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Nick Pagliari’s
got the twang of
Nashville in his
voice and the
spirit of
Memphis in his
soul. It’s a
combination that
makes his songs
indelible
snapshots of
life — ringing
portraits of
love, ambition,
dreams,
connections, and
the rest of what
matters.
And for
Pagliari, what
matters most is
reaching people.
“If there’s
something in one
of my songs that
makes somebody
feel like it’s
about their life
or an experience
they’ve had,
then I’ve done
my job,” he
says.
He’s done his
job brilliantly
on Please
and Thank You,
his second
full-length CD.
It follows
2007’s EP
Safe and Sound,
whose title
track was
featured in the
Hilary Swank
movie P.S. I
Love You,
and that same
year’s The
Sail
album.
Please and Thank
You
broadens
Pagliari’s
musical reach
while displaying
the storytelling
prowess and the
warm, personable
vocal style
that’s always
been at the
heart of this
young
singer-songwriter’s
art.
“This is a
people album,”
Pagliari
explains. “It’s
about my life,
the lives of my
friends and the
characters I’ve
developed to
tell different
stories about
struggle and
romance and
desire and
change.”
Change is
especially
important. It’s
a recurring
theme, in tunes
like “Leave It
Alone,” which
explores the
seismic shifts
of maturity, and
“Highway Stays
the Same,” about
emotional
growth.
Please and Thank
You
also marks a
change in
Pagliari’s
sound. It’s the
first full
distillation of
all of his
influences,
balancing the
hook-powered
melodicism of
’80s rock with
the groove
driven legacy of
his native
Memphis and the
alt-country
sound minted by
groups like
Uncle Tupelo,
Wilco, Son Volt
and the Old
97’s. The sound
of the Civil War
tale, “The Union
Infantry,”
reaches back
even further, to
the heyday of
The Band.
Although
Pagliari learned
to play his
acoustic guitar
in backyard
bands with his
friends in
Memphis, it
wasn’t until he
moved back to
that river port
on the banks of
the Mississippi
last year that
he began to
fully appreciate
its musical
history.
“I went to the
Stax Museum for
the first time,
and I was really
blown away,” he
says. “I was
already
experimenting
with horns, and
the depth and
the legacy of
the great soul
music that came
from there, and
the pop groups
like Big Star
and the Box
Tops, really
convinced me to
include them
even more. There
are also
keyboards on
this album:
piano and
accordion.” And
then there’s the
boisterous
grooves rippling
through numbers
like “Do What
You Love,”
“Leave It Alone”
and a passel
more.
“All the great
bands that came
out of Memphis
played deep in
the pocket, so
me and my band
took that to
heart when we
made
Please and Thank
You,” he
says. “Having a
great beat that
we all locked
around really
gave the
melodies and
stories in the
songs a strong
backbone.
“The other thing
I can hear,
mostly in my
voice and in
some of the
guitar playing
on the album, is
the sound of
Nashville,”
Pagliari says.
He moved there
in 2002 to plant
roots as an
artist, and they
took hold during
his five-year
stay. He was
voted Best
Unsigned
Songwriter in
the Nashville
Scene’s Readers
Poll in 2003,
and his band
Fairfax had a
song on the high
profile
This is
Americana:
Volume One
compilation
alongside such
notables as
Willie Nelson
and Lucinda
Williams. He
also released
his debut solo
recording, the
EP Long
Gone, in
2005 and signed
with Highland
Music Publishing
in 2006.
“Everywhere you
look in
Nashville
there’s great
music and great
musicians,”
Pagliari
observes. “And
it’s not just
country music.
There’s an
incredible indie
rock and
alternative
scene. It’s
literally in the
air, so it’s
inevitable that
living and
playing there
would influence
me.”
And back out
into the tracks
of Please
and Thank You,
which Pagliari
plans to follow
with a spate of
touring: solo,
accompanied by a
drummer, and
with his
four-piece band.
“Each way has a
different vibe,”
Pagliari says,
“and I like ’em
all. The buzz of
playing live and
creating songs
out of nothing
except my life
and my
imagination is
what made music
set me on fire
when I was a
kid, and I still
get that buzz
today – every
time.”
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