Paolo Nutini

Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987) is a singer/songwriter from Paisley, Scotland. His father is of Italian descent, from Barga, Tuscany and his mother is Glaswegian, although his father's family have been in Scotland for four generations^[1]. His influences include David Bowie, Damien Rice, Oasis, the Beatles, U2, Van Morrison, Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac.

Musical career

Nutini, who has no formal musical training, was expecting to follow his father into the family fish and chip shop business. He was first encouraged to sing by his music-loving grandfather and a teacher at his school who recognised his talent. He left school to work as a roadie and to sell t-shirts for Speedway and spent three years learning the music business, performing live, alone and with a band, and working as a studio hand at Glasgow's Park Lane Studio.

His big chance came when he attended a concert for David Sneddon's return to his home town of Paisley at the beginning of 2003. Sneddon was delayed, and as the winner of an impromptu pop quiz, Nutini was given the chance to perform a couple of songs on stage during the wait. The favourable reaction of the crowd impressed another member of the audience, who offered to become his manager.

Renowned Daily Record journalist, John Dingwall, saw him performing at the Queen Margaret Union, and invited him to appear live on Radio Scotland. Only 17, he moved to London, and performed regularly at the Bedford pub in Balham while still legally too young to drink alcohol himself. Other radio and live appearances followed, including two live acoustic spots on Radio London, The Hard Rock Cafe, and support slots for Amy Winehouse and KT Tunstall.

Throughout 2006 he played a number of sell-out concerts in the UK, and performed at a wide variety of venues worldwide, including King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, a TV appearance on Later with Jools Holland, Carnegie Hall in New York, The Montreux Jazz Festival, The Wireless Festival, Oxegen and T in the Park. He supported the Rolling Stones in Vienna and was invited to appear with them again at the Don Valley Stadium in August 2006. He was also booked to appear at the V Festival and The Austin City Limits Music Festival, Texas later in 2006, with a European tour in the Autumn. In May 2006, he also played at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Dundee.

On Hogmanay 2006, Paolo appeared on BBC Scotland's Hogmanay Live celebrations, after the official celebrations in Princes St. Gardens were cancelled at short notice due to abysmal weather. He performed several songs in the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle for the TV audience with little or no rehearsal.

In 2007, Nutini's music will be featured in a movie adaption of Irvine Welsh's best-selling novel Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance.

Recording history

Paolo Nutini was signed to Atlantic Records in May 2005, shortly after his 18th birthday. He released his first single "These Streets" as a free download in May 2006, this was then followed by "Last Request" which was released on 4 July 2006 and charted at #5 in the official UK charts. In the video for "Last Request", Nutini plays the part of a robber - though this is not revealed until the end. Nutini's second single, "Jenny Don't Be Hasty", was released on 25 September 2006 and got to #20 on the UK Singles Chart. "Rewind" was Nutini's third single. It was released on 4 December 2006, and reached #27 in the UK.

His debut album These Streets, produced by Ken Nelson (Coldplay/Gomez), was released on 17 July 2006 and immediately entered the UK album charts at #3. Many of the songs on the album, including "Last Request" and "Rewind", were inspired by a turbulent relationship with his current girlfriend,Teri Brogan, and "Jenny Don't Be Hasty" is a true story about encounters with an older woman.

Nutini has been confirmed as one of the artists taking part in the Live Earth concerts on July 7th 2007.

Discography

Albums

These Streets - 17th July 2006 (Atlantic) UK #3 U.S. #48

Singles

Year	Single	UK	US	Album
2006	"Last Request"	5	-	These Streets
2006	"Jenny Don't Be Hasty"	20	-	These Streets
2006	"Rewind"	27	-	These Streets
2007	"New Shoes"	21	111	These Streets

References

^ "Bonnaroo 2007 Artists". Bonnaroo.com. Retrieved 2007-03-27.

External links

[1] "Bonnaroo 2007 Artists". Bonnaroo.com. Retrieved 2007-03-27.

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