In the Basilicata region of southern Italy, high up in the mountains, lies my birthplace of the small village of Tricarico. For the first nine years of my life, my childhood, though very poor, was typically carefree. The people are hardworking and friendly. Life is uncomplicated. Every morning and evening, the people gather in the Piazza Garibaldi for espresso and chit-chat that keeps the old stories alive. You will find some of the finest food and drink there—-cheese, wine, bread, pasta, and oil—all produced by hand. The people have not lost touch with the land they intimately know, and they are among the best farmers in the world. Most of the people live and die there, but, on the rare occasions that they leave Tricarico, they always want to return to live out their last days. The old village is filled with laughter, music, and hard work. The Tricarincese people are living proof that "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine." (Proverbs 17:22a)
Proverbs 15:13a A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: Proverbs 15:15 All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
My life was filled with love, music, and mischief. Where there was music, that's where you would find me. I recall how God has kept my life safe from harm by His providential protection. My mother, after being threatened that I would be taken two days after my birth, managed to sneak out of the hospital with me at two days old, and lived as a vagabond until a year passed, and ultimately returned to her sister's house where we would find safety.
Exodus 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
When I was seven years old I found a live bomb left from the war zones in our town, and not realizing what it was, I started rolling it down a hill to bring it to an iron worker who would pay money for the iron. You know, in those days you could buy a heck of a lot with even a small amount of change in your pocket. A man named Signore Pignoli came out of nowhere and stopped me from my unknowing foolishness and told me it was a bomb. I ran! Later, the townspeople buried the bomb and detonated it. God had delivered me from a certain fate.
Psalms 9:9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Psalms 54:7a For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: Psalms 116:8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
Through bizarre and ultimately tragic circumstances, at 10 years old, I was taken from my family by the Roman Catholic Church and placed on a military plane with 59 other children headed to America. Needless to say, it was a very frightening experience for all of us. But through it all, I realized later in life that God, in all His grace, had his vision set on me.
Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Upon arriving in America I was placed in an orphanage called the Dante Home in Concordville, Pennsylvania and from there I was sent to Philadelphia for three months. That's where I received my first book. It was a coloring book and crayons of which I didn't even know how to use. And then I was sent back to Concordville, but the family who adopted me did not keep me because of the language barrier and could not communicate with me. I was then adopted by a family by the name of Virgilio from King of Prussia. I learned how to cut grass and began cutting Sally Star's (a noted children's TV show host) lawn for 50 cents a cut. I soon became weary of the mistreatment I received from Mrs. Virgilio and I ran away, living in barns and begging for food for the next month. At this point I was fourteen years old. Then, by God's mercy and kindness, after a long search by the police, and my picture being strewn all over the newspapers, I was taken in by a family in King of Prussia by the last name of Tarbutton. This finally ended my search for a loving family, having been adopted three times by my fifteenth birthday. A short time later, I enlisted in the US Marine Corps in 1963 (I was 17 years old) and eventually endured a harrowing tour of duty in VietNam. I was a machine gunner. Again, as I look back, I see how God lovingly intervened in my life, saving me from sure destruction as He strategically placed me from position to position on the battlefield, taking me out of harm's way and delivering my soul. Our loving Father has vision for us even when we are totally ignorant of the truth.
Psalms 91:5-7 5Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
At my return in 1967, I packed my bags, and a few friends from my old neighborhood left King of Prussia and headed west for California. From my earliest years, I demonstrated an unusual talent for music and voice, and I and several close friends formed a rock band called Blue Magic, a group that quickly became northern California's top rock band. In 1969, Blue Magic, along with Canned Heat and Sugarloaf, signed contracts with Liberty Records and MCA Publishing. In attendance were Harry Bellafonte and Universal president Warren Brown. The band eventually signed with the prestigious William Morris Agency at a party given in our honor in Los Angeles at the Universal Sheraton Hotel in June of that year. Through yet another set of extraordinary circumstances in 1970, my best friend, Eddie, introduced me to a Bible ministry that changed my life forever. At first I laughed, but my friend was persistent and by and by I believed and got born again. Eventually, a band called Selah was formed in 1971 by myself and my friend, Eddie Fisher. The band was somewhat of a miracle in itself. In the following years, Selah would bless thousands of people across the nation and the world with our music and sharing of God's Word…and we praised God with a melody in our hearts.
Psalms 150:1-6 1Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. 2Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. 3Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. 4Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. 5Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. 6Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
Throughout my young life, as I was enduring hardships, destitution, and distress, little did I know that I would be living out these verses set as a diamond in God's Word; and that He would allow me to live out my life living the joy of God through His Son, Jesus Christ
2 Timothy. 3:11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Psalms 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
I founded Tricarico Music Company in 1978 for the sole purpose of registering my music, with the intention of blessing God's people all over the world, for the healing of the called ones, the born-again believers, and all who will answer the call as time allows, until the return of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.
Psalms 146:2 While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
God bless you!