Piers Faccini

Last updated

Piers Faccini
Piersfaccini.jpg
Piers Faccini performing in 2006.
Background information
Born28 April 1970 (age 5354)
OriginLondon, England
Genres World music, Folk music
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Years active1996present
LabelsBeating Drum, Bleu Electric, Everloving Records, Tôt ou tard, Six Degrees Records

Piers Damian G. Faccini (born 1970) is an English singer, painter, and songwriter.

Contents

Biography

Piers Faccini was born in London, England to an Italian father and an English mother. His family moved to France when he was five years old. [1] His brother is the writer Ben Faccini.

Faccini first appeared on the music scene in London in 1997, co-founding Charley Marlowe with performance poet Francesca Beard, percussionist Frank Byng and guitarist Luc Suarez; the band split in 2001 when Faccini decided to pursue a solo career. His first solo album Leave no Trace was released in 2004 by French Independent label Label Bleu. [2] His second album was released by Los Angeles label Everloving Records in 2006; Tearing Sky was produced by JP Plunier, and featured Ben Harper, who Faccini would tour with between 2006 and 2008. [3] His third album released by the French independent record label Tot ou Tard in 2009 was co-produced by Faccini and Renaud Letang. His fourth album, My Wilderness, was released in late 2011 on Six Degrees Records in USA and Tot ou Tard in Europe. His fifth album, Between Dogs and Wolves (2013) and sixth album, I Dreamed an Island (2016) were released on his own label Beating Drum. [4]

Faccini has collaborated over the years with many musicians and singers including Rokia Traore, Busi Mhlongo, Ben Harper, Ballake Sissoko, Vincent Segal, Camille, Francesca Beard, Patrick Watson, Dawn Landes and Ibrahim Maalouf amongst others. [5] In March 2011, Faccini contributed to the Patagonia Music Collective, contributing to the UK-based Environmental Justice Foundation. [6]

Faccini has also produced several albums for other artists, most notably Ela by Brazilian cellist and singer Dom La Nena, [7] Northern Folk by Jenny Lysander [8] and Terre de Mon Poeme by Yelli Yelli. [9] Faccini is also a poet and children's author, publishing his first book of poetry No One's Here in 2016 and a children's book/cd La Plus Belle des Berceuses which he also illustrated in 2017, published by the French publisher, Actes Sud. [10]

In 2009, his album, Two Grains Of Sand, was nominated for the French independent music award, Le Prix Constantin [11] and voted album of the year by the listeners of French national radio, France Inter. His album with the cellist Vincent Segal Songs of Time Lost was in NPR's top ten world music albums of 2014 [12] and in Songlines top 10 albums of 2014 [13] as well as in their Greatest World Music Albums of the last five years.[ citation needed ]

His seventh studio album Shapes Of The Fall was released 2 April 2021. [14] The 13 tracks were co-produced by Piers Faccini and Fred Soulard. [15]

Discography [16]

List of studio albums, with year released and chart positions
TitleYearPeak chart positions
BEL
Heat

[17]
FRA
[18]
This Could Be You (with Charley Marlowe)2000
Leave No Trace2004
The Streets of London EP2005
Tearing Sky200686
Two Grains of Sand200982
My Wilderness2011147
Between Dogs and Wolves2013112
Songs of Time Lost2014126
Desert Songs EP (with Dawn Landes)2016
I Dreamed an Island129
Shapes Of The Fall2021

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yo-Yo Ma</span> American cellist (born 1955)

Yo-Yo Ma is a French-American cellist. Born to Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, Ma moved with his family to Boston and later to New York City, where he continued his cello studies at the Juilliard School before pursuing a liberal arts education at Harvard University. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world. He has recorded more than 92 albums and received 19 Grammy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Harper</span> American musician (born 1969)

Benjamin Charles Harper is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music, and he is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances, and activism. He has released twelve studio albums, mostly through Virgin Records, and has toured internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nena</span> German singer (born 1960)

Gabriele Susanne Kerner, better known by her stage name Nena, is a German singer who rose to international fame in 1983 as the lead vocalist of the band Nena with the Neue Deutsche Welle song "99 Luftballons". In that same year, the band re-recorded this song in English as "99 Red Balloons". Nena's re-recording of some of the band's old hit songs as a solo artist, produced by the co-composer of most of them, her former Nena band colleague and keyboard player Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, rekindled her solo career in 2002. Combined with the success of the Nena band years, she has sold over 25 million records, making her the most successful German pop singer in chart history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Have a Cigar</span> 1975 single by Pink Floyd featuring Roy Harper

"Have a Cigar" is the third track on Pink Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here. It follows "Welcome to the Machine" and on the original LP opened side two. In some markets, the song was issued as a single. English folk-rock singer Roy Harper provided lead vocals on the song. It is one of only three Pink Floyd recordings with a guest singer on lead vocals, the others being "The Great Gig in the Sky" (1973) with Clare Torry and "Hey Hey Rise Up" (2022) with Andriy Khlyvnyuk. The song, written by Waters, is his critique of the rampant greed and cynicism so prevalent in the management of rock groups of that era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Watt</span> British musician (born 1962)

Benjamin Brian Thomas Watt is a British musician, singer, songwriter, author, DJ, and radio presenter, best known as a member of the duo Everything but the Girl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catrin Finch</span> Welsh harpist

Catrin Ana Finch is a Welsh harpist, arranger and composer. She was the Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales from 2000 to 2004 and is visiting professor at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the Royal Academy of Music in London. Finch has given recitals at venues throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Six Degrees Records</span> American independent record label

Six Degrees Records is an independent record label noted for its catalog of recordings from international musicians and vocalists.

Tôt ou Tard is an independent French record label. It was founded in 1996 as a break-off from Warner Music Group, and turned independent in 2002. The name of the label can be translated as "Sooner or later" in French. Vincent Frèrebeau heads the label, which has about thirty bands and artists signed to it. In 2011, Wagram Music acquired a stake in the label and became its exclusive distributor. In September 2018, Wagram Music sold a 49% stake in Tôt ou Tard to Believe Digital.

<i>Songlines</i> (magazine) British music magazine

Songlines is a British magazine launched in 1999 that covers music from traditional and popular to contemporary and fusion, featuring artists from around the globe.

The Prix Constantin is an annual French music prize awarded to the best album of an artist who has come to prominence during the course of the past year. It was inaugurated in 2002, following the example of the Mercury Music Prize, as an attempt to bring to light artists who have not had major media coverage. It is therefore open to individuals or groups who have not yet had a gold album, with the exception of the nominated album. Its basic purpose is to help newer artists who are not very popular to gain publicity. All albums produced in France in the past year are admissible, without restriction on the nationality or language of expression of the artist. The winner is decided by a jury, headed by a musician, which contains representatives from the press, radio, television and record stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Westbeech</span> British DJ and record producer

Ben Westbeech, also known as Breach, is a British DJ and record producer originating from Hertfordshire who spent his formative musical years in Bristol. Trained as cellist and vocalist, his influences include house, soul, jazz and hip hop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballaké Sissoko</span> Malian player of the kora (born 1968)

Ballaké Sissoko is a Malian player of the kora. He has worked with Toumani Diabaté and Taj Mahal, and is a member of the group 3MA with Driss El Maloumi and Rajery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben l'Oncle Soul</span> Musical artist

Benjamin Duterde, better known by his stage name Ben l'Oncle Soul, is a French soul singer and songwriter. He has released four studio albums, the self-titled debut Ben l'Oncle Soul in 2010, À coup de rêves in 2014, Under My Skin in 2016, and Addicted to You in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincent Ségal</span> French cellist and bassist

Vincent Ségal is a French cellist and bassist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dom La Nena</span> Musical artist

Dominique Pereira Pinto, known by her stage name Dom La Nena, is a Brazilian cellist, singer and songwriter. Her debut album, Ela, was released in January 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guy Buttery</span> South African musician

Guy Buttery is a South African musician primarily known as a guitar player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monsieur Doumani</span> Music band from Cyprus

Monsieur Doumani is a three-piece Cypriot band formed in Nicosia in 2011, winner of the "Best Group" award in the Songlines Music Awards 2019. Monsieur Doumani have performed in major festivals and venues in Europe, including WOMEX, WOMAD Charlton Park, Konzerthaus Vienna, Rudolstadt-Festival, Havana World Music Festival etc.

Label Bleu is a French jazz record label founded by Michel Orier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Blake (musician)</span> Canadian musician (born 1964)

Michael Blake is a Canadian-American saxophonist, composer and arranger. Blake is based in New York City where he has led a robust career leading his own bands. As a sideman Michael has performed with Charlie Hunter, The Lounge Lizards, Steven Bernstein, Ben Allison and Ray LaMontagne. The New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff wrote,"Mr. Blake, on tenor especially, is an endlessly engaging improviser, and an inquisitive one".

<i>Wide Open Light</i> 2023 studio album by Ben Harper

Wide Open Light is the seventeenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Ben Harper, released on June 2, 2023, through Chrysalis Records. It was preceded by the lead single "Yard Sale" featuring Jack Johnson. Harper will tour Europe and North America from July 2023.

References

  1. "Piers Faccini | Biography, Albums, Streaming Links". AllMusic . Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  2. "Biography". Rownload.com. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  3. by (6 September 2007). "Piers Faccini Hits The Road with Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals". ALARM. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  4. "Piers Faccini". Discogs. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  5. "Piers Faccini Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  6. "Buy a Song, Benefit the Environment: Introducing Patagonia Music and the Patagonia Music Collective - Patagonia". www.patagonia.com. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  7. "France Rocks | Dom La Nena" . Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  8. Drum, Beating. "Beating Drum". Tumblr. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  9. Jahn, Anne-Sophie (28 March 2016). "Le fantasme kabyle de Yelli Yelli". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  10. "Piers Faccini | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  11. Various - Prix Constantin 2009 , retrieved 16 July 2022
  12. Tsioulcas, Anastasia (13 December 2014). "Best Global Music Of 2014". NPR. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  13. "Songlines Magazine (Jan/Feb 2015, #105) by Songlines Magazine - Issuu". issuu.com. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  14. "StackPath". www.folkradio.co.uk. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  15. "Shapes Of The Fall by Piers Faccini". Bandcamp. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  16. "Piers Faccini". Discogs. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  17. "Piers Faccini – My Wilderness" (in French). Ultratop Wallonia. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  18. "Discographie Piers Faccini" (in French). Hung Medien French Charts Portal. Retrieved 8 November 2018.