Rafe Stefanini is an old-time banjo player, fiddler, guitarist, singer, teacher, violin maker, and restorer. He was born in

San Benedetto Val di Sambro San Benedetto Val di Sambro ( Medial Mountain Bolognese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Bologna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southwest of Bologna. The Italicus Express bombing and the Train 904 ...

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

, northern Italy and grew up in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

. He first visited the United States in 1975, and came to live in the U.S. in 1983. He became a U.S. citizen, and lived for many years in

Elkins Park Elkins Park is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is split between Cheltenham and Abington Townships in the northern suburbs outside of Philadelphia, which it borders along Cheltenham Avenue roughly from Ce ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, a suburb of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, before relocating to

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, a neighborhood of

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, in July 2021. In addition to playing music, he is also trained in violin making and restores violins. He has performed with the Wildcats (along with

Carol Elizabeth Jones Carol may refer to: People with the name * Carol (given name) *Henri Carol (1910–1984), French composer and organist * Martine Carol (1920–1967), French film actress * Sue Carol (1906–1982), American actress and talent agent, wife of actor ...

and Stefan Senders. Along with

Dirk Powell Dirk Powell (born 1969) is an American fiddler, banjo player, and singer. Powell was born in Oberlin, Ohio into a family with deep Kentucky roots. He has lived in Louisiana since 1992. He is considered one of the world's leading experts on traditio ...

and

Bruce Molsky Bruce C. Molsky (born 1955, New York City) is an American fiddler, banjo player, guitarist, and singer. He primarily performs old-time music of the Appalachian region. Early years As a young man, Molsky first became interested in blues music, but ...

he has performed with a trio called the L-7s. He has also performed with Molsky and guitarist Beverly Smith in a group called Big Hoedown, a group that disbanded in 2000. Along with

Meredith McIntosh Meredith is a Welsh Brittonic family name, and is also sometimes used as a girl's or boy's forename. The Welsh form is "Maredudd". People * Meredith (given name) * Meredith (surname) Places Australia * Meredith, Victoria United States * Meredit ...

John Hermann John "JoJo" Hermann is an American singer, musician and songwriter, best known for his involvement in the band Widespread Panic. Early life He was born in New York City and attended Collegiate School, where he was a classmate of actor Billy W ...

, and Bev Smith, he has performed in the Rockinghams. He has also recorded with Bob Herring. He performs with his wife Nikki Lee (who plays guitar) and daughter Clelia (who plays fiddle, guitar, double bass, and ukulele) as "Nine Pound Hammer." Together, the three make up the Stefanini Family Band. He has recorded for the

Rounder Rounder(s) or The Rounder(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''The Rounders'' (1914 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounder'' (1930 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounders'' (1965 film), a western comedy * ''Rounders'' (film), a 1998 poker f ...

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, Marimac, Heritage, Yodel-ay-hee, 5-String Productions, and World Music Network labels. Stefanini has performed on ''

A Prairie Home Companion ''A Prairie Home Companion'' is a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...

'' and at the

Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention The Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention is a popular festival devoted to old-time and bluegrass music, as well as related arts such as dance, which takes place each summer at Veterans Memorial Park in Mount Airy, North Carolina, United States. It was ...

. He has performed throughout the United States as well as in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, and

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

. His brothers Gianni and Bruno also play old-time music and the three performed in The Moonshine Brothers, which formed in the late 1970s and remained together until Stefanini moved to the U.S. in 1983.

Discography

As leader

*1999 - ''Hell and Scissors'' (County) *2001 - ''Glory on the Big String'' (County) *2006 - ''Bluegrass Meadows'' (5-String) *2006 - ''Ladies Fancy'' (County)

With Bob Herring

*1995 - ''Old Paint'' (Yodel-ay-hee) *2004 - ''Fresh Coat'' (5-String)

With Bruce Molsky & Big Hoedown

*1997 - ''Bruce Molsky & Big Hoedown'' (Rounder)

With Clelia Stefanini

*2009 - ''Never Seen the Like...''

With The Wildcats

*''Old Time Music'' ( Marimac) *''On Our Knees'' (Yodel-ay-hee)

Compilations

*''Galax International'' (Heritage) *''5th Annual Galax Fiddlers Convention 1985'' (Heritage) *2002 - ''Rough Guide to the Music of the Appalachians'' (World Music Network) *2003 - ''The Art Of Old-Time Mountain Music'' (Rounder)

Other

*''The Rockinghams'' (Yodel-ay-hee) *''Shout Lulu'' (with The Rockinghams) *''Old Time Friends'' (with Ray Alden and others) (Marimac) *''The Young Fogies'' (Heritage) *''Mike Seeger's 3rd Annual Farewell Reunion'' (with Mike Seeger and others; 1995 Grammy nominee) (Rounder) *''A Tribute to the Appalachian String Band Music Festival'' (with The L7s) (Chubby Dragon) *''The Marimac Anthology'' (Rounder) *''Young Fogies Vol. 2'' (with The L7s) (Rounder) *''Red Prairie Dawn'' (with Gary Harrison & The Mule Team) (Gary Harrison) *''The Immigrant Band (with John Doyle, Eamon O'Leary, John Herrman, and Clelia Stefanini

References

External links

Official siteMySpace page
* Allmusic entrybr>Rafe & Clelia Stefanini MySpace page

Videos

Video documentary from the Pennsylvania Cable Network
(August 30, 2015) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stefanini, Rafe Banjoists Appalachian old-time fiddlers Italian musical instrument makers Italian guitarists Italian male guitarists Italian male singers Living people Musicians from Bologna Old-time musicians Musicians from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania 1950s births Italian emigrants to the United States Singers from Nashville, Tennessee People from the Province of Bologna