Meet Michael Fabrizio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Fabrizio.

Hi Michael, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I began forming a life-long bond with music as early as I can remember. In large part, I attribute this to the passion of my Italian heritage and my loving family. In 1947, my mom’s mom, who we called “Nana” was just off the boat from Calabria, Italy escaping the war-torn country for better opportunities in America.

Singing and song were a big part of her and her sibling’s life as far as entertainment as well as a source of comfort through harsh times. My dad’s mom whom I called my grandma was a second-generation Italian-American with her parents coming from Sicily. She was also regularly singing and was a member of the Sweet Adelines in NYC for many years. My mom and her sister routinely sang around our small town while they were children and my mom and dad were together in a band before I was born. Music was always a salvation for me.

I remember “Small Town” by John Cougar Mellencamp was one of my earliest memories of singing. I always felt a connection with words being from a small town. As I grew older, I found that writing personalized sentiments in greeting cards was something I enjoyed. Later on, coupled with piano lessons my love for writing led to my passion for songwriting. The first song I ever wrote was called “Lose it All” I still play it sometimes and it takes me back to those early recording sessions in 2003 in the belly of an old church with my piano teacher just trying to figure it all out. I later learned it was the same church that my parents were married in which made the whole experience even more enriching.

My first album was called “Country Strong” and was well received but certainly showed the “green” in me and the work I had yet to do to be an accomplished singer/songwriter and musician. This lead me to leave my life in Boston, MA playing baseball for Northeastern University and to move down south to what I considered at the time to be the “right place” for me to further my education and my music career. I moved to a small town in West Tennessee and finished up a school there before graduating in December 2005. I lived at home until February of 2006 and then on Valentine’s Day my dad and I drove down to Nashville to meet my mom and sister at what would be my new home.

Since 2006, Nashville has treated me well. I’ve met and worked with many well-known artists, managers, songwriters, MCs, club owners, and radio personalities. I’ve heard my music played on radio stations across the country and I’ve had songs and jingles on major networks. I started my music company in 2007 and it continues to this day, recording, publishing, and booking talent. I also continue to enjoy working in the corporate songwriting space helping companies such as Google in a team-building capacity through songwriting.

As an artist, I started a band called Fabrizio and the Fever in 2013 and was fortunate to see that group rise to success with opening performances for Boston, Trigger Hippie, Sleeper Agent, and others. The band was featured on several special televised events including an NBC New Year’s Eve special in Bowling Green, KY in 2018.

Most recently, I was honored to headline a fundraiser for Berkshire Theatre Group in my hometown of Richmond, MA. The event helped to send children to summer theatre camp. The fundraiser and scholarship fund is dedicated to my late friend and mentor David Grover.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been anything but a smooth road. This industry is very difficult and competitive. There are a lot of pitfalls and a lot of things you can get “caught up in” along the way.

I’ve been fortunate to have a wonderful support group and family to rely on and friends that have always been there for me.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Michael Fabrizio is a Nashville-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist and producer. His collaborations throughout his 13+ years in Nashville include writers and producers such as Tommy Sims (Eric Clapton), Greg Crowe (Montgomery Gentry, Sawyer Brown, Trace Adkins), Del Gray (Little Texas), Bryan Edwards (Jason Aldean), Kent Wells (Dolly Parton), Zach Turner (Trace Adkins, Keith Whitley), Travis Bettis (Lee Brice), Lee Turner (Darius Rucker), among others. Fabrizio is also the lead singer of Fabrizio and the Fever, an Americana-Rock band formed in Nashville, TN.

The band, dubbed, “genre-gypsies” pulls from a plethora of inspirations including classical, country, rock, Americana, folk-rock as well as pop, blues, and hip-hop music. The group regularly consists of Warner Brothers sound engineer Mark Lonsway on acoustic guitar and harmonies and well-known Nashville shredder Matt Zehr on electric guitar, filling out the regular band’s longtime friend and time-keeper Steve Wolfe. “The Fever” is a collection of musicians who play regularly or semi-regularly with the band. It also includes close supporters of the group.
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FnF became a band on October 2013 with an opening slot for legendary super group Boston at the Colonial Theatre in Massachusetts. Since then, FnF and Fabrizio have opened for notable acts including Robert Randolph, Sleeper Agent, Trigger Hippie, John Carter Cash, Craig Morgan, Jessica Andrews, Raelyn Nelson, Lewis Brice, True Villains, Dave Gibson, and many others.
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The band gained notoriety when they were chosen by Nashville’s Lightning 100 radio station as “Artist of the Week” in 2014 with their song, “Lately I’ve Been Waiting.” In 2016, their song “California” was the winner in a song contest on Nashville’s Hippie Radio 94.5, and FIVE other songs from their debut album, “Nunchuck Fury” have been placed in podcasts located throughout the Los Angeles area, namely in a podcast run by celebrity Dr. Drew.

Fabrizio has written songs and jingles for NBC/CBS and has also appeared on the ABC/CMT show “Nashville” several times as a member of the character Gunner’s band. In 2015, Fabrizio and co-writer Patrick Raines were awarded “Best Song” in the Nashville 48-hour film festival. Since the inception of FnF, the group has released two albums. Their debut album is called “Nunchuck Fury” and their follow-up “Head Theatre.” Both albums are being re-released to the streaming audience beginning in winter 2022. Find them on Apple Music, Spotify, and wherever music is streamed.

Fabrizio is the owner of Red Roots Music, a Nashville music company, and is the co/founder of The Nashville Masquerade, Nashville’s original rock showcase. He also owns and operates MJ Consulting, a virtual assistant and consulting company. His hobbies include running and fly fishing.

Fabrizio spends his free time traveling with his wife Nichole their daughter Anabella, son Leonardo, and 12-year-old Boston Terrier Pepper-Norman.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I am an avid fly fisherman and have been fly fishing since I was 10 years old. I am also a black belt in Okinawan Karate.

A discipline I started when I was 5 years old. My mom and dad just earned the rank of Nonnadan in the style which is a 7th-degree black belt. They have been studying now for 35 years just after I began practicing in 1988/89.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fabrizioandthefever.com
• Instagram: @fabrizionfever
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/fabrizioandthefever
• TikTok: @breezystallion18

Image Credits
Nichole Fabrizio and Matthew Simmons Photography