Award-winning songwriter Dan Ferrari is the exceptional finish to our year here at Band of the Week. We decided to finish this year with a clear winner, the next big thing. Ferrari is the winner of the Abe Olman Songwriting Scholarship Award 2007 and a finalist in the New York Songwriters Circle Songwriting contest, for his song “Heard From You”, which also features on his new album Don’t Let it Fall. This 25-year-old New Jersey native’s sound is both pop and rock. His newest offering is filled with catchy tunes, plenty of harmonies and melodies and honest, intimate lyrics that make the listener feel they are getting a glimpse inside the heart and soul of this passionate, multifaceted young singer.

On your first listen to Ferrari’s Don’t Let it Fall, you’ll be struck by his ardent, emotive, engaging voice, however it’s his compellingly emotional lyrics that will keep you listening. Ferrari’s talent lies in painting a stirring and deeply personal portrait of his life, mostly his love life, that is all at once libidinous and winsome, passionate and friendly. Don’t Let it Fall is like having an intimate talk with an old friend, about a recent heartbreak. You get a glimpse inside the painful heart of someone coming to terms with their loss with lyrics like “I wish I was the smile dancing on your lips/ I wish was the t-shirt lying across your skin/ I wish was the button on your favourite pair of jeans/ so close to you, there’s nowhere I’d rather be” (from title track “Don’t Let it Fall”) or “I’ve tried so hard to break free, but I’ll never not want you/ I wait for you to come back to me, I’ll never not want you/ I reach out for help but I’ll never not want you/ I’ve tried to love someone else but I’ll never not want you”.

Love songs so filled with fresh pain, longing, and sensual loss that you would be forgiven for thinking it was just yesterday she walked out; however, according to Ferrari it’s not recent but a college break-up, many years ago, that inspired many of his heart-wrenching intimate portraits. Recently this charismatic, witty, intelligent man sat down for a chat with me. His magnetic, flirtatious personality made him a fun interview subject and we spent a lot of time discussing everything but his music. Eventually we made it to the subject at hand but still his answers were tinged with the unmistakable characteristics of sarcasm.

When and why did you begin writing songs and singing?

I picked up the guitar at age… I’d say somewhere around age ten, started to realise that the ladies in grade school would pay a little more attention to me if I was walking around with a guitar case. They might get a little more curious about me, so you know it was always about the girls from day one. (laughing) So it started with the guitar, then started singing in high school, realised I could do both at the same time…