Frank Moyo wants you to know about the good that can come out of heartbreak. The 29-year-old singer songwriter from Toronto is recently back from performing in Ottawa, Montreal and New York City. Having built up a solid fan base on social media, the guitarist’s live performance felt like a trip home.
If the goal of the songwriter is to tell a story that translates what the artist is feeling, Moyo delivers. On stage in Ottawa, Moyo began his show talking about his Calabrese Nonna and how she taught him how to crochet his signature colourful tuques. The multigenerational audience was instantly endeared to this champion for classic romantic songs. And when he FaceTimed Nonna Rita in the middle of the concert so that the audience could say hello, that put the room over top.
As a young boy, the radio at home was a constant presence, surrounding Moyo with music by classic artists such as Luigi Tenco, Nicola Di Bari and Lucio Dalla. These older cantatori, as Moyo describes them, hugely influenced his passion for music. At 11 years old, he asked his father if he could buy a guitar and he has been singing and writing songs ever since.
Having always felt a connection to his italianità, in early 2021 Moyo began releasing covers of classic Italian songs such as Felicità, La Prima Cosa Bella and Rose Rosse. The Italian community in Toronto took notice and embraced the familiar songs in a new voice.
When asked about his creative process, Moyo reflected on how his attitude toward Italian song writing has evolved.
“I originally thought that singing in Italian might be considered a bit taboo on the North American music scene. And then I had a sort of epiphany and realized that this is the music that I grew up on and it has had such a significant impact on my musicality. So why not sing in Italian?”
Fast forward to today and Moyo’s discography features original songs written in both Italian and English, including Bedside Love Song with over 100,000 listens on Spotify.
As a graduate of Italian studies from Toronto University, Moyo is the real deal. For his italocanadesi fans, songs like OK Dolce represent the best of both worlds, with the presence of Italian words in a mainly English song, adding dimensionality to the lyrics.
Moyo credits his fans with keeping his spirits up in an industry that can sometimes be tough on new artists. Most recently, his dedicated fans used social media to voice disappointment with Italy’s Sanremo Music Festival and their consideration of Insieme. The single represents a rare find by a North American artist: Italian lyrics that remind us of a classic love song while at the same time entirely relevant in present day. And yet, after submitting the song to Sanremo Giovani, Insieme was not selected as a finalist for the famous music contest.
”In Italy, the music industry is going in an American direction. You see this in the style of music that resonates, whether that’s American rap or pop culture music. They seem to be using American culture as a proxy to make themselves more relevant in the world,” Moyo observes.
Looking to the future, Moyo plans to release new music in 2023 in both Italian and English. As an elementary school music teacher by day, Moyo also dreams of publishing a children’s book based on his song Autobus #2.
To learn more about Frank Moyo, please visit www.frankmoyo.com.
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