Adam Cursio and his band Siesta Cartel returned from their first tour abroad last month in Puglia, the hometown of most of the group’s families.
It was an emotional trip filled with personal discovery.
The ‘Boomerang to Puglia’ tour was a unique experience that began on August 8 and ended sixteen days later, made possible thanks to the Pugliese Federation of Australia.
It was an intense and moving journey, one that led the band members to rediscover their roots, acquainting the Italian public with the second generation of migrants to which they belong - those who were born and raised in Australia, but have never lost their ties to their parents’ homeland.
On the tour were the two Cursio brothers, Adam and David, drummer Gino Saracino, and Stefano Marcianò on percussion. During their stay in Puglia, they were joined by other artists, including Breana Stillman, an Australian soprano of German and Swedish origin. The singer lives in Rome, and performed songs such as Caruso and O Sole Mio with a modern twist, sticking with the band for the entirety of their Italian adventure.
After landing in Rome and spending a couple of days visiting the jewels of the capital, the group of musician friends travelled to the region of Puglia in a minibus; this had been organised by one of their sponsors, Ferrovie del Gargano.
“We were then contacted by Angus Minns, from the Australian Embassy in Italy, who asked us about our project and offered us his support,” said singer, Adam Cursio.
After an initial stop in Foce Varano where their hotel was located, the band performed in Carpino. In the Gargano coastal town they played two dates, August 12 and 15, as well as a collaborative show with local group Tarant Folk.
The next stop was San Marco in Lamis.
“This was perhaps the most significant and exciting stop for me, as we performed in my father Tony’s hometown. We also got to spend some time with our family members who still live there,” said Adam.
On the morning of August 14, the band was interviewed by Radio BoMa, a local radio station in San Marco in Lamis that specialises in the stories of Italians who have migrated around the world.
The group then headed to a small meet and greet organised in the town’s central square. In addition to the audience, also present were the Mayor Michele Galante and the organisers of a festival at which the band.
“We were asked a lot of questions about our history and the life of migrants in general. We all felt this strong sense of having arrived in the land of our fathers and of our families,” explained the singer.
“Especially after Covid, I find that there has been a huge global movement of people trying to reconnect with their countries of origin, with their roots.”
After the interview, the group performed in the same square later that afternoon.
“The locals said it was like an ‘aperitif’, and assured us that they had never seen so many people dancing at that time of day,” Adam recalled, smiling.
But the main event was the festival performance on the eve of Ferragosto. Siesta Cartel shared the big stage with Dargen D’Amico, a very famous singer in Italy who recently participated in the Sanremo Song Festival.
Altogether there were about 10,000 people watching. For Adam and his brother, it was a unique feeling – performing live in front of their family members who had flocked to see them.
After San Marco in Lamis, the group travelled to Corigliano d’Otranto, where they were hosted by the Marcianò family. There, they were joined by two other musicians, Vincenzo Di Girolamo and Roberto De Rosa, from Naples and Caserta respectively, who played bass and guitar with them.
After performing in a farmhouse and in the piazza, Siesta Cartel departed for their last stop, Alberobello, where they stayed in a charming masseria, with trulli dating back to the 1500s.
And it was in this last location in Puglia that one of Adam’s most important encounters took place; one that he will carry with him forever.
“We performed at a festival called ‘Trulli n’ Beer’ and played with another band called Terraross,” Cursio recounted.
Terraross’s lead singer is a man named Dominique Antoniacci. A few years ago, the band was also funded by the Region of Puglia to come and perform in Melbourne.
When they arrived in the city, Dominique sang at the San Marco in Lamis Social Club in Carlton.
“I remember that on that night, we also performed, with my father Tony, who sang a Domenico Modugno song called Vecchio Frack,” Adam recalled.
“For that particular performance my father wore a tuxedo with a top hat, and later we started talking to the Apulian group. We immediately hit it off, and at the end of the evening my father decided to give Dominique the top hat he was wearing as a present, because he wanted him to have something da vero artista to enhance his show.”
Antoniacci has worn the very same top hat gifted to him by Tony Cursio to every show he has performed in since.
Meeting with the Cursio brothers again, years later in Puglia, Dominique decided to relive the night they met by singing the song that bonded them forever: Vecchio Frack.
“I found myself singing in Puglia, my father’s homeland, with his hat on; it was a very important and emotional moment for me, a sweet memory of my father, and a nice way to celebrate the connection between our two musical groups,” Adam recalled.
Some 15,000 people attended this touching performance, all of whom were able to enjoy the musical stylings of the two groups, both separately and together.
Once the concert was over, Siesta Cartel wasted no time, and after bidding farewell to their loved ones, boarded a plane back to Australia that same night so as not to miss the Griffith Italian Festival that would see them perform a few days later.
“It was an experience I will always remember, and I sincerely hope that next year we will have the chance to repeat it,” Cursio concluded.
