Press Articles
Hold You When You Cry
Review by Kimberly Rues
Nick Masullo’s new book “Hold You When You Cry” is a collection of essays and poems with an intimate tone of voice. Some are memoirs while others are in the realm of social commentary - linked by the theme of dealing with MS. This book is yet another glimpse into the magical way that Nick looked at life, but this time he invites us to be part of the journey.
Nick was very focused on finishing this book. As his wife Ginny said,“Nick knew that he would never have the chance to tell his grandchildren all these stories, so he poured them out on the page.” This fits the Nick I knew perfectly. He knew his time was short, but instead of despairing, he worked with all of his strength to pass the stories on. He knew we would want to know his mighty heart, and he lets us. He lovingly gives us one last gift - the gift of his life’s stories.
Nick shares his life’s experiences, from his childhood in New York City to his love for his wife and children. We get to know his triumphs, his losses, and the things he feels passionately about. By sharing reminiscences of his life experiences, he shares his soul with us.
His voice rings clear and true. He makes you see the things he sees, and feel the things he feels. As I read his book, I laughed through my tears wishing I had heard more of the stories first hand. His natural ability to bring forth emotion is nothing short of amazing.
Once every great while you come across a person that shines a little bit brighter, believes with a little more conviction and always manages to leave you feeling a little more willing to except the challenges in your life. Nick had an uncanny ability to bring joy and growth in every situation.
This book reminds us gently that when things get hard you have a choice. Nick chose to see the positive. After reading his book I realized, as hard as life may seem at times, hard is just a word. He teaches us at the end of the day, life is always beautiful, it is all in the way you look at it.
These stories will keep Nick’s message alive for many ages to come and I sincerely believe that is the way he would have wanted it. He lived this life the very same way he left; with grace, acceptance, and a heart overflowing with love.
Every time you pick up this book you are guaranteed to read something that moves you. Whether you want to laugh, cry, or simply feel inspired, “Hold You When You Cry” is a must have for every bedside table. Thank you Nick for changing our lives in ways that words could never express. Thank you for blessing our community with your life.
From The Morning News
by Amy Cotham
It was 2002 when Nick Masullo first noticed his body wasn't working quite right. Physical tasks like roller-skating and less taxing things like handwriting had became difficult. The dedicated singer/ songwriter had trouble playing his guitar, and "I knew something was wrong," he says.
Doctors weren't sure what was wrong at first. Then in July 2003, just after performing at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival with Emily Kaitz – an honor that came with winning the annual festival songwriting competition – Masullo's wife, Ginny, broke the news that a doctor had called with a diagnosis. Masullo's suspicion that he has Multiple Sclerosis had been confirmed.
"It's a really progressive form of MS marked by the rapid onset of disability” Masullo described to me earlier this week. "About 10 to 15 percent of MS, patients have this type of the disease."
While the effects of the disease have come quickly – "I lose a little more every week," Masullo says – so has the rally to help. As a long time musician and the former manager of the Ozark Cooperative Warehouse in Fayetteville – plus an all around good citizen and nice guy – Masullo is well-known and well-admired by many in Fayetteville and beyond. When locals organized a benefit concert to help make the Masullo home wheel chair accessible, they raised more than $15,000 in one night.
"Everybody loves Nick," says musician Kelly Mulhollan, who helped organize the benefit show. "And everyone was looking for a way to help"
Mulhollan wanted to do all he could for his long-time friend, and "it occurred to me one thing I could do is record him.”
"For the last year and a half, I have been capturing Nick's last moments playing guitar in my studio. Each time we would meet, he had lost a little more of his ability to play. But the sweet thing is that he always got through it. And what was beautiful is that as his guitar playing became more fractured, it also became more interesting to hear.”
"A lot of people out there could have just fixed some of it, with how advanced recording software is today," Mulhollan continues. "But that wasn't an option for me. The way I 'fixed' everything was just by adding things so that it all made sense when put together. It was one of the most challenging but rewarding things I've ever done as a producer. But I think Nick's music shines through. I am glad I was able to honor his guitar playing."
Thanks to Mulhollan's ingenuity, "every single song has his guitar playing on it," he adds proudly.
Mulhollan did provide the guitar part for Masullo's original music when the songwriter was no longer able to. He also provided the music of several other instruments, including a concertina (that's a small Italian accordion) that immigrated with Masullo's grandfather years ago. Kaitz and Donna Stjerna also contributed to the CD, and " I've produced these recordings into what has turned out to be an absolutely beautiful CD," Mulhollan says. "It's gorgeous and quite lush. Although it has a slower pace in parts, these are all substantial songs."
The aptly-titled "Everything You've Got," which includes an amazing 14 tracks, will be unveiled Wednesday during a CD release show at Teatro Scarpino in Fayetteville. Mulhollan will play guitar, Stjerna will play fiddle and Emily Kaitz will play bass, supplemented by Keith Grimwood when Kaitz moves over to the organ for a few songs.
Grimwood, who has heard a few rough tracks from the CD, calls it "amazing. Kelly did an outstanding job."
Masullo is pleased with the outcome, too, and equally impressed with Mulhollan's production. "No one could have done it quite like Kelly," he says. "We both knew it was a race against the clock. He was able to use the best cuts we got and work with those."
Although he is no longer able to play the lovely songs he has written, Masullo will sing at the CD release party. "I am looking forward to seeing how people respond," he told me. " My hope is these songs resonate with everyone."
After speaking with Masullo, I understand why he is so admired and I too, was impressed with his seemingly eternal optimism. Despite the fact he won't be able to play at the Wednesday show, he still found a silver lining.
"I used to hide behind the guitar a lot and not sing out as much on stage," he says. "So I've really had to change that."
Another comment made it apparent Masullo may have lost some things but still has a sense of humor. "Maybe I'll just hold (a guitar) and not play, the way Elvis used to do."
By Emily Kaitz
Fayetteville Free Weekly
"It's about all that you can do
with everything you've got
and not the things that hold you back
or anything you're not."
These words are from the title track of Nick Masullo's new CD, "Everything You've Got," and under the circumstances they are especially poignant. Nick's second album project, undertaken in the face of his ongoing physical struggle with a rare aggressive form of multiple sclerosis, is nothing short of breathtaking, both in terms of the CD's production and the songs themselves.
A lot of credit goes to engineer and producer Kelly Mulhollan, who recorded the CD at his studio, Termite Tracs, and also played most of the back up instruments, including guitar, pump organ, harmonica, mandolin, ukulele and electric bass. Kelly started with Nick's basic vocal and guitar tracks, and proceeded to layer various instruments and vocals on top of them, creating a group of songs that are at once diverse and compatible in arrangement.
During the two year period in which Nick recorded his initial tracks, he had already started losing some control in his hands and fingers due to MS. His guitar parts, while usable, were sometimes a little shaky and inconsistent. Kelly was able to fill them out with his own guitar work and then add the other parts. His particular gift is the ability to delicately enhance a song with subtle instrumental shading, never overproducing. Nick's voice comes through strong and clear, with an intimacy that makes the listener feel he is physically present in the room.
The CD "Everything You've Got" has an acoustic feel, but there are a couple of exceptions, like the rocker "Learnin' To Fly," which features a rare performance by Mulhollan on blistering electric guitar, and the theatrical "Not Goin' Home," which is reminiscent of the band King Crimson in its moody atmospheric crescendos, accomplished by Kelly through the use of a $50 digital effects pedal belonging to his partner Donna Stjerna's teenaged son Taylor, through which Mulhollan played the pump organ and guitar.
Nick Masullo's first CD, "Some Kind Of Sign," released in March 2003, was a finalist that year for the Ozark Music Awards' "Album of the Year" category. Masullo won "Songwriter of the Year" at that OMA ceremony, and several of the songs from the CD won prizes in other contests. He also took first place in the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival Songwriting Contest in 2003, and the following year was named "Male Singer Songwriter of the Year" in the Northwest Arkansas Music Awards.
At the CD release party for "Some Kind Of Sign," held at Mike Shirkey's GoodFolk Productions and featuring many of the musicians who had contributed to the project, very few people were aware that Nick was already experiencing some physical difficulties that later were diagnosed as the onset of MS. All his life he had enjoyed outdoor activities such as hiking and rollerblading, and he had recently discovered a marked decrease in stamina. As 2003 progressed, Nick began walking with the aid of a cane, and later retired from his position as General Manager of Ozark Cooperative Warehouse.
Currently Nick depends on a motorized wheelchair for his mobility, and augments his limited manual computer skills through the use of voice activated software. But throughout the ordeal of his deteriorating health, he has maintained a positive attitude, a willingness to adapt, and a sense of dignity and grace, all of which come across in some of the songs on his new CD.
"It doesn't matter how you move
A limo or a chair with wheels,
It's up to you that you arrive
It's up to you the way you feel...
But it'll matter who you touch
and it matters what you give
It'll matter if you try
It makes a difference that you live
We're not here for very long
It's the only chance you've got
You think it may be time to wait
But I'm thinking that it's not."
"It'll Matter" by Nick Masullo
Part of Nick's brilliance as a songwriter comes from his ability to transform highly personal experience into universal truth. The kind of philosophical objectivity that he displays even in regard to his own illness inspires each of us to live life to the fullest.
On "Some Kind Of Sign" Nick included three love songs to his wife, Ginny, and he continues in that vein on the new CD with "I'm Tellin' You Now," "All Roads Lead To You," and "What Matters To Me."
"It's not the problems on the job
oh they'll be there tomorrow, it's true
I remember what's important now
And what matters to me is you...
I get distracted by the noise of the world
and the endless chatter
But I remember when I hold you close
Those other things just don't matter."
"What Matters To Me" by Nick Masullo
Nick pays tribute to his Italian heritage in "One Hundred Years Ago," a song about his immigrant grandfather coming to the United States, and later Nick's own pilgrimage to Italy. One of the special musical touches on this song is that Kelly plays the very concertina that Nick's grandfather brought with him from Italy, and which is now a cherished memento of the Masullo family.
Soundclips and the CD "Everything You've Got" are available at http:/cdbaby.com/cd/nickmasullo2.
From The Northwest Arkansas Times
by Sarah Terry
The CD might bear Nick Masullo’s name, but it wouldn’t exist without a little help from his friends, the Fayetteville singer-songwriter said. Titled “Everything You’ve Got,” the album features 14 songs written and sung by Masullo, then rounded out with harmony and the instrumental talents of some of Fayetteville’s finest musicians. Contributing are Emily Kaitz, who produced Masullo’s first album, 2003’s “Some Kind of Sign,” and plays bass on one of the new songs; Donna Stjerna, who adds background vocals or violin to three tracks; and Kelly Mulhollan, who plays about 20 instruments throughout the album, from mandolin, guitar and banjo to pump organ and an antique concertina accordion that belonged to Masullo’s grandfather.
Mulhollan had to repair the instrument just enough to make it work for the album, Masullo said.
“This record is just as much Kelly’s as it is mine.” Which makes it only fitting that Mulhollan and the others join Masullo on Wednesday for a release party at Teatro Scarpino in Fayetteville. With Kaitz on bass and pump organ, Stjerna on violin, Mulhollan on guitar and Masullo singing lead vocals, the quartet will perform everything from the CD plus a few songs that didn’t make the final cut, Masullo said. Local musician Leslie Oelsner will also join in on two numbers, he added. Masullo wrote the songs over the past five years and spent the past two recording them with Mulhollan, who also mixed and produced the CD. A longtime Fayetteville resident, Masullo has been a songwriter for many years. But for this project, his writing was colored by his diagnosis with multiple sclerosis three years ago and his declining health. “There’s been a shift in how I see things since entering a slightly different world that I never knew existed before,” he said. “I don’t want to whine. It’s like someone who’s heartbroken – it’s there. I just hope people can relate to the messages on the songs.”
Although none mention Masullo’s illness overtly (with the possible exception of a lone reference to a wheelchair), many carry messages of adapting and overcoming challenges. “People get absorbed with their problems. I do it, too,” he said. “But we all have to figure out what to do with our lives, regardless of what we’re dealing with.” The lyrics of the title track, he said, best express the theme of the album: “It’s about all that you can do with everything you’ve got / And not the things that hold you back or anything you’re not.” Several of the songs came to Masullo in dreams, and he would awake and sing them into a tape recorder he keeps beside his bed. It’s a practice he has followed for years, though the recorder is indispensable now that he can no longer use a pen and paper, he said. While the songs on the album are uplifting and easy to listen to, a variety of styles are present. “Learnin’ to Fly” is the most driving of the bunch with Mulhollan playing the electric guitar, Masullo said, adding that there are also songs that feature jazz guitar or mandolin and banjo. And a few are love songs inspired by Ginny, his wife of 26 years.
Masullo was named Songwriter of the Year at the 2003 Ozark Music Awards and won first place at the 2002 Woody Guthrie Folk Festival Songwriting Competition. In 2004, he was chosen as Best Male Singer-Songwriter at the Northwest Arkansas Music Awards. His songs have been featured nationally on “The Folk Sampler” radio show and have received radio play across the United States, and in Canada and Europe.
Hold You When You Cry
Review by Kimberly Rues
Nick Masullo’s new book “Hold You When You Cry” is a collection of essays and poems with an intimate tone of voice. Some are memoirs while others are in the realm of social commentary - linked by the theme of dealing with MS. This book is yet another glimpse into the magical way that Nick looked at life, but this time he invites us to be part of the journey.
Nick was very focused on finishing this book. As his wife Ginny said,“Nick knew that he would never have the chance to tell his grandchildren all these stories, so he poured them out on the page.” This fits the Nick I knew perfectly. He knew his time was short, but instead of despairing, he worked with all of his strength to pass the stories on. He knew we would want to know his mighty heart, and he lets us. He lovingly gives us one last gift - the gift of his life’s stories.
Nick shares his life’s experiences, from his childhood in New York City to his love for his wife and children. We get to know his triumphs, his losses, and the things he feels passionately about. By sharing reminiscences of his life experiences, he shares his soul with us.
His voice rings clear and true. He makes you see the things he sees, and feel the things he feels. As I read his book, I laughed through my tears wishing I had heard more of the stories first hand. His natural ability to bring forth emotion is nothing short of amazing.
Once every great while you come across a person that shines a little bit brighter, believes with a little more conviction and always manages to leave you feeling a little more willing to except the challenges in your life. Nick had an uncanny ability to bring joy and growth in every situation.
This book reminds us gently that when things get hard you have a choice. Nick chose to see the positive. After reading his book I realized, as hard as life may seem at times, hard is just a word. He teaches us at the end of the day, life is always beautiful, it is all in the way you look at it.
These stories will keep Nick’s message alive for many ages to come and I sincerely believe that is the way he would have wanted it. He lived this life the very same way he left; with grace, acceptance, and a heart overflowing with love.
Every time you pick up this book you are guaranteed to read something that moves you. Whether you want to laugh, cry, or simply feel inspired, “Hold You When You Cry” is a must have for every bedside table. Thank you Nick for changing our lives in ways that words could never express. Thank you for blessing our community with your life.
From The Morning News
by Amy Cotham
It was 2002 when Nick Masullo first noticed his body wasn't working quite right. Physical tasks like roller-skating and less taxing things like handwriting had became difficult. The dedicated singer/ songwriter had trouble playing his guitar, and "I knew something was wrong," he says.
Doctors weren't sure what was wrong at first. Then in July 2003, just after performing at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival with Emily Kaitz – an honor that came with winning the annual festival songwriting competition – Masullo's wife, Ginny, broke the news that a doctor had called with a diagnosis. Masullo's suspicion that he has Multiple Sclerosis had been confirmed.
"It's a really progressive form of MS marked by the rapid onset of disability” Masullo described to me earlier this week. "About 10 to 15 percent of MS, patients have this type of the disease."
While the effects of the disease have come quickly – "I lose a little more every week," Masullo says – so has the rally to help. As a long time musician and the former manager of the Ozark Cooperative Warehouse in Fayetteville – plus an all around good citizen and nice guy – Masullo is well-known and well-admired by many in Fayetteville and beyond. When locals organized a benefit concert to help make the Masullo home wheel chair accessible, they raised more than $15,000 in one night.
"Everybody loves Nick," says musician Kelly Mulhollan, who helped organize the benefit show. "And everyone was looking for a way to help"
Mulhollan wanted to do all he could for his long-time friend, and "it occurred to me one thing I could do is record him.”
"For the last year and a half, I have been capturing Nick's last moments playing guitar in my studio. Each time we would meet, he had lost a little more of his ability to play. But the sweet thing is that he always got through it. And what was beautiful is that as his guitar playing became more fractured, it also became more interesting to hear.”
"A lot of people out there could have just fixed some of it, with how advanced recording software is today," Mulhollan continues. "But that wasn't an option for me. The way I 'fixed' everything was just by adding things so that it all made sense when put together. It was one of the most challenging but rewarding things I've ever done as a producer. But I think Nick's music shines through. I am glad I was able to honor his guitar playing."
Thanks to Mulhollan's ingenuity, "every single song has his guitar playing on it," he adds proudly.
Mulhollan did provide the guitar part for Masullo's original music when the songwriter was no longer able to. He also provided the music of several other instruments, including a concertina (that's a small Italian accordion) that immigrated with Masullo's grandfather years ago. Kaitz and Donna Stjerna also contributed to the CD, and " I've produced these recordings into what has turned out to be an absolutely beautiful CD," Mulhollan says. "It's gorgeous and quite lush. Although it has a slower pace in parts, these are all substantial songs."
The aptly-titled "Everything You've Got," which includes an amazing 14 tracks, will be unveiled Wednesday during a CD release show at Teatro Scarpino in Fayetteville. Mulhollan will play guitar, Stjerna will play fiddle and Emily Kaitz will play bass, supplemented by Keith Grimwood when Kaitz moves over to the organ for a few songs.
Grimwood, who has heard a few rough tracks from the CD, calls it "amazing. Kelly did an outstanding job."
Masullo is pleased with the outcome, too, and equally impressed with Mulhollan's production. "No one could have done it quite like Kelly," he says. "We both knew it was a race against the clock. He was able to use the best cuts we got and work with those."
Although he is no longer able to play the lovely songs he has written, Masullo will sing at the CD release party. "I am looking forward to seeing how people respond," he told me. " My hope is these songs resonate with everyone."
After speaking with Masullo, I understand why he is so admired and I too, was impressed with his seemingly eternal optimism. Despite the fact he won't be able to play at the Wednesday show, he still found a silver lining.
"I used to hide behind the guitar a lot and not sing out as much on stage," he says. "So I've really had to change that."
Another comment made it apparent Masullo may have lost some things but still has a sense of humor. "Maybe I'll just hold (a guitar) and not play, the way Elvis used to do."
By Emily Kaitz
Fayetteville Free Weekly
"It's about all that you can do
with everything you've got
and not the things that hold you back
or anything you're not."
These words are from the title track of Nick Masullo's new CD, "Everything You've Got," and under the circumstances they are especially poignant. Nick's second album project, undertaken in the face of his ongoing physical struggle with a rare aggressive form of multiple sclerosis, is nothing short of breathtaking, both in terms of the CD's production and the songs themselves.
A lot of credit goes to engineer and producer Kelly Mulhollan, who recorded the CD at his studio, Termite Tracs, and also played most of the back up instruments, including guitar, pump organ, harmonica, mandolin, ukulele and electric bass. Kelly started with Nick's basic vocal and guitar tracks, and proceeded to layer various instruments and vocals on top of them, creating a group of songs that are at once diverse and compatible in arrangement.
During the two year period in which Nick recorded his initial tracks, he had already started losing some control in his hands and fingers due to MS. His guitar parts, while usable, were sometimes a little shaky and inconsistent. Kelly was able to fill them out with his own guitar work and then add the other parts. His particular gift is the ability to delicately enhance a song with subtle instrumental shading, never overproducing. Nick's voice comes through strong and clear, with an intimacy that makes the listener feel he is physically present in the room.
The CD "Everything You've Got" has an acoustic feel, but there are a couple of exceptions, like the rocker "Learnin' To Fly," which features a rare performance by Mulhollan on blistering electric guitar, and the theatrical "Not Goin' Home," which is reminiscent of the band King Crimson in its moody atmospheric crescendos, accomplished by Kelly through the use of a $50 digital effects pedal belonging to his partner Donna Stjerna's teenaged son Taylor, through which Mulhollan played the pump organ and guitar.
Nick Masullo's first CD, "Some Kind Of Sign," released in March 2003, was a finalist that year for the Ozark Music Awards' "Album of the Year" category. Masullo won "Songwriter of the Year" at that OMA ceremony, and several of the songs from the CD won prizes in other contests. He also took first place in the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival Songwriting Contest in 2003, and the following year was named "Male Singer Songwriter of the Year" in the Northwest Arkansas Music Awards.
At the CD release party for "Some Kind Of Sign," held at Mike Shirkey's GoodFolk Productions and featuring many of the musicians who had contributed to the project, very few people were aware that Nick was already experiencing some physical difficulties that later were diagnosed as the onset of MS. All his life he had enjoyed outdoor activities such as hiking and rollerblading, and he had recently discovered a marked decrease in stamina. As 2003 progressed, Nick began walking with the aid of a cane, and later retired from his position as General Manager of Ozark Cooperative Warehouse.
Currently Nick depends on a motorized wheelchair for his mobility, and augments his limited manual computer skills through the use of voice activated software. But throughout the ordeal of his deteriorating health, he has maintained a positive attitude, a willingness to adapt, and a sense of dignity and grace, all of which come across in some of the songs on his new CD.
"It doesn't matter how you move
A limo or a chair with wheels,
It's up to you that you arrive
It's up to you the way you feel...
But it'll matter who you touch
and it matters what you give
It'll matter if you try
It makes a difference that you live
We're not here for very long
It's the only chance you've got
You think it may be time to wait
But I'm thinking that it's not."
"It'll Matter" by Nick Masullo
Part of Nick's brilliance as a songwriter comes from his ability to transform highly personal experience into universal truth. The kind of philosophical objectivity that he displays even in regard to his own illness inspires each of us to live life to the fullest.
On "Some Kind Of Sign" Nick included three love songs to his wife, Ginny, and he continues in that vein on the new CD with "I'm Tellin' You Now," "All Roads Lead To You," and "What Matters To Me."
"It's not the problems on the job
oh they'll be there tomorrow, it's true
I remember what's important now
And what matters to me is you...
I get distracted by the noise of the world
and the endless chatter
But I remember when I hold you close
Those other things just don't matter."
"What Matters To Me" by Nick Masullo
Nick pays tribute to his Italian heritage in "One Hundred Years Ago," a song about his immigrant grandfather coming to the United States, and later Nick's own pilgrimage to Italy. One of the special musical touches on this song is that Kelly plays the very concertina that Nick's grandfather brought with him from Italy, and which is now a cherished memento of the Masullo family.
Soundclips and the CD "Everything You've Got" are available at http:/cdbaby.com/cd/nickmasullo2.
From The Northwest Arkansas Times
by Sarah Terry
The CD might bear Nick Masullo’s name, but it wouldn’t exist without a little help from his friends, the Fayetteville singer-songwriter said. Titled “Everything You’ve Got,” the album features 14 songs written and sung by Masullo, then rounded out with harmony and the instrumental talents of some of Fayetteville’s finest musicians. Contributing are Emily Kaitz, who produced Masullo’s first album, 2003’s “Some Kind of Sign,” and plays bass on one of the new songs; Donna Stjerna, who adds background vocals or violin to three tracks; and Kelly Mulhollan, who plays about 20 instruments throughout the album, from mandolin, guitar and banjo to pump organ and an antique concertina accordion that belonged to Masullo’s grandfather.
Mulhollan had to repair the instrument just enough to make it work for the album, Masullo said.
“This record is just as much Kelly’s as it is mine.” Which makes it only fitting that Mulhollan and the others join Masullo on Wednesday for a release party at Teatro Scarpino in Fayetteville. With Kaitz on bass and pump organ, Stjerna on violin, Mulhollan on guitar and Masullo singing lead vocals, the quartet will perform everything from the CD plus a few songs that didn’t make the final cut, Masullo said. Local musician Leslie Oelsner will also join in on two numbers, he added. Masullo wrote the songs over the past five years and spent the past two recording them with Mulhollan, who also mixed and produced the CD. A longtime Fayetteville resident, Masullo has been a songwriter for many years. But for this project, his writing was colored by his diagnosis with multiple sclerosis three years ago and his declining health. “There’s been a shift in how I see things since entering a slightly different world that I never knew existed before,” he said. “I don’t want to whine. It’s like someone who’s heartbroken – it’s there. I just hope people can relate to the messages on the songs.”
Although none mention Masullo’s illness overtly (with the possible exception of a lone reference to a wheelchair), many carry messages of adapting and overcoming challenges. “People get absorbed with their problems. I do it, too,” he said. “But we all have to figure out what to do with our lives, regardless of what we’re dealing with.” The lyrics of the title track, he said, best express the theme of the album: “It’s about all that you can do with everything you’ve got / And not the things that hold you back or anything you’re not.” Several of the songs came to Masullo in dreams, and he would awake and sing them into a tape recorder he keeps beside his bed. It’s a practice he has followed for years, though the recorder is indispensable now that he can no longer use a pen and paper, he said. While the songs on the album are uplifting and easy to listen to, a variety of styles are present. “Learnin’ to Fly” is the most driving of the bunch with Mulhollan playing the electric guitar, Masullo said, adding that there are also songs that feature jazz guitar or mandolin and banjo. And a few are love songs inspired by Ginny, his wife of 26 years.
Masullo was named Songwriter of the Year at the 2003 Ozark Music Awards and won first place at the 2002 Woody Guthrie Folk Festival Songwriting Competition. In 2004, he was chosen as Best Male Singer-Songwriter at the Northwest Arkansas Music Awards. His songs have been featured nationally on “The Folk Sampler” radio show and have received radio play across the United States, and in Canada and Europe.