Fredu Abela ż-Żejtuni
Fredu Abela ż-Żejtuni
is a known and respected folksinger from Żejtun, born on the 16th October 1940. He started folk singing in 1958, quite by coincidence.
It was on the eve of a general strike in April, when Abela, together with some friends who folk-sung, including Karmena Caruana tal-Butna and Ċikku Iz-Zanin went to St Thomas Bay, to while the evening away, knowing that the next day the country would be at a standstill.
He claims that għana is a gift from God, and is a talent that one is born with it within his spirit.
His favourite folksinger is Pawlu Seychell l-Għannej, with whom he has sung a cadence, that has now become part of folk legend, at the Pandora Theatre in Żejtun together with Mikiel Abela l-Bambinu and Żaren Mangion Il-Folfol.
Abela has sung in many venues in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, on the five times he has visited Australia over a span of thirty years.