Piers Faccini

A soulful and expressive singer/songwriter whose music fuses folk, acoustic blues, and West African textures, Piers Faccini was born in England to Anglo-Italian parents, and moved with his family to France when he was five years old. A graduate of the prestigious King's College of Our Lady of Eton, in 1997 Faccini began making a name for himself on the London music scene with the group Charley Marlowe, which featured Faccini, spoken word artist Francesca Beard, guitarist Lucas Suarez, and percussionist Frank Byng. While Charley Marlowe earned a passionate following on London's acoustic music circuit for their unique blend of poetry and music, Faccini, who had been writing scores for British television on the side, felt constrained by their approach and left the band in 2001 to write and perform on his own. In 2004, he released his first solo album, Leave No Trace, through the French Bleu Electric label and toured extensively following its release. Faccini signed an American record deal with the Everloving Records label and played a number of shows in Europe with like-minded U.S. musicians Ben Harper and Jack Johnson. J.P. Plunier, who had produced sessions for both Harper and Johnson, signed on to produce Faccini's second full-length album, 2006's Tearing Sky, which featured backing vocals from Harper and accompaniment from several members of his band the Innocent Criminals. Two Grains of Sand arrived in 2009, followed by My Wilderness in 2011 and Between Dogs and Wolves in 2013, the latter of which arrived via his own Beating Drum label. In March 2014, Faccini released an EP, Of Dogs and Wolves, featuring four outtakes from the similarly titled album, including a duet with Jasser Haj Youssef, "Wait by the Water." When not busy with his musical career, Faccini is also a visual artist who has exhibited his paintings of landscapes and portraits.