Dipnoi are living fossils, an order of prehistoric fish that have vestiges of rudimentary lungs: during periods of drought, adapting to the environment, they take refuge in small, moist burrows and can breathe atmospheric oxygen. This is a metaphor that evokes the current music scene in Sicily: in the name of survival...

The poetics developed by Oi Dipnoi trio were born out of the meeting between tradition and innovation: one enriches the other in a constant dialogue in which the assets of the musical culture of the island are given new value. A heritage inherited from Valerio Cairone, a multi-instrumentalist who collected the melodies of the region. The protagonists of this heritage were shepherds, farmers, carters, a universe that was well explored by famous writers in Sicily at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. Thus the creation of an original repertoire in which the themes are developed and sustained by the diatonic accordion, supported by the Nakaira rhythmic section, with percussion and double bass by Mario Gulisano and Marco Carnemolla. The result is a new sound full of personality, thanks to a charming and light fusion with elements of jazz and progressive archaic folk.

The trio, formed in 2013, has already performed successfully several times following their debut at important folk festivals in Italy and Europe, such as Adriatico Mediterraneo in Ancona, Zampognarea and Musicamilo in Sicily, Nádasdy Folk festival in Sarvar and Babel Sound in Balatonlelle, Hungary in 2013. In the following year the trio toured Italy and Hungary again and recorded their first studio album in November in Hungary under the title “Bastrika”, which was released in April 2015 by NarRator Records. There are also two special guests on the record, Daniel and Vilmos Gryllus of Kaláka, the most famous and long-established folk gruoup in Hungary. Later in 2015, the trio took part in the Festival I ART, producing the show “Etnafjord” together with the Swedish female singers quartet Kraja. Afterwards they performed at the Kaláka Folk festival in Eger, Hungary, Frazzanò Folk festival in Sicily, Paesaggi Acustici in Corropoli, Italy and the Epidaurus Festival in Cavtat, Croatia. In 2015/2016, they are promoting “Bastrika”.

In April 2017 Oi Dipnoi have toured Australia for the very first time, performing, among the others, at The National Folk Festival in Canberra and Fairbridge Folk Festival in Pinjarra (Perth) with great success.

Valerio Cairone (accordion, bagpipe and vocals)
Marco Carnemolla (double bass and vocals)
Mario Gulisano (tambourine, jew's harp, cajon, dumbek and voice)