Paolo Ercoli
The Wrong Side Of The Ocean
“Yes, we love bluegrass music, it’s the thing we like the best. We sing, play and learn from Bill, Lester, Josh and Earle. Since we travel all around and play from town to town the best thing we have found is that high lonesome sound. They keep saying we should play down in Nashville, Tennessee and sure the Grand Ole Opry is something we should see. It’s not easy when you live on the wrong side of the ocean.”
The words above are from a song written by Paolo Ercoli titled “Wrong Side Of The Ocean” from his recently released CD Why Not. The CD was reviewed in the October 2021 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited. The meaning of the song becomes readily apparent when you discover Paolo is Italian and lives in Italy. Every now and then a musician comes along that catches your attention because they offer something different…Paolo is such a musician. While he can and does play straight ahead bluegrass with skill and zeal, he has developed a style and sound that incorporates his many influences both cultural and musical.
Paolo is a multi-instrumentalist and plays guitar, mandolin, pedal steel, with Dobro being his primary instrument. His journey to become an accomplished Dobro player has been long with many challenges. Until he was 25 years old, he listened to and played rock and acoustic folk music. That all changed in 1979 with the release of the Manzanita album by the Tony Rice Unit. Jerry Douglas played Dobro on that iconic record and Paolo became captivated with both Jerry Douglas and the Dobro. However, as you might imagine it was a steep learning curve in large part due to the lack of both bluegrass music and Dobro players in Italy. As Paolo says in his song… “it’s not easy when you live on the wrong side of the ocean!”
He found a Dobro player in a nearby town and took a few lessons and he was on his way. He became a diehard devotee of bluegrass music and the Dobro. Paolo did not have the benefit of all the learning resources that are available today. At that time things like YouTube or Rob Ickes Reso Room simply did not exist. As a result, Paolo learned the old school way. He listened to and copied the Dobro sounds he heard from records. He would travel throughout Europe whenever he could to catch touring Bluegrass groups. Slowly but surely, as the years passed, Paolo continued to refine his Dobro and bluegrass chops.
Paolo landed a job with Starhotels, a 4-star hotel chain with accommodations throughout Italy and also London, Paris and New York. He worked in hotel management and as good fortune would have it, he got to meet some of the greats such as Byron Berline, Tim O’Brien and David Grisman when they toured Italy and stayed at Starhotels. He continued playing Dobro whenever he could, but a job in the hospitality business means working 60+ hours a week and a man must sleep sometime.
He started making plans to visit the U.S. and immerse himself in all things bluegrass. In 1992 Paolo found his way to New York and shopped for a Dobro at the famous Mandolin Brothers music store. He made another visit in 1996 this time his musical adventure took him to Nashville. While in Nashville he visited the legendary Gruhn Guitar shop. The highlight of his visit to Nashville was going to listen to bluegrass at the Station Inn. He then made his way to Oklahoma and visited Bryon Berline’s Fiddle Shop and Music Hall. Byron remembered Paolo from his tour in Italy and invited him to stay at his house. Paolo returned to Italy with renewed passion for bluegrass and the Dobro. He sought out every opportunity to play with others. He jammed with a variety of people and styles of music doing anything to play music and have the Dobro in his hands.
In 1999 Paolo traveled to Slovenia to attend a Dobro festival where he finally had the opportunity to hear and meet the person that inspired him to learn Dobro…Jerry Douglas. Their paths were destined to cross again in the years to come.
Hearing and meeting Jerry Douglas made a lasting impression on Paolo and he left the festival on fire to continue his quest to master the Dobro and to increase the recognition of Dobro and bluegrass music in Italy. Paolo was a man on a mission. He built a reputation as an excellent sideman and he played supporting a variety of American solo artists such as Eric Anderson, Steve Forbert, Malcolm Holcombe and Scarlet Rivera as they toured Europe. Paolo also played with many Italian artists as well and his reputation as a first-rate Dobro player grew.
Paolo has made several trips over the years to the U.S. attending some of the most well-known festivals like MerleFest, Grey Fox and RockyGrass. Not content to sit on the sidelines, he entered the Dobro contest at RockyGrass and did well enough to place third. He further honed his Dobro skills by attending ResoSummit, Rob Ickes renowned 3-day Dobro workshop. Not only was he getting to hear the best of the best in bluegrass music, but he was also getting to meet many of them as well. He had the opportunity to meet some of his Dobro heroes like Justin Moses, Billy Cardine, Andy Hall, Mike Witcher, Sally Van Meter, Rob Ickes and of course Jerry Douglas.
The siren’s call of the Dobro and the desire to make a living playing music won out seven years ago and Paolo left his lucrative position with Starhotels and has since then has spent his life playing music and spreading the Dobro gospel across Europe. Along the way he has been a founding member of two Italian Bluegrass bands, Bononia Grass and then 0039 (the international country code for Italy). Each band recorded a CD and Paolo’s songwriting and playing was prominent. The tyranny of distance of the band members led to the demise of both bands. They all lived in different towns and just could not make the arrangement work. If you are curious, there are videos of both groups available on YouTube. These days Paolo leads the Paolo Ercoli Trio, consisting of Rino Garzia on bass, Paolo on Dobro and Gino Carravieri on drums. The focus of their music is on funky-jazz-blues sounds. The trio sometimes adds a singer, Claudia Buzzetti, and are called Tumbleweeds Revival and play Americana and country roots music. While Paolo loves the sounds of bluegrass, he is determined to push the boundaries of the role of the Dobro.
Like musicians everywhere, Paolo has been tried and challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. While there is a glimmer of light and venues are starting to feature live music once again, the situation has a long way to go to in Italy to get back to pre-COVID days. During this time, he has been staying busy by teaching Dobro, adding content to his YouTube channel (https//youtube.com/c/PabloErcoli) including an instructional series on learning to play Dobro. He has actively sought out opportunities to play in front of people and on one occasion he was surprised to find none other than Randy Travis in the audience at a solo performance.
Paolo was playing outside in the beautiful Italian resort town of Bellagio and after his set, someone that was with Randy Travis approached Paolo to say Randy really enjoyed his playing and would like to meet him. Randy asked if Paolo would play some more for him and made a request for “How Great Thou Art.” After Paolo finished playing, they spent some time talking and Randy gave him $20 and wished him well. That just goes to show that you just never know who is out there listening.
One thing COVID-19 did was to provide musicians plenty of time. Paolo took advantage of the time to reach a musical milestone. He released the first ever CD in Italy by an Italian Dobro player. He titled the CD Why Not because it captures his approach to playing music. As a result, the CD has a variety of sounds and styles ranging from jazz and bluegrass to ballads and progressive sounds. Paolo was able to enlist the talents of some of the finest players on the planet for his labor of love. People such as Jerry Douglas, Rob Ickes, Mike Witcher, Andy Hall, Billy Cardine and Justin Moses on Dobro. On guitar making an appearance is Trey Henley and Justin Moses. Mandolin players included Sierra Hull, Joe K. Walsh and Frank Solivan. Fiddle players making an appearance were Scarlet Rivera and Luke Bulla. On bass Paolo recruited Scott Mulvahill and Craig Akin. People lending their talents on vocals includes Chris Jones, Kathy Kallick, Abbie Gardner and Danny Nichols. He also included many of Italy’s top musicians in the effort as well. The ensemble assembled from both sides of the ocean truly made this a once in a lifetime recording. Paolo continues to be both amazed and immensely grateful for the support he received in recording his CD.
Since the release of the CD, Paolo has been interviewed by numerous publications in Italy and is busy promoting the CD and the Dobro throughout Europe. The liner notes from the CD are words Jerry Douglas wrote to Paolo and offer high praise indeed. “To know there is a professional Dobro player in Italy is amazing! In the future when Dobro is brought up in conversation, Paolo’s name will naturally be mentioned. He is at the frontlines of history. It’s a great accomplishment. I appreciate what he is doing for the entire Dobro community and that he is totally capable of giving trusted advice to those struggling to learn this crazy instrument. We as Dobro players, can only try to teach tone, timing and taste. Paolo is proof of all of that.”
Paolo Ercoli is a force of nature. His all-consuming love of music and all things Dobro was expressed best in the title of a blog by Mary Nowhere on 21 July 2021. “Paolo Ercoli: American Passion in an Italian Heart.” So, if you are ready for something a little different I say, “Why Not?”
