Patty Larkin
Stoughton Opera House 381 E. Main St., Stoughton, Wisconsin 53589
Jana Leon
Patty Larkin
press release: Milwukee-born singer-songwriter Patty Larkin took solace in the breath of the ocean and the silence of thought in a sea-side retreat after the death of her parents and the life-threatening illness of her sister. The resulting album, Still Green, is a luscious, breath-taking marriage of intricate instrumentals and searching vocals.
“I was raised Catholic but once you start to ask yourself what you believe in, things get interesting real fast. What I want to walk away with and what I want to leave the listener with is a sense of hope.”
Through roots abundant with Irish-American song and story and an upbringing replete with artistic appreciation, Larkin gathers herself in her rich history and brings forth the universal truth of longing and joy.
Still Green, Larkin’s thirteenth album, comes from the inspiration she found in the lines of a poem written by Kay Ryan, Green Behind the Ears, which moved Larkin to pick up her guitar and set the poem to music. Using it as a catalyst, Larkin worked through forty songs, whittling down to twelve which she recorded in her Cape Cod studio, later joining up with co-producer Mike Denneen (Aimee Mann, Howie Day) at Q Division in Boston along with Joe McMahon (upright bass); Dave Brophy (drums); Catherine Bent (cello); Jonathan Brooke, Merrie Amsterburg, and Birdsong At Morning with vocal harmonies; and Merrie’s husband Pete (electric guitar).
Eyal Hareuveni for All About Jazz writes of Larkin’s work, “She is a wise lyricist and inventive guitarist who can encapsulate a profound emotional experience in few concise, poetic sentences, delivered suggestively with her warm vocals and colored with hypnotic, guitar-based soundscapes.”
You can hear Patty Larkin at the STOUGHTON OPERA HOUSE on Thursday, April 19 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $22 and can be purchased online at www.stoughtonoperahouse.com or by calling the box office at 608-877-4400 Tuesday-Friday from 9am-4:30 pm.