November Artist of Month : Patrick James

This is a personal one for me…though admittedly, I only write about things that move me, music that touches me and strikes some kind of nerve deep inside my brain and heart. You know, stuff that is personal. But today is especially a case of that situation.

Patrick James (the artist formerly known as Patrick Coman? Can we say that?) is the name that a dear old friend is now releasing his work under. Patrick was one of the first people I gathered into a sticky, smelly dive bar to swap songs with when I first moved back to the Boston area after college. To say those early days were formative is a vast understatement. We served on the board at New England Americana together, had a short lived songwriter’s group in living rooms around Brighton and time and time again he graciously asked me to be a part of his For the Sake of the Song series paying tribute to our favorite songwriters.

You know that saying “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them“, well, those times were that for me and I owe a lot of it to PJ. Late nights, some bleary eyed mistakes, but swapping songs around a table ’til past closed or planning a 3 day, 60 band festival and no one getting arrested or worse…well, those are the times I look back and yearn for in a lot ways.

But I digress…he’s got a new band, new gigs and a new tune out this month and in his own words it’s a “swaggering Stonesy rocker straight out of sweet Virginia…” which we couldn’t agree more with.

Closing my eyes, swaying my head to the ripping guitar lines and his longing, extended vocal phrasings. It brings me back to nights in those rock n’ roll dive bars of Allston and JP and Brighton. PBRs, rock n’ roll, sticky floors and the faint smell of stale beer. Its the perfect amalgamation of what was most influential to me in those days. Peak nostalgia in terms of transporting me back to my mid 20s and the music that made me fall in love with music in the first place. The strutting dance of the Rolling Stones intermingling with the “everyone is singing along and loving it” feel of Petty and the Heartbreakers. There is something that just hits you different about this music and Patrick has managed to contain all of that wonder and hard hitting wistfulness in this track.

Mighty excited to see what comes next for this artists and we agree with Patrick’s sentiment about this one…”Just one request – play it loud”