John Zambricki

"The EP is..about plucking up courage instead of living in a state of self delusion and features the great lines:
"I'm tired of saying I might
And reading books I should be writing"
-Martin Raybould 'Whisperin and Hollerin'



Every songwriter could use a stroke of luck once in awhile. With so many low-profile buskers playing an endless number of coffeehouses and open-mic nights looking for their break, the fact that zambricki caught his may seem kind of arbitrary at first glance. The fact that this New Jersey-born 20-something, who has criss-crossed his way across the States since his teens, landed his good fortune in Nashville - a city littered with promising songwriters - makes it seem all the more unlikely. More than just being in the right place at the right time, though, zambricki has, through years of half-hearted bands and listless guitar picking, found a voice that is both authentic and seasoned.

So when a Nashville songplugger landed zambricki a sit-down with the powers that be behind the film Paper Heart to play a stripped-down version of "Airport Goodbye," the fit was entirely natural. His recurring themes of lost love, of life moving on before you've had a chance to say your farewells, and hard-lived memories of years past - they're all strangely familiar. And what's more, they're eerily similar to the film itself, which landed him a cameo performing the song in a scene with the lead. A fake documentary
of sorts starring Michael Cera (Juno) and Charlyne Yi (Knocked Up), Paper Heart, not unlike zambricki, is about people wandering through life in search of love. But where the movie blurs the line between silver screen meet-cutes and real love, zambricki's songs are firmly rooted in life.

From "Airport Goodbye"'s contemplative pop and the lazy summer imagery of "Charleston," to the airy harmony of "Where Was Your Mind?," not a single chord or lyric is wasted. Then there's "Sarah," a song that encapsulates all of zambricki's lovesick vocals, softly strummed guitar and knack for crafting tight, hummable hooks. To cap it off, "As Is" offers a revamped version of Ani DiFranco's overlooked gem that only a likeminded self-starter of the veteran songwriter could dig up.

If zambricki writes all original material and mans damn near every instrument laid to tape, he hardly makes himself out to be a one-man show. With backing bands set up all across the country via Craigslist hits, he's ever ready to play a set wherever the Greyhound takes him. Those few who've caught him under the stage lights can say they're lucky enough to have got on the ground floor of a truly promising talent. But to the many who are about to discover him, tune your ears now, because in zambricki's hands, a little luck can go a long way.