When you think about Bluegrass music, you don’t think about grand emotional and spiritual journeys that pierce your soul; yet that is exactly what Ettore Buzzini is creating with his innovative, classical-infused American bluegrass music.

To the casual listener, Ettore’s sound is simply hard-driving Bluegrass. But anyone who listens a little more closely will quickly notice that Ettore’s unique music intersects the iconic acoustic sounds of Americana, youthful energy and hard drive of pop-rock, and emotional journeys of classical romantic music. Imagine if Earl Scruggs, Led Zeppelin, and Chopin got together on stage: it might sound something like Ettore’s music.

Multi-award winning young Swiss-American songwriting and banjo prodigy Ettore has a decidedly GenAlpha take on traditional Bluegrass, rooted in tradition, but with a innovative, colorful playing style that is irresistibly distinct, and a songwriting style completely outside the mainstream. His unique, fresh style that appeals to non-bluegrass youth is a product of his roots on both sides. He was imbued with the classical tradition while living with his family in Italian-speaking Switzerland, as a toddler. At age 6, his Tennessee grandfather introduced him to Flatt & Scruggs, and he was hit by bluegrass like a lightning bolt. He begged his parents for a banjo for nearly 3 years until, at age 9, they relented. Ettore’s love for banjo expanded across the generational iterations of bluegrass. He devoured the traditional bluegrass classics, while also becoming enthralled by the power of classical music, inspired by his Swiss grandparents’ sacred choir. Ettore made a name for himself at youth competitions in the Blue Ridge Mountains with his prodigious banjo picking style as well as his mastery of flatpicking guitar. He then revealed a completely new level of artistry at just 11 years old, when he won the Kruger Brothers’ Young Songwriter’s Contest, with an original banjo and lyrical composition about the Norse mythology of Ragnarok. By age 14, he had released his first album, after being approached by legendary bluegrass record label Patuxent Records. He has performed with bluegrass legends Pete Wernick, Danny Paisley, Sideline and many others. He has performed at celebrated festivals such as Merlefest and FloydFest, PBS’s Woodsongs, and more. At age 16, competing against industry professionals, he won the prestigious Fresh Grass Competition with his original composition, “The Birth of Eros”, a banjo instrumental with a classical romantic theme of a lost soul’s hope of redemption and love.

Ettore’s star is soaring in the Folk-Americana-Bluegrass scene, where his unique, virtuosic Between his prodigious technical skill, unique lyrical themes and an infectious love of the music, he may just succeed in turning GenAlpha into GenBlue.