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Thread: Patrick Sky RIP

  1. #26
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Patrick Sky RIP

    Oh, but sir! I DID post that back in the OP. I think "The Pope" is substantially more humorous than offensive, so I went with that. It's a live version, with Dave Van Ronk, not from the album, so maybe since it didn't have that graphic you missed it? But I'm gladdened to see you're familiar enough with all this to have suggested it.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

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  3. #27
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Patrick Sky RIP

    A bit of an advance notice ... Some of you may have heard there was a Celebration of Life being planned to honor Patrick, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 2nd, which would have been his 81st birthday. That's been postponed to the spring, owing to Covid concerns and other issues. The suggested date is May 26th, the anniversary of his passing. It is planned to be held in his home town of Spruce Pine NC, a little east of Asheville. I'll post the particulars once they're settled. Meanwhile, save the date. Thanks.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

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  5. #28

    Default Re: Patrick Sky RIP

    It seems that in American commerce, it's necessary to sustain a level of visibility and a certain volume of sales (tickets, albums, whatever) or you end up on the margins where it's difficult to impossible to ver professionally viable. Most of us old guys remember Pat's initial visibility and promise based on a few breakthrough songs (they weren't anything close to hits, but they were heard) and that was it. As the posts here suggest, he still had many devoted followers, but even having perhaps thousands, maybe tens of thousands of individuals who like your work doesn't get you the visibility necessary to be "present" in the market. Presumably, at some point, the new means of music distribution (streaming and downloads) will allow these wonderful artists to be found by listeners -- thousands, not millions -- and achieve viability financially, but for now we're still dealing with an industry and market method that is hell-bent on delivering billions of units for relatively few "big stars" rather than fostering a more broad-based enterprise. Some places, local artists are able to sustain their careers, but wow, most get squeezed out.

  6. #29
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Patrick Sky RIP

    Not sure I agree Sky got "squeezed out." He went in a different direction -- uillean pipes sure qualify as "different," IMHO -- and didn't try to be a folk nostalgia act, or even an active songwriter and performer. Look at some of the other "folk revival stars" and where they ended up -- some in different vocations, some with comfortable "non-star" music careers, some vanishing into obscurity.

    I think that many of us want the musicians we loved, say, 50 years ago, to be what they were then. I'd love to go to an Ian & Sylvia show this weekend, or buy a new CD by the Kweskin Jug Band. Ain't gonna happen -- but there's a lot of great new stuff to take in.

    And, of course, we have recordings to play:
    "Come with me love, and we will wander
    Across the blue mountains, and the valleys so fair;
    For you know in the morning, I'm gonna be leaving --
    But I will return, so wait for me there."
    Allen Hopkins
    Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
    Natl Triolian Dobro mando
    Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
    H-O mandolinetto
    Stradolin Vega banjolin
    Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
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    Flatiron 3K OM

  7. #30
    bon vivant jaycat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Patrick Sky RIP

    When I was young, I thought "Songs That Made America Famous" was a real hoot. The perspective of the years revealed it to be sophomoric and cringeworthy. I do like his playing with Mississippi John Hurt, though.
    "The paths of experimentation twist and turn through mountains of miscalculations, and often lose themselves in error and darkness!"
    --Leslie Daniel, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die."

    Some tunes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa1...SV2qtug/videos

  8. #31
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Patrick Sky RIP

    Quote Originally Posted by allenhopkins View Post
    Not sure I agree Sky got "squeezed out." He went in a different direction -- uillean pipes sure qualify as "different," IMHO -- and didn't try to be a folk nostalgia act, or even an active songwriter and performer.
    But he truly did get - well, I'm not sure if I'd use the term "squeezed out," but he did find himself marginalized, by record companies, at least. I think he was doing all right as far as playing live went, but he grew increasingly frustrated with the corporate side of the music business. His ideas of what and how he wanted to record didn't meet with approval from "the suits," and after four albums released by two labels, with lukewarm sales which resulted in him being dropped, he had enough and moved on, and out. The interest in pipes came later, after the "last hurrah" of STMAF, as he cast about for other ways to make a living. He also found satisfaction and even success in production, first with Mississippi John Hurt and then co-founding Green Linnett Records. He also invested in tin whistle manufacturing, with mixed results. He still performed, though much less often. It was more a shift of emphasis than anything else - he'd done the singer-songwriter thing, and decided his path led elsewhere.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

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