Paolo took to the narrow streets of Barga, Italy yesterday for a photo shoot in support of his forthcoming album, ‘Sunny Side Up’.

In addition to having his photos taken in the original home of the Nutini family – these photos may well be destined for artwork of the new album – Paolo was also presented with a set of vintage motorbikes as he took time out of the schedule to sign autographs.

Check out some of the new photographs here where you can also check out Paolo’s new haircut! – full article on http://www.paolonutini.com

PAOLO Nutini returned to his Italian family hometown to shoot his latest album cover.

The Paisley-born singer spent a few days in the Tuscan hilltown of Barga Vecchia to get some original shots for the artwork for Sunny Side Up, which is out on June 2.

As well as exploring some of the local attractions, the These Streets star showed off a new short elfin hairdo.

He chatted to locals and visited his family’s old home from four generations ago for some special pictures.

His day continued with a trip to Barga’s duomo – the cathedral – and a walk to the landmark hill La Pania as the sun went down.

The weekend trip was a mixture of pleasure and work for the gravel-voiced star.

The next day, he met up early with some local bikers at his hotel to check out some of the 43 vintage models that were being exhibited as part of a celebration for the Indian Motorcycle company.

Paolo, 22, managed to have a shot on one of the vintage bikes and seemed pretty revved up.

After meeting and greeting autograph hunters and posing for more pictures, Paolo returned to his digs where he met the Barga Lake Angels.

The group of local men – who have raised money to help the povertystricken African country of Rwanda through winemaking and sales of antipasti – were there to present him with a T-shirt and honorary membership of the Lake Angels.

Paolo, who received the Golden St Christopher medal from the city to celebrate his contributions to Barga and its people in 2007, was so thrilled, he promised to return for this year’s Lake Angels Soul Festival in mid July.

He said: “I always love coming back to Barga and seeing everyone.” Having returned from his

Italian trip, Paolo performed in London last night, showcasing some of the songs from Sunny Side Up to an invited audience at Wilton’s – believed to be the world’s oldest music hall.

The audience was thrilled by a set including Candy, the first single from the album, Coming Up Easy and the jazzy Pencil Full Of Lead, which Paolo announced as “my favourite new one”.

He returned to his first album, 2006’s These Streets, for the encores, playing the title track and Last Request.

On April 18, he plays the Coachella Valley festival in California, followed by a free show at San Diego’s Del Mar Plaza on April 19.

He then returns to the UK for his sellout Scottish, London and Liverpool concerts and releases his new single on May 18.. full article here on Daily Record.co.uk

THE artwork for Paolo Nutini’s forthcoming album, Sunny Side Up, will have a distinctly Italian flavour to it, according to our man in Tuscany. Earlier this month, the Paisley-born pop sensation spent a whole day having his photo taken in and around the medieval hilltop town of Barga – ancestral home of the Nutini clan – and a snap like the one abovewill likely find its way onto the cover of his new record when it is released on 2 June.
With his last disc, These Streets, selling in excess of two million copies worldwide, you might expect the celebrity crooner to be mobbed by fans wherever he goes, but in Barga he’s treated like one of the locals.

“Paolo and the photographer were more or less left alone while they were working here,” says Keane, editor of the excellent local website, http://www.barganews.com (Keane’s just got the one name, for reasons far too complicated to go into here).

“Paolo’s been here every summer since he was a small boy, so he’s well-known in the area. A few people stopped to say hello, but other than that they let him be.”

Locals in Barga joke that anyone who speaks English in the town does so with a Glasgow accent, such has been the degree of emigration to the west of Scotland. It is estimated that some 60 per cent of the town’s population have relatives over here, mainly in Glasgow, Paisley, Largs and Saltcoats. It’s a two-way process though: among the ex-pat Scots with homes in the town are the artist John Bellany and Dunkeld pipemaker and piper Hamish Moore.

Locals hope Nutini will be back in town in July to perform at the Lake Angels Soul Festival – an event to raise money for an irrigation project in Rwanda. The singer has said he’ll see what he can do.

“They need 20,000 Euros to set this thing up,” says Keane, “and for Paolo to come over for the festival… well, that would really sort them out.” – full article on the Scotsman here

ciao..

Jesse