About a decade ago a friend of mine introduced me to the music of Matt Nathanson. I always found Nathanson's music easy to listen to. It's mostly acoustic pop/rock with deep lyrics and stories. His biggest hit is a song called "Come On Get Higher" which sold over 1.8 million copies and was big on the radio back in 2007.

On Tuesday, Matt Nathanson released "Last Of The Great Pretenders" his tenth studio album. Since his first release Nathanson has evolved musically, but his latest effort is much more personal then some of his previous releases. Another nice change is the production of his music. Instead of being stripped down, there are large song arrangements and very catchy hooks that stick with you.

Nathanson is familiar with Milwaukee. He's familiar with the heat. He says, "Summer in Milwaukee is like its own animal. I think I'm going to just get up on stage in a loin cloth like Ted Nugent."

While most women wouldn't mind Nathanson wearing less, he knows his wife is secure in their relationship. He says, "The energy of people being flirty, that kind of stuff is what makes the world spin. That sort of flirty dude to dude, lady to lady, man to lady thing, lady to men, I think that energy is totally healthy."

As for playing Festa Italiana, Nathanson says, "Italian food is pretty much the best food that there is. People are going to have to pull me away from all the food vendors. I'm going to be smelling everything." You can see him play the Spiked Island Stage this Saturday, July 20, at 7 p.m.

Listen to my interview with Matt Nathanson as we discuss his new album, his love for Italian food, his obsessive/compulsive personality and whether or not he would liked to get punched in the face by Kinks frontman Ray Davies for writing the song "Kinks Shirt," which appears on his new album. Enjoy!