Daily Inspiration: Meet Colin Palmieri

Today we’d like to introduce you to Colin Palmieri.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I come from a musical family and have been turning everything into a song since I could talk. I first began formal music lessons at the age of 9 when I started piano lessons. Two years later, at age 11, I started saxophone in band class at school. Throughout my time in the K-12 school system I got my hands on anything and everything musical that my school had to offer. Everything from marching band to the school musicals performing both on instruments and by way of acting, singing and dancing on various stages. I knew early on in high school that I wanted to study music in college, but even having that much narrowed down, there we’re still a lot of avenues I found myself toggling between for a while.

In the end I chose to study music education with a jazz saxophone specialization at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) in Cincinnati, OH, a mere 3.5 hours from where I grew up in Hudson, OH. It seemed like a great middle ground of being relatively close to home (and still in-state $!), but far enough that I would still feel very independent right away. My time at CCM was all in all incredible and I’m truly grateful for the handful of professors who have looked out for me and given me every opportunity to succeed these past 5 years. I’ve been fortunate enough to perform with some incredible guest artists who have come through CCM during my time there including Emmet Cohen, Lewis Nash, Tamir Heldelman, Chip McNeill, Camille Thurman, Derrick Gardner, and many more. On the other side of things, CCM also gave me the opportunity to perform at some infamous venues including the Rose Theatre at Jazz at Lincoln Center for the Jack Rudin Jazz Championships (hosted by Wynton Marsalis), April 2022 in New York City, as well as the incredible Carnegie Hall for a tribute to Stephen Flaherty (composer of “Ragtime” and “Anastasia”, and CCM alumni), January 2024 also in NYC.

Now, as a college graduate, age 23, life takes a very different shape than I’ve seen it before. In my first few months out of organized education, I find myself freelancing both music teaching and performing in various forms most days of the week. From private contractor work at school districts along with private music lessons to performing at local music venues with jazz, rock, pop, r&b, rap, hip-hop, and original artist groups, my career thus far has been solely spent teaching, writing, and performing music. I am very happy with how things are going so far and I’m always excited for the next stage (both literally and figuratively!)

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There’s always going to be struggles no matter what line of work you’re in. I do think that getting to this point in my career has been relatively smooth in the grand scheme of things, but it’s the tough questions of what’s down the road that get in my way more recently.

What do I want my career to look like? Is it even a good idea to try to plan out what the arc of your career should be? But if you don’t plan enough ahead, you’ll get lost in the shuffle. What will people think if I take this route in my career? Can I appease all my different groups of friends, family and other supporters at the same time? Will that make me happy? Would it be sacrificing my creativity? Sure I can support myself on the income I’m making right now, but what about a family? Is traveling so much for work going to make for a stable environment to raise a child in? I know I want to wait until I’ve lived a little more to settle down, but by “then” is it too late? Will I be happy when I settle down? When do I consider myself a success enough to “step away”?

This inner dialogue rabbit hole clouds my vision a lot especially now, with no “next semester” laid out to me by others. And these somewhat needless worries inhibit my ability to keep pushing forward in my creative work or even mundane work in general. The procrastination that comes along with not having all the answers is cliche, but very real and I’m learning it does take discipline to do what I do.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My work consists of teaching, writing, and performing music. I think that “big 3” is a pretty even split in my career thus far. That being said, I think performing is where my heart lies. I couldn’t tell you when I made the shift into being comfortable on stage in front of people, but it’s where I thrive. The energy and making something out of nothing in the case of performing original music for an audience is so fulfilling. The other great part of performing is the collaboration between artists who’ve become friends. That connection when you meet someone who is studied in the same field as you and can make your ideas come to life is a huge honor on both sides of the coin. I’ve been the one to perform as part of many original projects as a sideman as well as in the role of the bandleader performing my own original projects. To have musicians who respect the creative goals you’ve set out to achieve and are on board with the collective sound and roles each instrument plays is a gift, so when I have found that in my colleagues, it’s truly a liberating feeling.

In the eyes of others, I’d say I’m know for being a versatile musician. My chops in the music field range from private, one on one, education all the way to performing multiple instruments on the same professional show for an audience. I am a saxophonist, vocalist, and pianist, which makes me available to take on roles in many different genres, instrumentations, and areas. For some instances, I’m a marketable hire because I simply play saxophone, but in other cases, I’m the best hire because I can cover multiple books of music for the gig by singing background vocals while playing keyboard and then turn around and whip out a tenor saxophone solo on the next tune that is guitar heavy. In the composing sense, I’m known for writing jazz tunes that swing and get stuck in your head, but I’m hoping to add some more groovy, pocket style tunes which I will perform on piano that I hope people start to associate with me.

My proudest work has been realizing that I have become like my mentors in the sense that I am a professional in my craft, but make it a priority to give back to the next generation of young musicians. I remember, back in my Cleveland days, seeing heavy jazz musicians like Dominick Farinacci, Chris Coles, and Theron Brown take the time to work with young jazz students like myself and share their expertise after playing for a packed room at a local club the night before with the best musicians in the area. I think at the end of the day, I’d like to think that my greatest achievements are within my character and actions, rather than the stages I may get to perform on or hit songs I’m a part of.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
For work, having google drive as a way to connect the band members I work with and share music is so helpful to keep things organized and professional. Not that they need my advertising, but it’s really the best.

On the leisure side of taking life easy in between the chaos of a freelance music career, I will do my best to keep up with “Will and Rusty’s Playdate” podcast. It’s a no pressure, friends hanging out and laughing comedy podcast that really takes me out of wherever my minds at and just lets me laugh for an hour or two.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colinpalmierimusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colin.palmieri.3/

Image Credits
Vic Patel
Maria Cardillo
Fred Zwicky
Garrett Miller