With nine albums and 11 Boston music awards under her belt, Patty Larkin returns to her hometown to perform at River Rythms in Pere Marquette Park on Wed., June 26. The free concert starts with opener Joey Leal at 6:30 p.m. and Larkin at 7:30.
Larkin's latest album, "Regrooving the Dream," is a well-balanced mix of musical styles including Celtic, blues, R&B, Middle Eastern, samba, country and trip hop. Forever in search of a challenge, Larkin produced the album in her studio at the tip of Cape Cod. She also played most of the musical instruments on the record, including electric, acoustic and slide guitars, lap steel, octave mandolin, bass, accordion, harmonica, keyboards and vocals.
"I'm a musical omnivore," she laughs. "When asked what sort of music I like best, I always say 'good music.' There is so much going on that I find fascinating. I want to explore it all."
Larkin's music can also be heard in the upcoming motion pictures, "The First Twenty Million," and "Grand Champion," with Julia Roberts. Additional film credits include the sci-fi comedy "Evolution" starring David Duchovny and Julianne Moore, as well as two Sydney Pollock films, "Random Hearts" and "Sliding Doors."
Throughout her career, Patty Larkin has repeatedly reinvented herself: From sensitive singer/songwriter in the '80s to alterna-folk/pop artist in the nineties to a sonic innovator today. Such graceful evolution reminds us that we too can regroove our dreams, day or night.
OMC: So, is there any late-breaking news in your world?
PL: I'm working on a new album that should be out in February 2003. I'm hoping to finish it by September and start running it by Hollywood to see if I get any bites. And, of course, I'm touring.
OMC: You're currently on a year-long tour right?
PL: (laughing) I'm on a lifetime tour, a tour that never stops. Actually, I'm playing some outdoor shows and festivals this summer, but I'm really concentrating on my album right now. I'll seriously start touring again early next year.
OMC: Is touring a creative time for you?
PL: Touring is exhausting, but when I hear and see things that inspire me I write them down for later. I have so little free time when touring that if I'm writing it means I'm not doing something like eating or sleeping or taking walks.
OMC: What does it mean to "regroove a dream" and what inspired you to put so much thought into that concept?
PL: I want to be passionate about what I do. I think that to live a life that is present and inspired by good is a beautiful thing. It doesn't happen in a steady stream, though. There are minutes or days or years when goals become murky or disenchanting...(Then) we are forced to rethink things, to muster our energy and refocus our sights -- to regroove, to start again -- to regroove the dream. ... For me, "regrooving the dream" was starting with a new record company (Vanguard Records) and the new millenium. I was trying to figure out what inspired me, what makes me want to sing and do what I do. So I began to write about this and that's what you hear on the album.
OMC: How would you describe the new album?
PL: It's a patchwork of music coming from all different styles. I'm a no borders, under-the-radar kind of writer.
OMC: How old were you when you moved to Milwaukee?
When I was two years old we moved here from Iowa. For eight or nine years we lived near State Fair Park, and then we moved to Whitefish Bay. We were Catholic, so I went to Dominican High School.
OMC: By the time you graduated, were you dying to leave Wisconsin?
PL: No. I wanted to go to college in Madison, but my parents wouldn't let me. It was too radical. I really wanted to be a musician, but neither my family nor I knew how to get into the music business. It's taken a while for my music to surface, and to get more of an audience on the national level, and for years, my parents didn't understand why I wasn't on "The Tonight Show." For me, it took leaving Milwaukee to learn more about music and to learn different styles of music. I moved to Boston where I met lots of fine musicians and friends. Once you put down roots, it's hard to come back no matter where you are.
OMC: How do you feel about the Milwaukee music scene today?
PL: I think it's improving. The radio has improved, too. World Café (on WUWM) has helped a lot.
OMC: David Dye (host of the World Cafe) is obviously a huge fan of yours. How did this relationship begin?
PL: David first interviewed me when the show wasn't even nationally syndicated yet. Over the years I've grown to really appreciate David, he can talk about any style of music. Plus he's a cool guy and I love hanging out with him whenever I can.
OMC: One more Milwaukee-related question: In your song "Who holds your hand" you say "I've taken up bowling." Was this a Milwaukee-inspired line?
PL: It was a partially Milwaukee-inspired line. It was mostly inspired by Sarah Hickman. She did a tour where every night after the show she went bowling. But of course, I bowled when I lived here. My sister was in a league and that seemed like a lot of fun.
OMC: You're working on a compilation of female guitarists called "La Guitara," any idea when this will be released and can you share the names of any other artists on the album?
PL: In the next few weeks we'll start making the offers, so for now, I can't really say who's going to be involved. It's going to be really cool, though. This album will celebrate women guitarists, past and present. People ask all the time why there aren't more women guitarists and there are. Everyone knows Bonnie Raitt, but few know the music of Debbie Davies, or that Shawn Colvin is a great guitar player as well as singer.
OMC: The mayor of Boston declared a "Patti Larkin Appreciation Day." What did this entail?
PL: It was one-time thing -- and that's good -- in 1995. I thought it was ridiculous until I was asked to sing the National Anthem at Fenway Park ...It was actually very touching and I was honored.
OMC: Your music has been described a few times as cerebral. Do you purposely write music that will make people think or does it just happen?
PL: It just kind of happens. I like to listen to music that offers something new every time you listen -- whether it's in the lyrics, the music or the guitar playing. Kind of like a painting you can go back to and see something different every time. Some of my songs fall into the pop song category, but many of them are more textured and require attentive listening. For better or worse, that's who I am.
{INSERT_RELATED}OMC: Is there anything I didn't ask you that you would like to see in this article?
PL: You didn't ask me if I know how to turn on a computer.
OMC: OK, so do you?
PL: (Laughing) I actually just learned. I was feeling left behind by three-year-olds, so I'm getting a hand-me-down laptop. I do have a Web site, though (www.pattylarkin.com), I used to think that email and the Internet was just another thing to have to do, but I realized I'm interested in technology. I like to know where things are going.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
