Who Is Nolan Sotillo? The Story Behind His Journey to Country Music

 

This week we got to chat with rising artist Nolan Sotillo. The young artist has been in the industry for many years, honing his craft as both an actor and a musician. After living in California for a few years, the West Palm Beach native made the move to Nashville. 

 

“From a young age I played just about every sport you could imagine and I loved being outdoors, so while I could sing along with the songs on the radio and had some natural melody within, I never really took it seriously until I became a teenager and starting writing songs and taking lessons,” begins Sotillo.  It was not until high school that he began to recognize his natural talent and love for music and the arts. “Not getting the lead one year [in a school play] led to me taking lessons and really honing in on my voice,” shares the singer. Sotillo later added that he learned to play guitar after seeing his friend play a Coldplay song to impress a girl. 

 

In regards to his musical influences, the singer was introduced to country music throughout his upbringing. “A lot of the music I discovered as a kid was a result of my parents, whatever they listened to on the radio.” His parents introduced him to artists like Keith Urban, John Mayer, Rascal Flatts, and even George Strait and Jimmy Buffet. “I kinda formed this love for country storytelling with a little bit of rock edge.”

The Turning Point:

Continuing to find his lane, Sotillo believes in being open to all sorts of influences and types of music. “I’m keeping the goal post wide,” he tell us. “I don’t want to rule anything out because I am a lover of all music.” After a successful acting career in Los Angeles, Sotillo decided to refocus his attention on music and songwriting. “So there really came a point where I wanted to prioritize what I initially went to LA for, which was music.” He later adds, “I felt that if I was feeling that way, it was important to me to listen to myself and not shy away from music or shy away from a move.” This led to Sotillo to move to Nashville in January 2020 to pursue a career in country music. For the last year and a half, the singer has cultivated a sound that is all his own through writes with songwriters and other incredible opportunities.

Today:

Interestingly, one of the singer’s newest original releases was the first song he wrote when he moved to Music City. In January 2020, Sotillo wrote, “I’m Still.” “The idea for “I’m Still” was to write about what I was going through at the time,” adding, “I knew it would be something that a lot of people would appreciate, but more than anything it was saying exactly what I wanted to say.”

 

Sotillo also recently released another cleverly-written song, “Prove Me Wrong.” “It’s such a different way to show love. You’re always trying to find a new way to say the same thing.” The song really depicts how it feels to have a girl really change your outlook on life. “The wordplay with that one is kinda like a tongue-in-cheek, clever kinda way to say yeah girl, you’re good for me.” As far as more new music goes, Sotillo promises it is coming sooner rather than later. “I want to continue to show that there are multiple sides of Nolan, that being said the next release may have one different element that’s just another part of me.” Fans can also catch the singer on his first tour kicking off this September. Find tickets here.

Connect:

To keep up with Nolan Sotillo, follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

 

“Prove Me Wrong” is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.