe and US with celtic rock band Uncle Bard & The Dirty Bastards and new trad quartet Gadan. I’ve been playing music since I was a kid, starting with guitar then falling in love with tenor banjo when in Ireland.
Been sound engineer for years; not much time left nowadays but when I’m not touring or writing new stuff, I still do productions, recording, mixing and performing as a studio session musician.
About me
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Equipment
Clareen Pearl tenor banjo, Dave Boyle custom short-scale tenor banjo, Flatiron Performer mandolin, Samuel Domeneghini custom bouzouki, Ovation MCS148 mandolin, Deering Goodtime 5-strings banjo, Martin D28 guitar, Telecaster Tenor guitar.
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Favorite Banjo Players
Enda Scahill, Angelina Carberry, Garry O’Meara, Barney McKenna, Cathal Hayden.
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Favorite mandolin players
Chris Thile, Paul Kelly, Bill Monroe.
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Three favorite bands/artists
WeBanjo3, Talisk, The East Pointers.
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Most influential artists
Christy Moore, WeBanjo3, The Pogues, Planxty, Bothy Band, Gerry O’Connor, The Dubliners, Fairport Convention, Jethro Tull, Martin Hayes.
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Best concerts so far
Dublin Irish Festival (Ohio, US) 2019, Bustofolk 2018 (Italy).
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Best concerts attended
Christy Moore in Waterford (2010), We Banjo 3 in Ravensburg (2015), Dropkick Murphys in Milan (2006), Waterboys in Milan (2015).
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Favorite places in Ireland
Dingle, Galway.
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Favorite pubs
Grogan’s in Dublin, Porterhouse in Bray (sadly no longer existing).
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Favorite drinks
Porterhouse Oyster Stout, Ardbeg whisky.
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Favorite food
Garlic cheese fries.
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Favorite writers
Patrick Kavanagh, Lev Tolstoj, Fëdor Dostoevskij, Roddy Doyle, José Saramago, Brendan Behan.
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Favorite hobbies
Enjoying life, playing music, traveling, cycling, rugby, hiking, photography but basically I love doing anything.
