Mario "Red Mount" Monterosso

...Hello cats!!!...It all began with a London radio programme presented by a guy called Roy Williams...It was 1983, I was about eleven, I had a big quiff and was mad about rock'n'roll & rockabilly music. I learned to play guitar when I was thirteen and formed my first group about two years later, "THE RHINO ROCKERS"; we played R'n'R (Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry and stuff like that..) touring sicilian pubs and we played in some of the most important R'n'R national music festivals wich took place every year in Forlì...it was in 1989..we recorded a 45' "Rock'n'Roll" and an EP' wich contained three tracks written by myself, cited in "NOW DIG THIS" magazine. After that I was a guitarist for a country-singer "APPALOOSA VICTOR" with whom we toured the american NATO bases in Sicily. I began listening to Blues in 1989 when my friend Albert gave me two LP's: "Soul to Soul" by Stevie Ray Vaughan and another "Show Down" where Albert Collis, Johnny Copeland and Robert Cray played together. I was immediately struk by this fascinating kind of music, from a guitarist's point of view, from the on I started buying LP's and CD's about artists wich were at that time unknown to me., learning to appreciate the slow blues of Eric Clapton, the strong guitar style of Johnny Winter and the power of the simplicity of Muddy Water's blues. In 1996, formed my first blues band, "THE HOT ROAD BAND", with whom, the following year, I produced a CD wich had five traks, one of that was included in the compilation "mokambo live" in collaboration with Heineken in connection with a festival organized in Siracusa in summer 1997. In july 1998 I had the pleasure of playing at PISTOIA BLUES FESTIVAL, supporting my favourite sicilian blues band of thet time, "ADEL's", leaded by my friend and gret guitarist Diego Geraci. At the beginning of 1999 the RED MOUNT projet was born....Yeah!....at first It was a traditional rock-blues trio. We played a lot around Sicily in many clubs over two years and then I decided to add a piano and a sax to the band...another two years full of concerts around Sicily.... ....But I needed to change something in my life...so in 2003 I decided to leave behind Sicily for going to Rome...and somethig It happened!!!!!! In 2004 I played with my friend CARMEN CONSOLI in e very special tour, "MOON DOGS PARTY - CARMEN IN BLACK", where Carmen performed traditional blues and psychedelic too....from Bassie Smith to Janis Joplin, way all throught Aretha Franklin, Tina turner, Jefferson Airplane...great experience!! In the last years I worked as guitarist and co-arranger in a projet of a singer and songwriter "KEYRTH SAND".....the CD will be out soon....... Now I play in a band "PINKKROSS" with whom we play a tribute to Shakin Pyramids (an Irish rockabilly band of 80's), but most of all I need to play blues everyday...an so with my friends Puccio Panettieri on drum and Patrizio Sacco on bass, the RED MOUNT blues trio is ready to go once again....... ...so as someone (we all know) said: "let's get it on"...and as I am used to say......let's GET THE BLUES...and so on!!!!!...