Born in Alexandria in 1955, he started taking private piano lessons in 1961 and attended the classes of Harmony and Composition at Conservatory "A. Vivaldi" in Alexandria during his high school years. After the high school graduation he took a break from his musical studies and enrolled at the medical school at the University of Pavia, atteining a degree in Medicine and Surgery.
He approached the "folk" music in 1976 starting to play a diatonic accordion that belonged to his great-grandfather Clemente Brusasco (the instrument was built in Turin at the beginning of the twentieth century). Conducting on-the-ground ethnomusicological research in Alessandria and surrounding area first, and later in the whole of Piedmont, he made contact with accordionists of the folk tradition who contributed to the development of own instrumental technique and enriched his personal collection with a vast number of popular songs and dances.
In 1977 he was one of the founders of the Piedmontese folk band Tre Martelli, with whom he still plays today. Since then he has been working as a composer, arranger and promoter, supporting the diffusion of popular music. He is currently President of the Trata Birata Cultural Association, that produces records and books, concerts, exhibitions, conferences, seminars and various events related to popular and ethnic culture.
Thanks to the ethnomusicological knowledge acquired in over 40 years of commitment in the sector, he appeared as lecturer and speaker in workshops and conferences about Piedmontese popular culture in Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and Great Britain.