Every tea house needs live music now and then, yes?  So here's a virtual connection to the music of a talented singer/songwriter. 

I've known about Beth Patterson, the Celtic/Cajun singer/songwriter since I first got on the internet in 1995 and  in 1997 did a search on my own name, when someone told me that an article about an award I'd received was on the internet...and I didn't know it! And there, next to the blurb about the award on the Rural Colorado Healthcare Network website, was a site about another Beth Patterson, and the byline said somethng like this:

Beth Patterson is a musical misfit who crawled out of a Louisiana swamp, embarked on a journey paved by progressive rock, headed for Ireland, and took a wrong turn at Damascus... creating delicious mayhem along the way, inventing some scandalous new traditions, coining some new words, and playing some blazing riffs with a hypnotic new sound…

I said to myself, 'Self, you wish that was you, but it's not!'

So, I've watched with admiration and a tad bit of envy (I want to be a singer in my next lifetime) as her career has blossomed.  

Here's what the critics have to say:

"Like a Cajun singer trapped in an Irish band (and I mean that in a good way)"---Dirty Linen Magazine

"Beth is a bridge between the past and today, moving betweeen the rich tradition of Celtic musi and storytelling and very contemporary with and social commentary.  Her mastery of the bouzouki is truly amazing." --SCMA Ceili

Described by audiences as “a cross between a cobra and a puppy,”  Beth is a multi-instrumentalist but foremost a player of the eight- and ten-stringed Irish bouzoukis.

A native of Lafayette, Louisiana, Beth began her professional career in her teens as a classical oboist and a Cajun bass player. She spent a year studying traditional Irish music and ethnomusicology at University College Cork in Ireland, where she began to experiment with musical fusion. She later finished her bachelor's degree in Music Therapy from Loyola University New Orleans. Today her preferred instrument is the Irish bouzouki, a tear-shaped eight-string instrument of Greek origin that became popular in Irish music in the 1960s.

Here's a link to some musical tidbits from her CDs just to whet your appetite:

Caught in the Act  (Epona)

Take Some Fire  (love the title song)

Hybrid vigor (Reels Medley)

Beth's MySpace page is alive with her music and visuals of her high-energy and talent. You can hear full length renditions of some of her songs on this site.  She has an intense performance schedule. View here.

Beth's soulful music makes me want to dance and weep and laugh and stomp my feet and twirl. No one would ever really confuse us, but I sure wish someone would!

 
Beth at the Dublin Irish Festival 2007

Hope you enjoy getting to know Beth's music!

The Other Beth Patterson