After a breakthrough year in 2009, Paolo Nutini’s album went back to Number One in the UK last month thanks to a show stealing performance on Jools Holland’s Hootenanny. Next up for Paolo is a gig in Dubai and a German tour with Pink. Details and Jools videos below:

Rolling Stone magazine spoke to Paolo in 2007 about what life was like on his tour bus.

Paolo Nutini’s Tour Bus: Hanging With the Scottish Singer-Songwriter in New York

Paolo Nutini on the differences between playing smaller venues and playing New York: “I think I like being in New York. When it is a smaller club you get to talking to everybody because you walk by them on the way to the stage and now there’s all these back doors,” he says.

Nutini’s tour manager posts his schedule with jokes and inspirational quotes on the wall of the bus. He started off his tour playing with Elvis Costello and Feist in Buffalo, and at another show met Kid Rock. “We were in [New York’s tiny club] Mercury Lounge and then it was Carnegie Hall. I got to know Kid Rock. I hung out with him a little bit. He’s a character. He’s livin’ it large.”

The bottle of Kahlua, “liquor delicioso,” was the only item Nutini contributed to the bus fridge, but he says he doesn’t drink as much anymore. “I got bored of drinking. Now my girlfriend and I do crossword puzzles together. No, that’s a lie,” he jokes. “But you can have a beer when morning turns into afternoon just to celebrate that transition. And you can have one after soundcheck to give yourself a pat on the back.”

A bottle of Jamaican rum and some gin kept the Kahlua company in the tour bus fridge. Nutini’s favorite drink is either Mohitos or White Russians, but he prefers port before a show. “Port is good for the throat, I think.”

Nutini plays Guitar Hero on the bus during his downtime. “I don’t know much about rockin’ you see,” he says, playing the game in the back room of the bus. “This is as rock & roll as it’s gonna get for me.” His favorite songs to play are “Psychobilly Freakout” by Reverend Horton Heat and the Rolling Stones’ “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking.” “The other guys don’t play so much, so right now I’m the best.”

Twelve people are staying on the bus including Nutini’s girlfriend. “People wake up dreaming about themselves being at the bottom of an elevator shaft, waking up screaming, shaking and sweating. That happens now and again.”

Rolling Stone Magazine, September 2007

Paolo Nutini plays at The Irish Village in Dubai on March 12, 2010. Ticket info can be found here.

Paolo’s dates with Pink in Germany are below.

www.paolonutini.com

10/10

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT2mow8oH6U

Pencil Full of Lead

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf2SSIUVlq4

Photo Credit: Dhang Mad