Surfer Joe is an Italian surf instrumental band from

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

, Italy and the pseudonym of the guitarist and songwriter of the group, Lorenzo Valdambrini. Long a regularly used nickname, Valdambrini adopted the stage name officially in 2011, when he returned to Italy from living on the island of

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

and decided to go solo and break away from his previous band, Wadadli Riders. The name was also adopted by a retro American-style diner opened by Valdambrini and his brother Luca in Livorno called Surfer Joe Diner. This diner would eventually become the host location for the largest surf music festival in the world, the

Surfer Joe Summer Festival The Surfer Joe Summer Festival, also known as SJSF, is an annual music festival dedicated to surf music organized by Surfer Joe Music that is held in Livorno, Italy. The multi-day event features live performances from surf and instrumental ban ...

, which was also based upon the stage name of Valdambrini. He is also active as a specialty producer for this unique niche genre of music, and has worked on projects for Reverberati, Paul Johnson, Rev. Hank and The Bradipos IV. The band is one of the most active touring acts in modern surf music, playing upwards of one hundred plus concerts per year, and have toured extensively around the world including Japan, Mexico, Brazil, USA, Europe. The band's style is traditional surf, which harkens back to the original era of the early sixties and focuses on strong melody, fairly clean guitar tones, and spring reverb, with a rhythm section that has more in common with jazz than rock.

Legacy

Guitarists and bands who have covered Surfer Joe songs include Saguaro Pricks, Waves Of Steele, Sys Malakian, Oporto, Watang, Aloha In Hell, Surfantasmas, and The Mentawais, among many others. His music has appeared in film and television, including promotions for Bear Surfboards. And he has been interviewed for prominent books and documentary films covering surf music, such as Tim Cooley's ''Surfing About Music'', Steve Seagren's ''Reverb Junkies'', and John Blair and Tom Duncan's ''Sound Of The Surf''. His music has also been selected to be included in prominent compilation releases that document the contemporary international surf scene, including ''Brave New Surf'' (Double Crown, 2011), ''Surf You Next Tuesday'' (Otitis Media, 2021), Surf You Next Tuesday 2! The Revenge (Otitis Media, 2022) and ''Wave Walk'n: A Tribute To The Surf Raiders'' (Green Cookie, 2022).

Discography

With Wadadli Riders

* ''Surf Music Kings Of The Caribbean'' EP * ''Rev Hank Meets Wadadli Riders'' EP * ''Made In Antigua'' LP (Green Cookie, 2009)

Surfer Joe

* ''Señor Surf'' LP (Green Cookie, 2013) * ''Fenderoni Diavolo'' 7" EP (Surfer Joe Music, 2014) * ''El Sonido Cojonudo De Surfer Joe / Live In Brighton'' (Surfer Joe Music, 2015) * ''Play The Astronauts & More'' LP (Surfer Joe Music, 2016) * ''The South Swell / Go-Go Martucci'' 7" Single (Surfer Joe Music, 2016) * ''Yé-Yé: Surfer Joe Plays France Gall'' CD Single (Surfer Joe Music, 2016) * ''Swell Of Dwell'' LP (Dionysus, 2018) * ''Bits And Pieces'' CD (Surfer Joe Music, 2018) * ''Hiroshi No Subarashi Ramen / Black Sand Beach'' 7" Single (Hi-Tide, 2019) * ''World Traveler'' LP (Hi-Tide, 2021) * ''Billie Jean / Beat It'' CD Single (Surfer Joe Music, 2023)

References

{{reflist Living people Italian rock guitarists Surf musicians Year of birth missing (living people)