BluesWax Sittin' In With

Patrick Sweany

 

By Eric Wrisley

 

Patrick Sweany

 

I first heard Patrick Sweany in December of 1993. In those days, Wednesday night was open mic night at Brady's Café [Kent, Ohio], and the hippie-folk-patchouli crowd would come out in force. Among the others who came to the front to claim their 15 minutes, Pat sat down in front of the microphone and belted out a song about Santa Claus. I don't remember that song now, only that it made me laugh for days. He must have been 18 or 19 at the time, but easily commanded the attention of the room like a seasoned performer.

 

Ten years later, Pat still commands attention, working solo or with his three-piece band.  He averages four performances a week throughout the year, in clubs and bars, the festival circuit, and even in the public schools. He's been a regular crowd-pleaser on the local scene for more than a decade, with a rapidly growing reputation around the country. 

 

In person, he's as congenial and accommodating as he is hardworking and talented. He admonishes the audience, "Be sure to take care of your bartenders, they both look like they have drug habits they can't afford." Between sets, he works the room, saying hello to old friends, shaking hands and accepting requests.

 

Recently, I caught up with him before his standing Tuesday night set at the Zephyr Pub in Kent, Ohio. 

 

On making music & getting paid for it...

 

Eric Wrisley of BluesWax: How long have you been doing this as a full-time job?

 

Patrick Sweany: Well, almost ten years. About three or four years ago, I worked at a bike shop as a day gig for about two years. When I realized it was two years, I, you know, decided to quit.

 

BW: It's either that or you're a lifer at that point.

 

PS: Yeah, exactly. It was pretty much a menial minimum wage job, 200 bucks a week maximum, and I honestly couldn't live on that if I wasn't gigging as well. It came through for me when I had just moved back to the area. I was pretty broke and didn't want to get involved in a career type job, I just wanted to get enough money to pay back the money I owed my folks and get an apartment.

 

My folks never ever asked for the money back or anything like that, and honestly never got what they ...you know... a very small percentage...

 

BW: I know that story!

 

PS: Yeah, well, that's fine, that's what parents are for, you know? My kid will do it to me and I'll be fine with it, "Ok, you need some dough, I've got some, go ahead." You know, it's the American Dream.

 

BW: What was your first paying job?

 

PS: I guess it would be here, right here at the Zephyr. They paid 25 bucks to play downstairs when it was a vegetarian restaurant.

 

Ever since then, doing like the dinner gig for 25 or 35 bucks. And tips - I always seem to be able to hustle tips pretty good. That's sort of a survival tool. [Leaning in toward the tape recorder] By hustling tips, I don't mean any sort of prostitution, or anything like that. I mean just playing fast, trying to engage the audience so they felt uncomfortable not tipping. It was easier to tip than to walk by me, you know.  

 

On balancing the job, the wife & the kid ...

 

BW: How does being married and being a dad impact what you do professionally? And how does your job affect being a husband and father?

 

PS: Well, man, that's a good one. How does it affect what I do? One, it makes me a little bit more focused, really wanting to do it right from a business sense, but also from...you know, you don't want to be that guy who gets hammered at his gigs and you know, you fall into those traps where he's too hammered to play; or doing tons of drugs where that becomes the focus of your life; because I gotta be Dad and when I go home, man, I'm on it. And I really depend on my mother and father in law to take up the slack. My mother-in-law takes Olivia to work with her. So that's definitely putting a little sacrifice in there. 

 

I don't think she's suffering or missing out on childhood because she's allowed to play and be a kid and do what kids do which is play and read books. Hang out with grandma, hang out with mom, hang out with dad. 

 

Sometimes I'll be out on the road for anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Now that's tough, that's really tough to hold a family together. I'd be a liar if I said it was easy. And it's a lot easier for me than it is for my wife.

 

You're always constantly worrying about "Am I being a good parent? Am I doing right by this kid by what I'm doing?" And the logical answer is no, what you're doing sucks for a kid. What you're doing sucks for a kid, that's a shitty thing to do to a kid. But I don't think it is. And what I'm working for now... there aren't a whole lot of other ways of doing this. And she misses me, but when I'm there I'm a full-on dad, and I make sure I have time for her. It's always a trade off. How many hours are there in the day?

 

I think I've shot past the question here by quite a bit. But I think ideally it will pay off big time. If I can make enough money where my wife doesn't have to work. She's an artist, she has very little time to do her art work. It's hard to work a job that's not your main thing. I'm one of the very, very lucky people that gets to do what I love every night. "Musician" is a damn good job. There's a lot of drawbacks to it, but it sure beats digging ditches.

 

A stable home life is tough to do. I've been playing this college town for now I realize ten years, and there's pretty young girls every year. They stay the same and I keep getting older. And that's tempting, and then you're in a bar, and there's always someone saying "Hey crash at my place, let's have some drinks and party." And that's a hell of a lot of fun. But you're there to do a job and entertain those people. You're not there to get hammered every night. 

 

Sweany Jamming At The Eureka Springs Blues Festival

 

On pleasing the senses...

 

BW: If you had to lose one of your five senses, which would you pick?

 

PS: Boy you would think taste would be the one, but that would just suck. Everything would be just...foam...an hour old piece of Juicy Fruit. 

 

Smell would be bad. If something was on fire you wouldn't smell it. That would be tough, but hell, man, sure beats losing the old eyes or ears or tactile sensation. Yeah, I guess by default - taste.

 

BW: OK, since we're talking about food, if you could have dinner with anyone living or dead, where would you go and what would you order?

 

PS: Where would I go ...[chuckles] and what would I order? I tell ya what, man, my quick answer is Nighttown in Cleveland Heights and "The Dublin Lawyer." And then you know, whoever, pretty much is there, it doesn't matter, 'cause you know it'll be a cool time. 

 

Anyone throughout history, or anyone living?

 

BW: Anyone living or dead.

 

PS: Oh man, if you said just dead... Well, you think it would be good, somebody like Albert Einstein, or uh, you know, the other one, ok ...W.C Fields...Groucho Marx...the Marx Brothers - that would be a lot of fun.

 

I'd say a living person, I'd say B.B. King, because there's a guy who's really seen it all. Did what he did for all of his life and seen it all because of it. So yeah, I would guess him - B.B. King. And then that would be just about anywhere, you know.

 

Definitely, because he's seen everything, you know from the whole spectrum of Blues music, to the style that he created and post.... Little Richard would be up there. 

 

Otis Redding would be a good one. I just read his biography. That was...wow... unbelievable. That guy died when he was 27. But he'd been living as a man since he was 14-years-old, going out. But I digress.

 

On Defining Moments...

 

BW:  Do you remember where you were when the Challenger exploded? 

 

PS: Where the hell was I? I remember Tommy Riceland came in and said, "Oh cool!"  and then getting screamed at. But you know it's like, what the hell. You just saw this big rocket, but you don't empathize that there's people on it. It might have been seventhgrade...that would have been Sister Kathleen's class.

 

BW: How about September 11, 2001?

 

PS: September 11, I had just.... September 10, I had played a gig in Eureka Springs, Arkansas; I was visiting some friends of mine where I used to live. I had just played a gig - it was the last day of a string of gigs, and I was gonna take off and go home. I was living in Kent at the time and woke up 'cause a friend of ours I was staying with said, "Holy shit! A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center." We all went upstairs - climbed up into this loft where they had the TV and saw the other plane hit. Another one. 

 

Then everything flashed up, hey there's more planes in the air, things like that. And immediately hearing about the one in Pennsylvania, and thinking, "Shit, ...my people are there." And we live right near the airport, ends up it was the airport south of town. So just trying to get through on a phone, and not being able to get through on a cell phone or anything. Just trying to figure out what's going on, and finally got through, and said well I don't know what's going on, we're waiting to see what happens. 

 

My friends were like, "Man, it's World War Three out there. You ain't going, you don't even know if you can make it on the highway." And I said, "You're right, I don't. I'll see ya later," and started driving and drove for almost 18 hours. Home. Straight home. It was creepy as anything. The roads weren't deserted, but they were the lowest traffic I have seen on that route, even till today.

 

The Speed Round

 

BW: What's your favorite color?

 

PS:  Blue.

 

BW: Name something you put in the freezer.

 

PS:  Ice cream.

 

BW: Where were you born?

 

PS: Massillon, Ohio.

 

BW:  Name something that's minty. 

 

PS:  Peppermint Patties.

 

BW: Who was the fifteenth president?

 

PS: Uh... Millard Fillmore?

 

BW: Name something tall.

 

PS: My older brother Mike.

 

BW: What's your favorite kind of pie? 

 

PS: Strawberry.

 

BW: Name something sold in quarts.

 

PS: Milk.

 

Patrick Sweany played at the Kind Biscuit Festival last weekend. To find out where he is playing, go to www.patricksweany.com.

 

Eric Wrisley is a freelance writer. This is his first piece for BluesWax. We hope to see more! You may contact Eric at blueswax@visnat.com.

 

 

 

 

♪ BluesNews

Heard on the Road...

 

- The King Biscuit Blues Festival was last weekend and an estimated 80,000 people attended the free festival in the Arkansas town of Helena (population 6,323). Rumor is that on the final day when 40,000 Blues fans hit town, it became the third largest city in Arkansas! Of course BluesWax was there! Don't miss next week's "Big Biscuit Issue," featuring a slide show from Photo Editors Jen Taylor and Scott Allen.

- Make plans for the Fifth Anniversary Edition of the Blues & Boogie Piano Summit on Saturday, November 8, once again at the Historic Southgate House (across the river from Cincinnati)- joining us this year will be BluesWax friends Ann Rabson (from Sapphire- The Uppity Blues Women) and Blues specialist from Chicago Barrelhouse Chuck; and back for a return visit, Charlie Booty; and Cincinnati's own Ricky Nye...tickets are $12 at the door or available at www.southgatehouse.com- show starts at 9:00- doors at 8:00.

- Albert Lee just released his first solo album in 15 years, Heartbreak Hill, on Sugar Hill Records. Lee's talents have also been given light in two film and television features, while the Grammy winning artist winds up his European tour with Bill Wyman. Lee was featured in The Blues film series in the "Red, White and Blues" film as one of the first British guitarists to record Blues albums. Lee is also featured in last year's Concert For George, which will be released on DVD next year.

- Blues singer/harmonica player Ken Rhyne has been nominated for a Native American Music Award ("NAMMY") for his internationally acclaimed CD, Caught You White Handed, in the "Best Blues/Jazz Recording" category. Released earlier this year on Atlanta-based Fat City Records, Caught You White Handed explored several sides of the Blues with the Ken Rhyne Band, whose leader has been a fixture of the Atlanta Blues scene for over 20 years. The Native American Music Awards are decided by public vote. Please visit their Web site at www.nammys.com and click on "Vote." The awards show is scheduled for November 15 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the Isleta Casino Resort.

- BluesWax friend vocalist Reneé Austin was announced as the winner of the 2003 Minnesota Music Academy Award for "Best Blues Artist" in a ceremony in St. Paul on September 25. Austin, whose new album entitled Sweet Talk was released only two days before the ceremony, was elated by the honor, saying, "With 2003 being the Year Of The Blues, winning the award for Best Blues Artist is just a thrill for me. The nominees that I was up against are some of the best blues musicians in the Twin Cities. I am honored to be chosen and will work hard to represent Minnesota around the country as their Blues Artist of the year." Congratulations, Reneé!

- Photojournalists in Germany plan to boycott Bob Dylan's upcoming tour of the country, after he stated that he would not allow his photograph to be taken during performances, according to Billboard. The photographers are considering the same action against other international stars.

- Fast Jimmy's Jam will be holding a benefit jam for Raful Neal featuring son Kenny Neal. The benefit will be held October 29 at the Lucky Labrador in Multnomah Village, Oregan. Call (503)244-2537 for info. All funds raised will be donated to the Raful Neal Cancer Fund, c/o Bank One, 651471294, 5900 Airline Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA, 70805. Those interested in participating in the jam should contact Fast Jimmy at jimmy@fastjimmy.com or (503) 282-2042. Thanks, Jimmy!

- This week on "Austin City Limits": Susan Tedeschi followed by Ruthie Foster. "Contemporary Blues-Rock sensation Susan Tedeschi performs music from the soul. Highlights include "Wait for Me" and "The Feeling That Music Brings." Ruthie Foster combines Blues, Gospel, roots and Folk for heartfelt songs about real life. Highlights include "Runaway Soul" and "Travelin' Shoes." Check out a preview of Foster's performance in our sister publication FolkWax.

- This week on "House of Blues Radio Hour," Brother Elwood Blues' featured guest will be Corey Harris. Check local listings.

- We in the Blues world know of Cephas & Wiggins as partners in music, but Phil Wiggins has another partner in his life and that is ... his wife Judy. Over this summer Phil and Judy's home in Tacoma Park, Maryland, was damaged by a natural event to the point that it has been "totaled." Both of them are ok ... they were insured ... but the insurance company said that they were not insured for the type of damage which they incurred. So now Phil and Judy face the mess of a destroyed home with an ongoing mortgage and they need help. If you want to thank Phil for the years of wonderful music he has given us, there are three things you can do. You can go to "The Hands" Benefit Site for the Home of Phil Wiggins at http://www.cafeshops.com/philwiggins and buy a t-shirt. You can attend a benefit concert on Monday, October 27, in Silver Spring, Maryland. Info at http://www.imtfolk.org/html/imt_wiggins_benifit.html. And you can send Phil a donation directly at PO Box 5383, Takoma Park, Maryland, 20913.

- Electro-Fi Records has three new releases on October 21: Snooky Pryor's Mojo Ramble, live with Mel Brown and the Homewreckers; a new Fruteland Jackson CD, Blues 2.0,and Key To My Kingdom by rising young guitar star Enrico Crivellaro, with special guests James Harman and Finis Tasby. Watch for reviews here in BluesWax!

- "The Blues Workbook" is a workbook created by The Academy art students in conjunction with Down Beat magazine for 3rd graders introducing them to the history of the Blues. The workbook is supported by The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi, The Blues Foundation and The Duke Ellington Legacy Foundation. The workbook will be used by the Delta Blues Museum for on going projects starting in January, the start of their 25th anniversary. The Blues Foundation will make the workbook available to all the Blues societies in the world for regional youth education out reach programs. The Duke Ellington Legacy will use the workbook in their out reach programs in the New York City and New Jersey area. Watch for more on this great project in BluesWax.

- The South x Southwest Music Conference is accepting applications for performers for the March 17-21 event. Go to www.sxsw.com for info.

- Every reader of BluesWax should be a member of the Blues Foundation. More info at http://www.supporttheblues.org/

 

 

This Week in BluesWax: Patrick Sweany!

- In the E-zine: New writer Eric Wrisley interviews Patrick Sweany, who played at the Biscuit last weekend!

- On the Home Page: Photo Editors Jen Taylor and Scott Allen are back from Helena, Arkansas, and the King Biscuit Festival. Last year their slide show of the Biscuit was one of our BluesWax highlights. The word is that this year's is even better. Stay tuned next week to find out! This week there is a sampler of what you can expect next week. It's just like you were there!

- On the Blues Bytes page: Brian Wilkinson checks out a recent show by Too Slim and the Taildraggers. Don't forget to check out what's happening in the world of Buddy and Hopkins.

- Under BluesWax Picks: Beardo reviews No Escape From The Blues by James Blood Ulmer, Blues in the Blood from Big Bill Morganfield and Atomic Electric by Microwave Dave & the Nukes; plus reviews of Delbert McClinton's new live one, Breakfast Dance by Sonny Boy Terry and Mark Lemhouse's Big Lonesome Radio; and more.

- One Year Ago Today In BluesWax: Beardo talked with Tab Benoit! Click through to the Archives to read this great interview!

- Don't forget to play the Blues Trivia Game: Remember, everyone who plays is in the drawing for the prize! This week's prize: Electric Storyland Live by Michael Hill's Blues Mob, courtesy of our friends at Ruf Records. All you have to do is play to be in the drawing for this great prize. Do it now!