Paolo Nutini will be performing this Saturday, September 12th, at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California. Don’t worry, I’m not having a mid-life crisis. I won’t be posting about him everyday. This is my contest entry for free tickets to the show. Wish me luck, and let me know if you’ll be there.
Click here for ticket info.

In 2006, at 19 years of age, this Scottish ex-roadie put out his debut album, These Streets, and now, at 22, has just  released his second album (on June 2nd, my birthday, grazie), Sunny Side Up.  He covers the waterfront on this album, but for me it's his soulful material. It's not easy to fill those soul shoes for someone like me who has been a die-hard Otis Redding, Van Morrison, and Marvin Gaye fan from the age of six (since 1967!). You, Paolo, have that power. And — as seen on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, performing Coming Up Easy — you have the band too! I was immediately captivated by the brown haired guy crooning into the mike while in the fetal position. No posing video star, but the genuine article. Check him out!

This boy from Paisley weaves a tapestry of styles — a sprinkle of ska, jazz, pop, and folksie traditional. It's as if he doesn't want to be pinned down. He does everything so well, so naturally, that it's hard to blame him for proving it. The song 10/10 sounds straight out of 60s ska. Even the lyrics are a dead-ringer for the lyrics of that genre. Yes.

I was in the other room when I first heard the strains of No Other Way dripping from the speakers. "WHAT is this?" I fell to my knees in reverence like I was in church. How can a white man, who's barely a man (sorry, perdonilo Paolo) sing like this??!

I really am enjoying the album. There's a light touch to everything here and I've smiled many times. He's an incredibly natural and engaging lyricist. I keep coming back to the question, "How does he write with such experience at such a young age?" Like the ability to capture such maturity in his vocal stylings, it's in his nature. To do exactly what he's doing. To make music. Heart and soul.

There are melodies that wind their way into your subconscious and pop up throughout the day, like Candy, a song that reminds me of the Irish ballads of the sea. There's a guitar riff in the opening of the song that's straight from The Beatles, Here Comes the Sun. Whether it's a conscious nod or not, it's a charming tie-in to the philosophy of "sunny side up". It's the sort of song that makes your heart well-up and think on your loved ones more tenderly. Merci Nutini.

It's undeniable, there are shades of Otis Redding, Van the Man, Bob Marley, Cat Stevens, Woody Guthrie, Johnny Cash, Rod Stewart, and even James Brown that come to mind. That's quite a brilliant range to embody. Shitake! He has music in his bones. Apparently some credit should go to his parents for having eclectic taste in music and exposing him throughout his formative years. There is a belief that you choose your parents, for whatever reason in this lifetime. To work out some past karma, to achieve something…Bravo for getting it right Paolo.

I'm not much for writing about music. I really prefer to thresh it out while I'm listening, in the moment, and then you can't shut me up: "He should've brought up the level of the baritone sax just a tad on Coming Up Easy" and "I wonder what the bass could've sounded like if Ethan Johns had used vintage strings?" I don't even know if that makes sense about the bass strings. Ha! I remember when I was playing Delta Blues guitar I used vintage strings. Even if there was no perceivable difference in the sound of the guitar, it was a state of mind. It psyched me out and transported me.

That's what Paolo's music does. It transports you, through barriers of time and geography. So many moods, so much soul, so vintage, so new…So Paolo!

I'm interested in going back and discovering his first album. 19 years old?! Sheesh. What was I doing at 19 years?