BobbyCast Recap: Bobby Chats With Songwriter and Producer Paul DiGiovanni
You likely know many of Paul's cowriting hits!
On episode #225 of his podcast, the BobbyCast, Bobby Bones chatted with Paul DiGiovanni, the lead guitarist for punk-pop band Boys Like Girls. These days, DiGiovanni is trading the stage for the studio by working as a songwriter and producer in Nashville. DiGiovanni has songwriting and producing credits on a many notable country projects, including Justin Moore’s No. 1 single “The Ones That Didn’t Make It Back Home,” which he co-wrote with Moore, Chase McGill, and Jeremy Stover.
“We were actually in Green Bay, at Leambeau Field in the parking lot because Justin was playing a couple of blocks away from there or something,” says DiGiovanni of writing the Justin Moore hit. “We were on the bus, we were about to start writing, just talking about ideas, and Justin mentioned — I guess he says that onstage every night, like, ‘Here’s to the ones that didn’t make it back home.’ He was like, ‘I always thought that would be a cool title.’ We just started rolling with it and wrote it pretty quick in two to three hours.”
The song was later released as the first single from Moore’s Late Nights and Longnecks album and hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. Bobby asked DiGiovanni if he knew the song would be success, and he says he had a pretty good feeling about it.
“I write a lot of songs every day with other writers and you’re lucky if you get a couple a year that do anything, he says. “But when you’re with the artist and he falls in love with something as you’re doing it and it comes out really organically and everyone’s fired up, that’s kind of like, ‘Okay, this could be the thing.’”
Another song DiGiovanni had a hand in writing was Dan + Shay’s fourth single “How Not To,” which also claimed the top spot on the charts. DiGiovanni wrote it along with Adam Hambrick and Kevin Bard, and the song was originally put on hold by Rascal Flatts. Eventually, “How Not To” made it into the hands of Dan + Shay and became a hit.
“That was my first one,” says Paul of the song. “It did a lot for me.”
Other songs that Paul wrote include Cassadee Pope’s “Take You Home” and Sam Hunt’s latest release, “Sinning With You.” As a producer, Paul worked on Jordan Davis’ Home State and Mitchell Tenpenny’s Telling All My Secrets. He is currently producing Davis’ sophomore release.
While DiGiovanni is certainly busy writing and producing music in Nashville, he still reunites with his Boys Like Girls band members. The group will be playing shows together in April. DiGiovanni says the group is also open to officially reuniting and releasing new music.
“We have talked about a few different things,” he says. “Were not sure exactly what yet, but we’re going to figure it out.”
To hear more from Bobby’s conversation with DiGiovanni, including the story of how Boys Like Girls formed, listen to episode #225 of the BobbyCast.
