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If you had to sum-up in one (or two) lines what makes Pat tick, it would be -
“The simple life, one-pot meals, dogs and nice tunes with a solid rhythm” (and chocolate chip cookies).
The music Pat loves he loves because of what it represents as much as what it sounds like. He loves the simple, plaintive, 'plum pitiful' music WWW play because it confronts life’s realities and attests to the qualities he would love to see still ‘alive and kicking’ in the world today.
Pat’s love for the music, (which he sees as the essence of the ‘old times’, when people recognised the need for looking out for each other), has been with him most of his life. For Pat, the music reflects the good times, the bad times, the hopes and fears of ordinary folk and he likes it best in a form that makes his fibres jump up and down. That's where rhythm and melody come in. They are the prime movers for Pat. They salve his soul, fire up his blood and make all sorts of things 'get better'.
Pat first dipped a toe in the waters of country music in the early fifties, - spurred on by an enthusiastic mother and a house full of Jimmie Rodgers records. In the following decade and a half, bluegrass, cajun, Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, Hank Williams and every other ethnic and cultural variation of this musical genre washed over Pat’s soul and set him on the path he now treads as fast as his little legs will carry him. At that time, of course, this whole musical bundle was wrapped up together in the great sixties folk revival . It took him quite a few years to distil this musical ‘brew’ into the format which he has since sipped lovingly at every opportunity. At various times throughout the past thirty-five years, Pat has been a member of one sort of band or another; three of these (Fingers & Co., Grassfire and Blackjack) being with a long-time friend Gary Payne. After the demise of Grassfire, Pat had a brief but very enjoyable ‘affair’ with a much broader based music as part of a trio called Panhandle Conspiracy(with Andrew Perry and Dave Jordan). As you might imagine, the music had a strong west Texas flavour. Since leaving Panhandle Conspiracy, Pat rejoined the bluegrass mainstream and spent an enjoyable interlude with Blackjack. Life, in the form of family commitments, poked its nose in and forced him onto the sidelines; musically speaking.
Pat met up with Andrew Perry again towards the end of 2003 and, together, they spent some time trying to bring their musical stuff together. The desire to bring a bass into the mix led to a 'call to arms' going out to David – Yonder was the result of these endeavours. After Yonder, there was a brief period of reflection before the ‘after-dinner picking sessions’ at Pat’s place were formalised into the birth of Wood, Wire and Words with Clare and David
Having worked his way through virtually every stringed instrument in the catalogue, Pat has now settled down with Dobro, mandolin and guitar. Pat’s Dobro provides some of the colour and contrast in WWW’s sound. Pat also dearly loves the mandolin, and strives endlessly to get close to being a decent player. Guitar is and always has been Pat’s first love and he will always cherish the love developed for this instrument half a century ago.
The band’s wide ranging material exploits every facet of Pat’s style of dobro and mandolin playing and WWW’s instrumental mix, makes for a well balanced sound; as well as keeping Pat on his toes.
Pat plays instruments by Phil Davidson, Gibson and Martin
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