Born in a mountain village in the Peloponnese, Babis Tsertos was headed for a career as a physics teacher in Athens when the rebetiko revival of the late 1970s arrived. Inspired by the music, he learned to play bouzouki and by 1982, he had began performing in taverns in the capital.
In 1984 and ’85, he worked with another young musician inspired to play rebetiko – Babis Goles – and after his army service, Tsertos returned to the stages and worked with older rebetiko stars such as Sotiria Bellou, and younger ones like Stelios Vamvakaris.
In the early 2000s, he won awards for best rebetiko singer and album and he began collaborating with the Estoudiantina of Nea Ionia, a 30-member youth orchestra and choir that performed Smyrneika rebetiko.
Tsertos’s polished, warm voice has been featured on 14 personal albums, numerous compilation albums and on dozens of TV appearances, by himself and with other singers.
At Linardos’ tavern was written by Panagiotis Tountas. As well as singing, Tsertos plays tzoura (a small-bodied bouzouki) on the recording.
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