Carlo Petracca has called the Quinte region home for close to 30 years.
He is a restaurant owner, a property manager/owner, and in his spare time a song writer.
The married father of three recently put pen to paper on a song that has been viewed more than 100,000 times on YouTube.
Petracca partnered with producer/artist Ben Pelchat, who has worked with Snoop Dogg and Boy George, among others, along with vocalist Jeff Smith for the song “I Still Believe.”
Petracca says the song is about unity, resilience, and freedom.
” It was during the pandemic, I was driving to Ottawa and it was right in the middle of the convoy. That’s when I witnessed thousands of people lining the sides of the road. That’s when the inspiration struck that this is something we should write a song about.”
As most anyone knows, the convoy, government mandates and the pandemic are all topics that are not only controversial, but can be downright divisive. Petracca says although people can be divisive, more people are looking for happiness and friendship.
“It was the government mandates that had taken its tole on people for over two years and it had come to a boiling point. Then witnessing people that were actually standing in solidarity against the mandates, it wasn’t right or left, it was people of all different stripes, different colours, all getting together, espousing the traditional classic liberal values of freedom.”
He says although people can be on different sides of issues, there is a critical need for unity among us.
“The inspiration actually struck while I was driving. You see the thousands of people along the side of the road and then John Lennon’s Imagine came on. I was listening to the lyrics of Imagine, the chorus struck me immediately. It wasn’t necessarily a contradiction of Imagine, but is was a different type of view of unity than what John Lennon was taking.”
He says it has been inspiring to see the action the song has received (112,000 views as of December 12, 2024)
You can see the music video and hear the song below
