[charlene]

here's the rest of the story:
with the works of the great classical

artists, and also soaking up the folk music of Naples, Sicily

and other regions of Italy.

He said one day, his father, who was an engineer, called from a business trip to Burlington and

informed the family that they would be relocating to the southern Ontario town. Cavicchioli said the move was a shock, one that left him struggling in a school where he didn't understand the language. But he also found something he loved in Canada's musicians.

"When I heard Gordon Lightfoot, it was a different sound, a sound I wasn't really familiar with," he said. "But it really was love at first sound."

It was also a comforting sound one afternoon in Tobermory. Having survived a stormy night on Georgian Bay in a boat that had lost power and drifted dangerously close to rocks, Cavicchioli and his friend stepped into a small tavern to eat.

"When we walked in, a folk singer was playing Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

"Being in safety, with the assurance of food and this national anthem playing, I nearly wept."

In September, Cavicchioli contacted Lightfoot's manager. Two months later, the two artists met and Lightfoot sat at Cavicchioli's table to be sculpted.

The result is a bust almost three times life-sized and weighing in at 350 pounds of clay, in addition to steel armature and foam filling.

Cavicchioli is pleased with his work. It is more than a replica of the singer's face, he said. "It has to feel like Gordon. It's got to have his heart and soul."

The artist certainly seems to have succeeded in that. Apart from Lightfoot's own approval, Cavicchioli said he has received praise from fans as far away as Australia.

Negotiations for the sculpture's purchase are ongoing. But wherever it ends up, Cavicchioli said he hopes to see a casting in Orillia one day.