Thursday, August 30, 2007
The two songwriters have known each other since they were kids.
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
VINDICATOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN — When you call Darla Rae Perlozzi-Patterson’s home in Nashville, Tenn., and the answering machine picks up, you hear the Big & Rich song “Loud.”
In case you don’t get the connection: Perlozzi-Patterson co-wrote the country hit.
Earlier this year, the Struthers native teamed up with Kirsti Manna — a Poland native — in a songwriting partnership. They struck gold on their first try.
“Loud” is on Big & Rich’s current album, “Raising Hell,” which quickly went gold and is approaching platinum sales status.
“It’s the first song we wrote together,” said Perlozzi-Patterson in a phone interview from her Nashville home.
Catching up
The relationship between the two women goes way back. Perlozzi-Patterson and Manna were musically inclined kids who were also friends. “Her parents lived next to my aunt,” said Perlozzi-Patterson.
Even though they both pursued careers in country music, they fell out of touch as adults. That is until they found each other at a Nashville music showcase, an event where bands and songwriters often hook up. Perlozzi-Patterson was the drummer in all-girl band Cowboy Crush. Manna was an experienced songwriter. The two renewed their friendship on the spot, and decided then and there to write songs together.
An honor
John Rich of Big & Rich was the first to hear “Loud,” and it caught his ear.
The song has a hell-raising spirit to it, and sounds like a Big & Rich foot-stomper. But Perlozzi-Patterson said they didn’t write the song with any band in mind.
“We just wrote it just to be something different,” she said.
Having it picked up by Big & Rich carries extra merit, said Perlozzi-Patterson.
“John Rich was songwriter of the year for two years,” she explained.
“When he becomes enamored with something you write, it is such an honor.”
Busy schedules won’t permit the two songwriters to come home for the Canfield Fair.
But Mahoning Valley residents will almost certainly hear “Loud” when Big & Rich play at the fair’s grandstand on Labor Day. “They play it live everywhere they go,” said Perlozzi-Patterson.
She said when she saw Big & Rich play her song at a concert earlier this summer, “The fans knew every word. It was cool.”
“Loud” is also being picked up for use in the “NASCAR 2008” video game.
Lifestyle change
It’s been a big year all around for Perlozzi-Patterson. In addition to becoming a songwriter, she got married to Timmy Patterson, bass player for country star T.G. Sheppard, and she resigned from Cowboy Crush.
“I felt like the Lord was telling me to move in a different direction,” she said. “I’m happy to be home with my husband.”
She was happy to have an experienced pro such as Manna to help her learn the ropes. “I was out on the road for four years with Cowboy Crush. I didn’t have time to think about writing,” she said.
Manna — who wrote Blake Shelton’s 2001 hit “Austin” — is the wife of Nashville producer Bill Warner, himself a Boardman native.
Although she’s been part of the Music City scene for several years, Perlozzi-Patterson still keeps Youngstown close to her heart. And musically, she can’t deny the hold it has on her.
“It’s the Youngstown style,” she said. “It influenced the way I play drums, and everything I did. You just have to live there to get it.”