WILLOS'

Willos’ started in Siena (Italy) in January 2001 with a repertoire of Irish and Scottish folk music.

Over the years the band performed nearly 700 gigs in Ireland, Italy, France and Switzerland being in the lineup of some great events like All Ireland Fleadh, Folkest, FIMU festival, Celtica Valle d’Aosta, St. Patrick Ball at the Irish Embassy in Rome, Les Roches Celtiques, Triskell, Nyah Festival, Festival Air d’Irlande and many more, offering the audience their own musical style and unique sound.

In 2018 Willos’ opened the FIMU festival in Alsace, resulting as the best band with a tv interview on France3 and the congratulations of the Artistic Director of the Festival. At the end of 2019 the band’s music was chosen by Actor/Director Frank Gilhooley for his short movie on the Brexit Betrayal. In 2020, before all live music events were cancelled, the band was booked to tour in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Poland. However, by the end of 2021 the band was able to perform more than 30 in person gigs all over Italy and started some great relationships with pipers Massimo Giuntini and Martino Vacca from the band FULLSET.

In September 2021 the band started working on a new full album, produced by Massimo Giuntini, that was released in May 2022 with great international feedback. Massimo played with Loreena McKennitt, Chieftains and on Scorsese’s Gangs of New York movie. The album was released on May 16, 2022, with the title of “From Now On”. It is receiving an incredible international response (see the bottom of the page for reviews!). In June 2022 the band signed a collaboration agreement with the Canadian talent agency, Big Records and with the Irish Impact Promotions Ireland.

Prior to “From Now On”, Willos’ released three albums, also working with international artists such as violinists Liz Carroll and Athena Tergis and guitarist John Doyle.

What does Willos’ mean?
The original band name was Will o’ the Wisp. Irish folklore says that the wisps are the lights used to guide mortals to the places where the fairies danced. Some time ago, after a great review from a French journalist that named the band “les willos”, it was decided to start using this shorter and easier version of the name.

Celtic Music with a Secret Ingredient
In Italy it’s a well-known fact that every great recipe has a secret ingredient! Recently journalists and radio DJs are also applying this idea to the music Willos’ plays, defining “From Now On” as an exceptional example of Celtic music with a strong Irish and Scottish base along with hints of something indescribable, an extra flavour that gives a new rich quality to the music.

In fact, today the band is no longer playing traditional music but interprets, composes and produces a “fresh” sound and a unique style, experimenting with original compositions mixed with trad and folk.