Lorenzo Testa

In 2007 I founded Uncle Bard & The Dirty Bastards: celtic rock spiced up with traditional Irish music, made by lads who, in one way or another, lived or spent too much time in Ireland. Too rock for the folkies and too folk for the rockies, we mix a rock backbone with uilleann pipes, tenor banjo, mandolin and Irish flute, and few bands in the folk rock scene can match our deep knowledge of Irish traditional music and Irish culture. I also run most of the band’s production, management and booking myself. In 2019 we were the first Italian band ever to play the Dublin Irish Festival in Ohio, the most important Irish music festival in the United States. We have played around 1,000 gigs worldwide, from Rock the Ring and the Toggenburg Irish Festival in Switzerland to Sjock in Belgium, Elfia in the Netherlands, Celtica and Bustofolk in Italy, sharing the stage three times with Dropkick Murphys, touring Italy with Flogging Molly, and playing with The Dubliners, De Danann, Volbeat and Frank Turner. On tin whistle, Irish flute and uilleann pipes the band has Luca Crespi, founder of Inis Fail, with us since 2013.