Patti's After-Party: If You Wanna Know Joe Noto, You "Gotta Know About That"

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Doom scrolling on Instagram isn't the best use of my time, I know that, but every once in a while, I see something that I consider a win. A couple of months ago while lazily perusing reels, and you know how it goes, pass, pass, pass, stop, watch a little, pass, stop and then there’s a “Whoa!” There was some guy hanging around the front of the new Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, home of the Buffalo Bills, singing a snippet of a country tune. I watched it several times wondering who this person was. His lyrics included mentions of the Buffalo Bills and the New York Yankees, both of which are well-loved in my hometown of Buffalo, New York. The song itself, even if it was just a little bit of it, was an ear grabber. It’s stuck in my head nearly every day! It was time to dig into this artist.

I started by messaging him on Instagram, asking if he’d be interested in doing an interview with me for Center Stage Magazine. He agreed, but then the whole thing seemed to fizzle out. I heard nothing back. Until I did. He apologized for his delay in getting back to me and we set a date to speak on the phone. His name is Joe Noto and he’s got quite the story, oh, and quite the song coming out!

By his song lyrics and social media photos, you would have to believe this guy was a New Yorker. His love of the Bills and the Yankees is so apparent, but he’s not a New Yorker. But he also kinda is. Settle in with your favorite beverage and get to know this mystery man who’s new single is about to be the next addition to your country playlist.

Researching Joe Noto prior to interviewing him was kind of a struggle. There wasn’t much out there. Some basic stuff, but not enough to formulate any deep questions. I was going in pretty cold. I let him know that, but I was confident we could create something worthwhile as long as he was a decent conversationalist. Thankfully, he was.

What I did learn in poking around online was that it appeared Noto was a Florida guy. Even more intriguing. How does an artist from the Sunshine State become an avid fan of New York teams? That’s where we began.

I asked, “So you’re from Florida?” He replied, “Yeah, by way of New York. I was born in Upstate New York and moved to Florida when I was a kid.” That explains a lot. I continued, “You’re from Loxahatchee?” “Yeah, you could call it that. It’s really Royal Palm Beach, Florida. They’re two towns.” He then offered undeniable proof that he was very connected to Western New York. “It’s like Williamsville to Clarence.” Those are two northern Buffalo suburbs (very close to where I’m currently living actually) that most people don’t know unless they’re from the area. He then expanded on the Loxahatchee/Royal Palm Beach connection. “I did my schooling in Loxahatchee, but I lived on the other side of the canal, which made me Royal Palm Beach.” Okay, got it now.

When it comes to the Buffalo Bills, it’s a generational thing for Noto. “My dad’s a Bills fan. My father is from Rochester, New York and my mom is from Jamestown (hometown of the late great Lucille Ball), it’s kind of a crazy story. My mom comes from a really big family and so does my dad. My mom’s family bounced back and forth from Palm Beach County, Florida and Jamestown, kind of her entire life, and they ended up, as most people do, settling in Florida. My mom is one of seven kids, so all seven siblings moved their families to Florida. My maternal grandmother lived in West Palm and in the late 80s, my grandfather and grandmother on my father’s side happened to move to Palm Beach County.

I'm assuming it was a story for another time, but Noto said, "My parents had seen each other in both places, 'kind of',it was crazy" meaning that somehow they connected permanently. He went on, "So when they had me they were like ‘'Why don't we just raise the kid around the family?" So they ended up selling their house in North Tonawanda, New York and we moved to Palm Beach County."

There's even more evidence Noto is deeply rooted in New York. He shared, “I had the best of both worlds. I never really spent a July in Florida. All of my summers were spent essentially in the Chautauqua area of New York and all of our other family members are generally around Williamsville and Amherst, New York.

Let's throw another dart at the map now. Look at that, it landed squarely on Nashville, Tennessee, which is where Noto lives these days. How did he get into playing and singing music, specifically country music? He recounted, “My grandfather was a jazz musician and I was around that all the time. He was always encouraging me to play instruments, so that was a big part of it. Now you have to understand, Loxahatchee is sort of the sticks. People think of Florida and they think of beaches and Miami, but there’s so much more that’s not tourism, the beach and Disney World. In middle school I really got into the Zac Brown Band. I wanted to learn all of their songs and that made me fall in love with country music. From there I started listening to Jake Owen, Brett Eldredge, Thomas Rhett, those kinds of guys.

Continuing, he said,"I've always known about the greats. My parents listened to Garth Brooks and Shania Twain when I was growing up, but I never gave it the time of day. I was into Justin Bieber and whatever they were playing on the radio at the time. I was never dying to jump into a Garth Brooks record, but here’s what happened Patti. Zac Brown was featuring other artists like Jimmy Buffett and Alan Jackson. That got me into things like 'Remember When' by Alan Jackson and I started really loving the art of song, the art of piecing lyrics together. I just fell in love with the stories people were telling and that's how I fell in love with creating country music.

What's important to note is Joe Noto's exposure to different genres and artists. He told me his first concert was Bon Jovi. He grew up with Michael Jackson posters pasted on his walls. A family trip to Washington, DC afforded him the opportunity to see an Earth, Wind & Fire performance, and of course, his jazz musician grandfather introduced him to many artists, including Frank Sinatra. Wrap all that together with his country music fan parents and you've got a fairly well-rounded young music lover. Given all of that, Noto obviously decided if he was going to do music for a living, he was settling on country. Obviously he was impressed by the art of storytelling, which is paramount in any good country song, but from our conversation, I sensed there was a monkey on his back about joining the masses trying to make it in Nashville. Not enough to hold him back, but there was this one thing that concerned him, and being from the northeast myself, I understand it.

Noto shared, "When you move to Nashville, you wanna be a country artist. You wear what country artists are supposed to wear and you write what they’re supposed to write, but what I love about the song I'm about to put out is, I've finally shed my heroes' skin. I finally have my own story to tell. In the time we're in, 'it seems like more' people know you don't have to be from the country to appreciate, love and create country music. It's for anybody. It doesn't matter what you look like, where you come from or what your background is. It doesn't matter if your parents were farmers or cowboys, or if they were teachers or financial advisors, it's for everybody. I'm just starting to tap into who I truly am." Well said Joe Noto. I feel like there really is a stereotype that you can’t fully embrace country music unless you were raised in the outskirts and fed chickens before school every morning. Maybe you can 'like' it, but you're going to have to work extra hard to be accepted as someone that completely 'feels' the music. Of course none of that is true, but shaking the stereotype is difficult for some people. Make no mistake, country music is universal.

A couple of interesting country artists that have touched the life of Joe Noto in markedly different ways are Jake Owen and Morgan Wallen. Jake Owen has become a mentor to Noto. He's helped him get his footing as a Nashville-based artist. Noto wasn't short on compliments when it came to Owen, telling me, "He's helped me in so many ways and I'm so grateful to call him a friend and a mentor." Exactly how they connected is a story I'd love to hear and share at a future date, but I do know they have some commonalities; both are from Florida, both attended Florida State University and naturally, both are country musicians.

As for Morgan Wallen, there's a Florida State connection with him too, but even without knowing just how Noto and Owen became friends, I suspect it might differ from how Noto tripped across Wallen. Noto was quick to point out that "Morgan Wallen wasn't yet the Morgan Wallen he is today, he was still a rising artist playing a gig at the college." It was 2017 and Noto was a student at FSU. Noto described the night they met as a 'wild time'. A night of partying where they "nearly burned Tallahassee down." Okay, the scene is set. Wallen's had his guitar and was playing some songs and ended up passing the guitar around, and when it reached Noto's hands, he also played a few tunes. Wallen asked him if he had any of his own songs, and to make a long story short, a songwriter named Joe Noto was born on that night of southern-fried debauchery. We'll revisit Morgan Wallen shortly, but for now, we're back to the Noto show.

Even though Joe Noto was really close to earning a degree from Florida State, he ended up dropping out to move to Nashville. The move wasn’t all about becoming a working musician, he got a job offer that he obviously couldn’t refuse and off to Music City he went. “I knew it was risky,” he revealed, “and it was nerve-wracking. I never really knew a life away from family,” but he bucked up, packed a U-Haul and took off for the land of twang and neon. He’s now been a Nashville resident for five years and isn’t looking back.

Joe Noto’s new single is called “Gotta Know About That,” and was penned by Steve Moakler,Jonathan Hutcherson and Noto himself. The story behind it is one I’ve not heard before and it’s great. In addition to being among Noto’s favorite co-writers, he also considers Moakler and Hutcherson to be good friends. After hearing the story of “Gotta Know About That,” and its foundations, I know those two guys have to be pretty special people.

Funerals aren’t the best place to learn about the recently deceased, but that’s often how it works, especially when it comes to older relatives. Joe Noto learned so much that he never knew about his late grandmother at her funeral. Her friends and relatives were telling all sorts of stories about her that Noto had never heard before. One story that really made an impact on him was that his late grandmother was the first Upstate New York Mary Kay pink Cadillac winner. That story found its way into the writer's room the day “Gotta Know About That” was penned. As soon as Moakler and Hutcherson heard about the Mary Kay Cadillac, they made the executive decision to somehow include it in that day’s write. One thing led to another and the discussion turned to all things Joe Noto. Moakler and Hutcherson encouraged Noto to tell them all about himself, his life and childhood. Noto said, “Steve and Jonathan really got me to open up a lot about my childhood and things that were specific to me. I think we hit the nail right on the head. It made me realize that there are people that grew up just like I did, people that love country music that might wanna come to this town and write songs.

I wouldn’t call it anxiety, but I didn’t grow up on a back 40. I grew up in a rural suburban community, and I didn’t have that quintessential country upbringing, but you know what? That’s okay. There are a lot of people like me that don’t live way out (in the country), or in a one stoplight town. They just love the music, the storytelling and the feeling that I felt when I fell in love with the genre. Country music is like a drug, it’s real stories about life, honest stories. That’s why I’m so happy with the new song. It’s my version of what country music is, it’s how I grew up and I’m looking forward to its release.

What the song amounts to is a guy giving you a list of all the aspects of himself that are so vital to who he really is, that if you want to know about him, you’ll need to know everything on that list. It’s one of the catchiest melodies I’ve heard in ages, it embeds itself into your brain so fast that it’s hard to shake out. The lyrics give you all you need to know about Joe Noto, and best of all, it has Noto’s indisputably country vocals. It has all the components of a breakout song. It will be fun to see what it does once released. A little taste of the lyrics to “Gotta Know About That” so you can sing along as soon as it releases:

Eminem on the Alpine speaker

Go Bills on a Reebok t-shirt

Hit ‘em long like Jeter on a Friday night

Product of some damn good raising

All my mama’s amens in the making

You can bet I’m always gonna be

Blue jean, Dairy Queen

Root beer rollin’ in the back seat

Small town drama, Americana

Way down in Loxahatchee

Redneck in a Yankees hat

Got a rosary on the rearview dash

Like my Grandma did in her Mary Kay Cadillac

Ya wanna know about me

Ya gotta know about that”

Be ready to listen to “Gotta Know About That” on Friday, October 16th on your favorite digital music platform.

There’s no doubt about it, Noto’s co-writers on his upcoming single are some fantastic songsmiths, but who would Joe Noto love to write with that he hasn’t yet? I guess the answer should have been obvious. He responded, “I guess it would be a full-circle moment to write with Morgan Wallen. He’s the one who got me started in writing songs, and who wouldn’t want to write with Morgan?” We both agreed that would be about the best thing that could happen. It would certainly complete the circle from back on that crazy night in Tallahassee when Wallen asked Noto if he had any original music. So if anyone connected to Morgan Wallen sees this, maybe let him know there’s at least one more artist that would be thrilled to get in the writer’s room with him.

The co-writing wish list is probably quite long, but Noto said he likes all kinds of music and he’d be up for trying his hand at another genre. In particular, he’d be very open to penning a tune with Teddy Swims. If anyone happens to know Teddy Swims, pass the message on.

If you live in the Nashville area or plan to visit there in the near future, you might find Joe Noto playing a regular gig at Losers in Midtown. As of this writing he’s playing there every Thursday through Saturday from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm and Sundays from 1 to 5. He won’t be alone though. He plays alongside Adam Ernst, whose music I checked out and he’s excellent. Your Uber fare to Midtown will be well worth it. When asked what he’s working on next, Noto stated his main goal at the moment is “giving the people consistently good music to listen to in their cars, homes or with earphones.” That sounds like a logical plan to me. 

At the time of our interview, I asked Noto if he had any predictions for the Bills and the Yankees. Well, I think I’ll just skip the Yankees this time. He didn’t say he thought the Yankees were absolutely heading to the World Series, but he thought a big win against the Boston Red Sox the night before we spoke might be an indicator of something positive. Maybe next year.

Switching to the Buffalo Bills, there’s still a lot of season left, so let’s see how this forecast pans out. Noto predicted that Josh Allen will win MVP, Greg Rousseau will take home Defensive Player of the Year and yes, he believes the Bills will be in the Superbowl. He didn’t say they would win the Superbowl, but Bills’ fans need to tread lightly on anything related to that particular sporting event. The Buffalo Bills’ Mafia is pretty divided when it comes to almost anything. They all agree the Buffalo Bills are the best team ever, but beyond that, you either come into each game knowing they’ve got a win before the game starts, or you’re ridiculously superstitious about every last detail. The mere mention of a victory before the 4th quarter could get you thrown out of the bar. If they lose, it’s on you for jinxing it. Football is serious and emotions run hot in every direction. As for me, I hope Joe Noto’s predictions come true. If you’re reading this in New England, you’re probably thinking something else. Aside from football, we hope you’ll still like “Gotta Know About That.

As we entered the homestretch, I pulled a random question card from a very large deck. It read “Besides your real birthday, what is one other date on the calendar that you think would have been a great date to be born?” I also asked when his actual birthday is. “My birthday is November 19th, a great time to have a birthday. It’s far enough from Christmas, but also close enough that you get two sets of gifts. I’ve gotta be honest with you and I’m not trying to avoid your question, but I share my birthday with my dad and that’s so cool. So maybe the only other day I’d want to be born is on my mom’s birthday which is August 25th.

Last question, because we are Center Stage Magazine, what’s a memorable time where Joe Noto felt like he was “center stage?” Unfortunately, the audio recording became garbled and I had to rely on my handwritten notes. I hope I get this right. I’ll be paraphrasing his actual words, but I think I can do it. Noto’s “center stage” memory wasn’t just one moment in time. He described it as more like a wish to travel back in time to Sundays in his childhood home. He explained that large family gatherings were always held in his family’s house on Sundays. It was Sunday football and big Italian dinners and they were the best memories of his life. He misses them a lot. “Sundays back at home, it felt like being ‘center stage’ every time,” and that’s a direct quote. I wrote it down. 

You might want to get Joe Noto on your radar. He’s got something and I could hear it in his voice. The intensity with which he expressed his love of country music was unique. Every country artist loves what they do and they’re passionate about the music, but Joe Noto went a step further; he worked hard to make the case for country artists who don’t quite fit “the mold.” It doesn’t matter if you grew up in a one-horse town with little more than a tiny post office, or if you were raised in a big city high-rise apartment building, country music doesn’t care. If you’re drawn to it and want to listen to it, play it, write it or talk about it, you not only can, you should. I believe Joe Noto wants this country music life more than almost anyone I’ve ever interviewed, and that’s a fact.

Stay up-to-date with Joe Noto on his social media sites. Drop him a message or a comment and tell him Center Stage Magazine sent you!