Balladeer blew up, became own boss
Marc Scibilia released his major label debut, “Out of Style,” in 2015. The excitement of a new album was quickly dashed by bad news. Two weeks later, his label, I.R.S. Nashville, shut down, unexpectedly leaving the singer-songwriter without a record deal. Today, Scibilia is his own boss, touring heavily and recording songs out of his Nashville studio.
“You can reinvent yourself a million times,” he says, calling from his home in Tennessee. “That’s the beauty of the time we’re living in.”
A trenchant songwriter with a weathered and intimate voice, Scibilia has been busy focusing on various projects that mix rock, pop and folk. His latest single is the piercing and lovely “Summer Clothes,” a gentle first-person heartbreaker. The narrator sees clothes in a closet that belong to a son who’s moved away. The father is filled with nostalgia and loneliness and makes a call to reconnect.
Scibilia called recently to discuss songwriting and what he learned from Zac Brown. This is an edited transcript. address. It was funny because he never sent me any mail, but he always wanted to make sure he had an updated address on me. The song is about my family and also an imaginary world. It’s about making an excuse to call someone you want to talk to. The lyrics just came. When writing, I don’t generally sit down with a topic. I equate it more to clouds filling up with moisture, then it rains.
A: It was a really incredible experience. I’m a big Woody Guthrie fan. It was a huge honor to sing a great American song by a great American artist. People really dug it. It was a steppingstone that opened up touring for me.
A: The worst thing you can do is sit and be inactive. It would be great to have the proper execution of a big marketing plan, but I’m also really happy finding that one person who loves what I do and turning that into two people, then four, then eight and so on. The great thing is I don’t have to listen to anyone who doesn’t really know what they’re talking about. Instead, I listen to the fans, and I listen to myself.
A: I’ve toured with so many people who’ve clued me in on what I should be doing onstage. I’ve learned a ton from Zac Brown. He’s so dynamic in his live show. There’s something very outward about what he does. As much as it’s Zac Brown up there, it becomes about the people at the show and their experience. April 30 birthdays: Actress Cloris Leachman is 91. Singer Willie Nelson is 84. Actor Burt Young is 77. Actor Adrian Pasdar is 52. Actor Johnny Galecki is 42. Actor Sam Heughan is 37. Actor Kunal Nayyar is 36. Actress Kirsten Dunst is 35.