To be blunt, I'm nothing like James, says singer Paolo Nutini

Selling more than a million copies of his debut album, These Streets, was one thing.

But gaining seals of approval from some of the biggest names in pop was something else.

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Paolo Nutini has been a huge hit at summer festivals

The first came when Paul Weller invited Nutini to join him on stage in New York, for a version of Sister Sledge's Thinking Of You.

Then, when he played this year's Montreux Jazz Festival, the young Scot got to sing with another idol, soul man Ben E. King.

The clincher came in June, when he was asked to share the limelight with the Rolling Stones as they headlined the Isle Of Wight Festival.

Paolo first made an impression on Jagger & Co when he supported the Stones in Vienna last summer.

That night, the rock veterans joked with the 20-year-old that they wouldn't have even booked him had they known that he was Scottish. (They thought he was Italian.)

On the Isle Of Wight, it was Paolo who picked the song: Mick agreed to sing Love In Vain, a Robert Johnson blues from the Let It Bleed album, 'as long as I can remember the words'.

'Playing with the Stones scared the hell out of me,' says Paolo. 'And the fact that it was in front of so many people made it worse.

'I just concentrated on what I had to do. To sing with Mick, and hold a note in harmony with him, was amazing.

'There was a big difference between our rehearsals and the show. In rehearsal, we were all musicians together.

'But once the show started, I was under no illusion that I was being invited on to Mick's stage.

'He didn't say it in so many words, but I knew where I stood. But he wanted me to have fun. He didn't expect me to try to out-do him. That wasn't required and it would have been silly of me to try.'

Granted an access-all-areas pass, Paolo was also surprised at how normal the Stones were backstage: 'Charlie Watts was very relaxed, while the rest of them seemed to have about 19 daughters apiece running around.

'Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood had an argument over a chord in the rehearsal. Ronnie, with his steel guitar in his lap, was moaning: "What if this was the f***ing gig, Keith?" It showed how much they still care.'

That Isle Of Wight appearance was just one high point in a remarkable 12 months for Paisley-born Nutini.

Now established as a firm festival the soft-spoken Scot has developed into a far more credible artist than many would have predicted last summer.

Then, with These Streets and debut single Last Request having just entered the UK charts, his floppy fringe and brooding good looks were attracting a young, predominantly female audience.

Today, with his raucous live gigs gathering plaudits across the board, he is widening his appeal — and growing disaffected with the limitations of an airbrushed, pop-oriented image.

'I get down in the dumps about it sometimes, especially when I'm forced to do days of in-store promo appearances.

'Now I only enjoy them if I can play a few songs, too.'

Comparisons with James Blunt and James Morrison are also irksome: 'I was talking to Ricky Wilson (of the Kaiser Chiefs) and he had to stop himself from calling me James.

'When I was making These Streets, I knew nothing about any other new male singer songwriters.

'The next thing I knew, I'm the new James Blunt!

'Then James Morrison, who even looks a bit like me, came along. Suddenly, there was a wee huddle of us, and we were seen as being part of a scene.'

Paolo aims to reiterate his individuality this month with a new, 'festival edition' of These Streets.

A two-CD package, it features the original studio album plus live cuts from the Isle Of Wight.

As well as striking a rawer, more funky tone, the record includes two new cover versions, Vera Hall's Troubled So Hard and the Jungle Book standard I Want To Be Like You.

Despite his success, Paolo still lives with his parents in Paisley, just outside Glasgow. There, the family — who moved over from northern Tuscany around the time of World War I — owns the local chippy, The Castelvecchi, where Paolo worked as a boy.

His late grandfather, Giovanni, was an early influence, introducing him to the Scottish folk of The Corries, while his dad's Sixties soul albums opened his ears to Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and The Drifters.

Nutini's big break came five years ago, when he attended a civic reception for local boy David Sneddon, who had just won BBC1's Fame Academy.

When Sneddon was delayed on his way back from London, organisers held an impromptu talent show, which Paolo won.

Spotted by radio plugger Brendan Moon, now his manager, he was soon on the road. A move to London in 2005 left him homesick, but he stayed long enough to land a record deal with Atlantic, releasing These Streets a year later.

Many of the album's most poignant songs, including Last Request, were inspired by the singer's relationship with girlfriend Teri Brogan.

The couple, who began dating when they were 15, split up shortly before Paolo left for London, but are now back together — and Nutini is quick to rubbish reports from the Isle Of Wight festival linking him with actress Sienna Miller.

'I didn't even meet Sienna, so there's no truth in that one whatsoever. I'm immensely happy with my girlfriend.

'Those kinds of stories can have repercussions on your personal life. If the roles were reversed, and my girlfriend was around loads of Hollywood actors, I wouldn't be happy.

'But when I'm on tour, I tend to do the shows and have a laugh with the band.

'Then I get on the bus, have a few beers and think about my girlfriend.'

Looking ahead, Paolo has plenty to be excited about.

With four more UK festivals still to play this summer, he is also gearing up for a U.S. tour with Amy Winehouse in September.

Then there is that notoriously difficult second album to record. With two new songs — Funky Cigarette and Fifty-Five To One — already written, the project is already under way.

All he needs now is a break. Not a lucky one — he's had that — but a getaway.

'Sometimes I don't know whether I'm coming or going,' he says. 'I don't know whether my new songs are any good. Writing on tour hasn't been easy, so I need to get away and find some perspective.'

• These Streets(Festival Edition) is out on August 20. Paolo Nutini will play the Unleashed Festival in Newquay on August 11, Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza on August 12 and V Festival on August 18 and 19.