New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The largest island in the Mediterranean Sea is Sicily and Western Sicily is home to Nicola Conforti's "BluesTop10"
Radio show. A rather unique daily blues program that is inspired on a weekly basis by Billboard's Blues Album chart. Nicola, "NiQ" to his friends, is no stranger to the radio business and actually takes his show a step further within the production process by dividing his daily shows into five 15 minute segments which he labels as clusters. After the clusters are created they are immediately uploaded to various radio stations for airing and streaming and they are also submitted to Mix Cloud for dissemination to NiQ's private list of blues fans as well.
I was curious to learn where and when NiQ learned so much about the American blues scene and here is what he had to say to me, "I started to love the blues since I was a child. In the late '70s I listened to the blues by European radio in AM because in Italy there were still no private radio stations and the national radio broadcast only classical music and Italian and rarely a little' rock and a bit 'of "disco" music."
That question led me to ask the following: Do you recall the name of the first blues artist you enjoyed years ago?
"It was in the 70s: Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Credence Clearwater Revival. The first blues event that I followed, leaving Trapani was a memorable concert of Mr. BB King (RIP) in Turin more than 30 years ago. Then others followed both in Italy (John Mayall in Taormina and Rome;
Johnny Winter (RIP) in Udine,
Joe Bonamassa in Manchester - England and Nuremberg - Germany, and Keb 'Mo' in Amsterdam - The Netherlands."
"NiQ, Obviously your show is a major success in Italy and Sicily but I am curious about something. Being that your daily show can be accessed from a number of different resources then I would assume that you receive comments from listeners from all around the globe. What are some of the other countries that have listeners that have let you know where they are located?"
"The listener feedback that "BluesTop10" receives is remarkable both locally and internationally. In fact I actually receive a large number of contacts during the very hours in which the show airs. Many listeners, Italians, who do not have apps such as Shazam or something similar call me after the broadcast to write down the title of the tracks or the singer of the song that they heard on the program. They even confirm that this beautiful music I chose for them can only be heard during the "BluesTop10" radio show. I have also learned that the "BluesTop10" audience is not only made up of people over 40 but it includes teenagers and those in their twenties too. This is very nice. The additional feedback I receive is from abroad coming to me almost entirely through Twitter and other social media. I receive notes from all over
Europe including Spain, France, Holland, Germany and Sweden. I have also received positive feedback from Mexico and Australia and of course from the U.S. too where the blues came from. I must say that the most beautiful thing that these people tell me is related to their enthusiasm to listen to the typical melody of the Italian language mixed with the rhythm and musicality of the Blues."
What is the easiest way for blues artists to submit music to your attention for airtime consideration?
"Blues artists or their label can send a message either through our Facebook address or contact me via email at
[email protected] or https://www.facebook.com/bluestop10
How would someone sign up to receive your shows?
"It's quite easy to do. They just enter the Mixcloud site and sign up. If they become a follower then they receive an email that BluesTop10 has arrived and then they can click and access it whenever they want to listen. I also welcome comments too." www.mixcloud.com/NicolaNiQConforti/
In closing:
We always talk about the blues being universal in scope meaning that it can reach any of us no matter where we live geographically. Nicola Conforti is a living example of the blues reaching someone who not only enjoyed it enough to travel to see the greats perform but also went on with a desire in his heart to share it with the world.
