Photo credit: Manuel Bellone
Helpless Manuel Bellone – new single
Out 02/21/2025
Manuel Bellone has his roots in the tradition of folk and American country music, fused with a strong spirit of rock ‘n’ roll.
“I’m a folk-rock songwriter from Palermo, Sicily. Last year, me and my band played all over Europe, showcasing songs from my last two albums, “Light From The Grave” and “Split Pot“. I write and perform my own songs and I’am influenced by many artists,especially from classic folk, blues rock.
Classic, but unique: that’s what I like, and it’s also how I’d like to be seen.”
Audiences (and music critics) loved the gigs – as did the band – so now Manuel is looking forward to heading out on tour again, with the hope of making the experience even better. Manuel has played in a number of significant festivals including Live At Heart in Orebro (SWE), the Jazz & Blues Festival in Motala (SWE), the Folkest Festival (IT) and more.
With his first solo EP out in 2013 “Lost Every Night Alone”, the folk-rock singer songwriter MANUEL BELLONE, influenced by artists such as Ryan Adams Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Gram Parsons, the american traditional music and the acoustic music of the early 70s Stones and Zeppelin, inspired by Alfons Maria Mucha’s paintings and Sicily’s countryside fragrance, Manuel starts his path that will lead to the “Light From The Grave” LP, out in 2015, that will bring him to play more than 100 gigs in the clubs and theaters all around Europe, making him one of the hardest working Italian musicians abroad.
At the of 2016 it’s the turn of “You Need A Plan B To Stay Alive”, a live EP that celebrates one year and a half of touring and anticipates the return of Manuel Bellone into the recording studio for his forthcoming LP “Split Pot”.
“Split Pot” is the treasure chest containing what and where we have been during the last ten years, the people we’ve met, everything we’ve done, so whatever inspired our songs.”
That’s how Manuel Bellone and band talk about their album, out April the 18th 2017 along with the beginning of Manuel Bellone’s European Tour.
Just like the Stones’ “Exile On Main Street”, the songs where recorded during what we can consider a musical retreat in the middle of
Sicilian country side, totally DIY.
In Oct 14 2020 Manuel released a new single, “a case of an endless blue“
He says: “This song represent feelings I had during an hard year, state of emotions that cannot be expressed in spoken words.”
This new track wants to be just a little something between the long period of silence after “Split pot” and the next album, scheduled for 2021.
Manuel was born in Meran, in the northern part of Italy, straight on the border with Austria. As soon as he was twelve he moved in Palermo, in the deepest southern part of Europe, a few miles away from the African shores. While his grandparents used to listen to the American folk music, he developed a different way to intend music, starting, at fourteen, to write his own songs, highly influenced by the traditional Americana, the hammering African pace and the Gipsy music, played in the Central Europe.
During the years Manuel plays with different bands and musicians from all over Europe, sharing with them his folk features and, in return, learning a lot of new musical styles and tips. Being on stage for more than eight years with Vincent Hank ( more country influenced) and Federico Siino ( New Orleans Blues-oriented bassist), Manuel, in 2013, starts is own solo career, finding his final identity as a songwriter. His first EP “Lost every night alone” has been totally written by the sea, just with a couple of acoustic instruments, surrounded by the wild nature of Sicily. Promoting his solo album, Manuel and his band tour around Europe, writing every day new songs, influenced now by the sounds and perfumes of Poland, now by the noises and the melting pot of London, now by the bohémien atmosphere in Paris. Nine of those songs, in 2015, are included in Manuel Bellone’s Long Playing “Light from the grave”, while other tracks are still being shaped, soaking the ideas and the influences that everyday life on the road gives them.
Guitar Thrills Broadcast
After the latest release Spleen, released on 02/20/2023, singer- songwriter Manuel Bellone produced a new single: Helpless. The track is a slow-rock ballad that sounds like Tom Petty and Neil Young with bittersweet lyrics.
Singer-songwriter Manuel Bellone has his roots in the tradition of folk and American country music, fused with a strong spirit of rock 'n' roll. "I'm a folk-rock songwriter from Palermo, Sicily. Last year, me and my band played all over Europe, showcasing songs from my last two albums, "Light from The Grave" and "Split Pot". “I write and perform my own songs and influenced by many artists, especially from classic folk, blues rock. “
Classic, but unique: that's what I like, it's also how I'd like to be seen. Audiences (and music critics) loved the gigs - as did the band - so now Manuel is looking forward to heading out on tour again, with the hope of making the experience even better.
Guitar Thrills: Manuel, what makes this release stand out?
Manuel: Making music is a great job but sometimes it’s hard. After the long silence since my last release Spleen, I’ve decided to produce some new tunes, just to have fun, just for me and of course to all the folks that always supported me.
Guitar Thrills: What inspired you to write this song?
Manuel: I had, am still having, a tough time. After the last release “Spleen” I was so tired of music business nowadays, which still I am. So, I started to think: what is it all about? Is it worth it? Am I doing the right thing? And, you know, sometimes thinking can get hard and insidious, so I recognized that the only way I had to think without hurting myself was to write a song about it.
Guitar Thrills: What can listeners expect in terms of sound and themes?
Manuel: I’m starting to focus more on the idea of a band instead of the “Solo singer-songwriter”, so it feels more rock than folk. Speaking about themes, I think I’m more conscious now about what’s happening around me, around society, I’m getting deeper into reality, and it doesn’t smell too good.
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