Today we’d like to introduce you to Luca Stricagnoli.
Hi Luca, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started playing guitar when I was ten years old at a small music school in Italy. I later continued my studies at the Conservatory of Music, until I eventually decided to quit playing guitar and pursue martial arts competitively, specifically judo.
A major turning point came when I was 19 and a friend showed me a video of fingerstyle guitar. Until then, my experience with the guitar had been mainly classical, but fingerstyle opened up a completely different world to me. I was fascinated by the possibilities it offered, and I felt like I had finally discovered what really attracted me about guitar playing.
I picked up the instrument again and began teaching myself fingerstyle through YouTube videos, while also uploading videos of my own performances online. My videos started gaining a lot of attention and reaching millions of views, which eventually opened the door to a professional concert career.
Nowadays, my job mostly consists of traveling around the world and playing concerts, which is something I feel very fortunate to be able to do. Together with my wife Meg Pfeiffer, an incredible singer-songwriter, we have our own music label called Muca Label. A few years ago, Meg and I moved to Nashville, and we really enjoy being part of the beautiful music community here and calling Nashville home.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road has always presented plenty of challenges, and it still does today. One of the first was simply finding opportunities to perform. Before my videos started gaining significant attention online, it was very difficult to convince anyone to let me play live, and when opportunities did come along, the fees were usually very small.
I had to work my way up gradually, starting with smaller concerts and modest fees and slowly increasing them as my online audience grew. Eventually, I was fortunate enough to find good agents in different parts of the world and reach a point where I could make a living entirely from music.
Another challenge is learning how to navigate the music business itself. Unfortunately, it is an industry where you sometimes encounter people who make empty promises, offer questionable contracts, or try to take advantage of artists who may not yet understand the business side of their career. Learning who to trust and how to protect yourself is definitely part of the journey.
So I would say that building a career in music is absolutely not easy, and the challenges never completely disappear. At the same time, I feel incredibly grateful that I have been able to make music my full-time profession and build a life around what I love doing.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a fingerstyle guitarist, and I play instrumental music. I perform my shows on my own, without a band. I love showcasing my strange guitars and playing techniques with a touch of comedy.
A big part of what has given me visibility online has been my arrangements of well-known songs. I like taking familiar music and reinterpreting it in my own way, sometimes playing all the different parts on a single guitar and sometimes using multiple guitars at the same time.
Over the years, I’ve also come up with several unusual guitar designs, some of which are quite striking visually. My friend Davide Serracini in Italy builds all of my guitars. The best known is probably the Reverse Triple Neck Guitar, which, as the name suggests, has three necks. These custom-made instruments have gradually become an important part of both my music and my live performances.
So, if I had to describe what I do in a slightly less serious way, I would probably just call it “guitar weirdness.”
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Once I discovered the guitar as a kid, I was completely fascinated by it, and making music has really been my dream ever since. Even back then, I was often happier spending hours by myself playing guitar than going out and hanging out with friends. Sometimes I would even sleep with the guitar next to me in bed.
At some point, though, I stopped believing that it could realistically become a career. Together with some difficulties I was going through in my life at the time, that led me to quit playing and pursue something else.
Looking back, I still find it crazy that I didn’t play guitar for three entire years and came so close to quitting completely. I’m very glad that I eventually found my way back to the guitar and decided to keep pursuing that original dream.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lucastricagnoli.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucastricagnoli/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lucastricagnolifanpage
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LucaStricagnoli
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@lucastricagnoli
