Vinnie Paolizzi is a suburban Philadelphia native singer and songwriter, descending from Italian immigrants, who now lives in Nashville. For years, he hosted there “Revival“, a weekly writers round where songwriters shared songs, a place for them to rub shoulders and talk shop.
After a 2021 EP, named “Private Sky“, Vinnie Paolizi released, on November 17th, his self-titled debut album. Recorded at Hartland Studio, in East Nashville, it’s produced by Mike Harris, member of the Old Crow Medicine Show, and co-produced by Oran Thornton, who is also co-producer of The Wilder Blue’s recent and brilliant LP, “Super Natural“.
Vinnie Paolizzi loves working with other artists, and the first thing you notice about this album is the importance of the collaborations. Except “Cairo“, all songs were cowritten. Adam Hood, Nate Fredrick, Meg McRee and Ben Chapman are some of the artists who contributed to this LP, along with a lot of other talented songwriters.
The musicians did an excellent work on the album, with producer Mike Harris also on electric guitar and dobro, Jerry Pentecost (also from Old Crow Medicine Show) on drums, the talented Jimmy Rowland on keyboards and Michael Rinne as bass player.
I don’t know if this record belongs to country, rock or americana genre, most probably a bit of the three genres depending on the songs, but most important is the high quality of the music and the songwriting all along the album. There’s no bad song here.
“Left My Heart Behind“, featuring Meg McRee, is particularly outstanding. Cowritten with Nate Fredrick and Meg McRee, it’s a catchy song, very representative of the whole album and of the way that Vinnie Paolizzi collaborates with other talented songwriters to make creative and relatable songs.
“If It Would Only Rain” is another example of a great collaboration, in this case with the brilliant Adam Hood. This heartbreak song, beautifully written, is a gem!
“If It was storming
I wouldn’t have to wear his smile anymore
I could stay inside and lock the door
And keep the world away”
If It Would Only Rain
What’s amazing on this album is that most songs are positive and hopeful. “Ahead Of Me“, cowritten with Ben Danaher, and “Proud of What I Did“, cowritten with Derek Bahr and Chase McDaniel, are good examples of the kind of positive songs present on the record and of the quality of the songwriting. You can check out the acoustic videos of both songs : they’re great!
“It Ain’t Easy“, featuring Ben Chapman, who also cowrote it, is a very good song about the difficulty of the life on the road and the will of the artists to do their best.
“As Far As Goodbyes Go“, cowritten with Bryan Frazier, from Virginia, is an amazing highway song, to be listened on repeat.
“Something We Said“, cowritten with Colton Venner, from Texas, and Ryan Nelson, from Florida, is another awesome and relatable song, with beautiful lyrics, and “Johnny Was A Baptist“, cowritten with Tyler Halverson, is an amazing song based on Jesus and John the Baptist.
“Cairo“, the unique song that was not cowritten, is based on the story of a speeding ticket in Cairo, Illinois. It’s representative of the talent of Vinnie Paolizzi when it comes to great storytelling and relatable songs.
With Vinnie Paolizzi’s debut album, a brilliant LP with quality music, great production and excellent songwriting, we can appreciate, all along the record, the importance of the collaborations between artists, as a stimulating way to create beautiful and relatable songs.
Nicolas Davelu
Country Music France 