Pat Wictor

Artist Information

Biography

"Pat Wictor walks onstage and sits down. He places a Guild DV-52 flat across his lap and begins playing slide guitar. The sounds are snaky and sizzling. He sings in a steady and clear voice, sometimes displaying a riveting falsetto. Soft-spoken and articulate, in the 1930's he could have been a dust bowl preacher. The sermons, accompanied by the choir of his slide guitar, would have brought comfort to many a soul...." --Richard Cuccaro, Acoustic Live.

Steeped in American "roots" music, Pat Wictor writes and interprets songs that draw upon the rural country, gospel, and blues traditions of our nation. His performances are anchored by his warm stage presence, clear tenor voice, and spontaneous guitar playing, including bluesy lap slide guitar. He can reach right into a listener's heart with songs of transcendence and tragedy, spirit and flesh, and always, hope.

Pat took a convoluted path to folk music, winding his way through rock, heavy metal and jazz. He started with guitar, shifted to bass, moved to saxophone and then quit music entirely before a return in 1993, a time when he also began composing songs. By 2001, he left a teaching career to pursue music fulltime. After years of quiet dedication to his craft, Pat is emerging as an important new voice. He has been featured at high-profile festivals - Philadelphia, Old Songs, Falcon Ridge - and the better listening rooms are starting to take note. He has released six recordings. His four solo CDs, done over the last six years, have garnered the most notice. In addition to his own tunes, Pat enjoys introducing his audience to the music of other artists, adding his signature with diverse arrangements.

It has been suggested that Pat is a man on a quest and it is an apt observation. In truth, he is in search of a better world for us all - in our souls, our homes and our universe - and he knows how important it is to enjoy the journey.

According to WPKN's Jim Motavalli, Pat Wictor plays "heart-felt blues-based roots music like the only begotten son of Bonnie Raitt and Chris Smither." Blues Revue has called him "daring and unusual," and Dirty Linen calls his guitar playing "masterful."

"Pat Wictor's songs, his blues-tinged slide guitar and mellow performance style impress the hell out of me. Watch out for this guy. He's a terrific new talent."
~ Gene Shay, WXPN, Philadelphia

HONORS:
2007 Finalist, Kerrville New Folk Competition
2006 Falcon Ridge Most Wanted
2006 Nominee, Emerging Artist of the Year, Folk Alliance
2006 "Love Is the Water" Nominated for Best Gospel Song,
Independent Music Awards

Access his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/patwictor

Instrumentation

Pat Wictor: vocals, lap slide guitar, acoustic guitar

Duo shows: with Cheryl Prashker, percussion and backing vocals

Discography

"Sunset Waltz," 2008 CD
"Heaven Is So High....And I'm So Far Down," 2006 CD (#4 on FolkDJ)
"Waiting for the Water," 2004 CD (#4 on FolkDJ)
"Temporary Stay," 2003 CD

Guest appearances on CDs:
Greg Greenway, Standing on the Side of Love
Joe Crookston, Able Baker Charlie and Dog
Andrew McKnight, Something Worth Standing For
Spook Handy, Watcha Gonna Do?
Joe Jencks, The Candle and the Flame
Jud Caswell, Blackberry Time
Charlotte Kendrick, North of New York
Chris Chandler and David Roe, American Storyteller, Vols. 3 & 4
Abbie Gardner, Honey on My Grave ("You Got To Move")
Kim and Reggie Harris, Get On Board! ("Done Wit' Driver's Dribbin'")
Erik Balkey, My Sacred Heart ("If a Song Could Save Your Soul")
Todd Giudice, Little Known Secret ("Yesterday Is Simply Not Enough")
Ben Godwin, Skin and Bone ("Hook of Time")
Zoe Mulford, Roadside Saints
Sharon Goldman, Shake the Stars

Official Website

http://www.patwictor.com

Links

• Noteworthy Productions
• Pat Wictor's Myspace page

Audio

• A Little Love Is Gonna Do
  Listen   Download
• Whiskey Vacation
  Listen   Download
• Thick-Skinned Blues
  Listen   Download
• I Will Walk With You
  Listen   Download
• Heaven Is So High
  Listen   Download
• Thick-Skinned Blues
  Listen   Download

Lyrics

• Whiskey Vacation
• I Will Walk With You
• Heaven Is So High

Video

Pat Wictor at Philadelphia Folk Festival

Photo Gallery

Press

• The Sense and Spirit of Pat Wictor [+ Show ]
  

  ........Each one of Pat Wictor's releases contains a stunner of a song. 2003's Temporary Stay has Fr...........Each one of Pat Wictor's releases contains a stunner of a song. 2003's Temporary Stay has Fred Neil's "The Dolphins." Once done by Tim Buckley as an ethereal wonder, the song is given an easy grounding in Wictor's hands, his transcendent lap slide guitar weaving a warm tapestry behind his elegant vocals. Waiting for the Water boasts his own nearly a cappella tent-revival-like gem "Love Is the Water," while the recent Heaven Is So High, and I'm So Far Down virtually shines due to his emotional rendition of the late Dave Carter's "When I Go." Throughout, the clarity of his voice is an interesting juxtaposition to the glorious grit of his musicianship. And there is an undeniable feeling that Wictor has mastered that necessary but often elusive balancing act of combining the practicality of being a working musician with the expression of sheer artistry. He manages to creatively absorb the work of others, leaving their musical intentions beautifully intact, while adding his own sonic signature to the mix. Some songs in his repertoire are presented straightforwardly and seemingly "as-written," such as Marvin Baumgardner's hymn "Gathering Flowers for the Master's Bouquet." Others, like his own "I Will Walk With You," are less-clear explorations that can be interpreted in ways both spiritual and worldly. Said Wictor, "I certainly hope that my songs have a universal appeal; I've worked consciously at that. I've tried to write and select songs that don't polarize the listener squarely into -- or away from -- a particular spiritual camp. I'm trying to do an end run around that, and perhaps provide food for thought and conversation. I hope people share enough common values that we can enjoy the same songs without having to share all of each others' assumptions."
  
  Just how Wictor arrived at this enviable place in his career where he easily churns out recordings imbued with both spirituality and twang may be traced to his interesting early years. He was an American by birth living in Venezuela, the Netherlands, and England. (His father was an oil-industry worker). Wictor remembered, "Well, these early experiences had an impact in some roundabout and unexpected ways. Don't forget that I also lived in east Texas for a few years, and those years [1972-1976] were some important ones. Glen Campbell, John Denver, and Johnny Cash were all over TV, as well as Roy Clark on 'Hee-Haw.' Hearing and seeing all those musicians on TV as a kid stimulated my interest in music, and specifically in playing the guitar. I only learned later that they all had a great sense of melody and a grounding in 'roots' music.".......
  
  [Excerpt from complete article]

• Blues Bites [+ Show ]
  

  Waiting for the Water (RiskyDisc 004) has a folk feel that will thrill acoustic music fans. Pat Wic...Waiting for the Water (RiskyDisc 004) has a folk feel that will thrill acoustic music fans. Pat Wictor, a New York City singer/songwriter/guitarist, delves into blues, traditional country, and spirituals, including a Civil War narrative along the way. He plays slide guitar lap-style and sings in a clear, unaffected voice. His performances are delicate, nearly evanescent--a daring and unusual approach for a blues singer who gives listeners fresh perspectives on such familiar material as Son House's "Death Letter" and Skip James' "Hard Time Killing Floor." Wictor's compositions "Sleep Easy" (the album-closing ballad), "Shake These Blues" (an uncharacteristically rhythmic blues), and "Love Is the Water" (a stunning capella "secular gospel" tune) are especially memorable.
  -June/July '05, Issue #94

• Review of "Heaven Is So High" [+ Show ]
  

  His strong voice, subtly reminiscent of John Denver or Michael Martin Murphey, introduces Heaven Is ...His strong voice, subtly reminiscent of John Denver or Michael Martin Murphey, introduces Heaven Is So High... and I'm So Far Down. The title track is melodic and majestic, and Pat Wictor is a virtuoso on acoustic lap slide guitar. His amazing talent is diversely applied to the country gospel blues of Fred McDowell and Gary Davis' "You Got to Move," his own bluegrass piece, "Rejoice in My Troubles," and the searing "Oh, baby" chorus of "Don't You Know Me Well." Wictor's vocal resonance and clarity of sound add a new dimension to Dylan's "Oxford Town." In the intriguing way that contemporary Christian artists deliver lyrics that can be interpreted both religiously and secularly, Wictor's material has that same special universal appeal. And there is absolutely no danger of the striking Native American images of the late Dave Carter's "When I Go" being lost when Wictor forcefully and beautifully places the words out there as he sings, "I will bellow like the thunder drum, invoke the storm of war/A twisting pillar spun of dust and blood up from the prairie floor/ I will sweep the foe before me like a gale out on the snow/And the wind will long recount the story, reverence and glory, when I go."

• Pat Wictor: The Quest to be an American [+ Show ]
  

  Lanky and just shy of six feet tall, with shoulder-length red hair and a goatee, Pat Wictor walks on...Lanky and just shy of six feet tall, with shoulder-length red hair and a goatee, Pat Wictor walks onstage and sits down. He places a Guild DV-52 flat across his lap and begins playing slide guitar. The sounds are snaky and sizzling. He sings in a steady and clear voice, sometimes displaying a riveting falsetto. Soft-spoken and articulate, in the 1930's he could have been a dust bowl preacher. The sermons, accompanied by the choir of his slide guitar, would have brought comfort to many a soul. The songs he sings, some original, some borrowed, connect with the history of a nation. The nation is America.....
  ....Pat states: ".....Having grown up outside the States for a chunk of my youth and spending years as an activist, taking the stance of the dissident, I'm somebody who loves my country enough to try to change it for the better. This has been an ongoing theme in my life--how to be connected with what it means to be an American. The process of digging into this older, deeply American roots music intensified after 9/11. Whatever it is in our country that produced that music that is so extraordinary, so timeless, so beautiful,....I want to be a part of that. I knew I didn't want to be an American simply by waving a flag and saying that 'America is the greatest.'"
  --Richard Cuccaro, Acoustic Live, June '05.
  Complete story at www.acousticlive.com/june.7.htm

• Review of "Waiting for the Water" [+ Show ]
  

  "Waiting for the Water," the fourth album by New York-based Pat Wictor, showcases Wictor's masterful..."Waiting for the Water," the fourth album by New York-based Pat Wictor, showcases Wictor's masterful Kelly Joe Phelps-like lap steel guitar picking and blues-based roots. While he displays his songwriting skills with originals including the gospel-tinged title track, Wictor celebrates his influences with reverential renditions of tunes by Skip James, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Son House. His interpretation of "Don't Dig My Grave Too Deep," a song by Rich Deans about a Civil War-era soldier, leaves one haunted.
  -April/May '06, Issue #123

Setlist

Up to 120 minutes of music. Song selection currently includes:
"That's the Way It's Gonna Be" (P. Ochs / B. Gibson)
"Whiskey Vacation" (PW)
"Thick-Skinned Blues" (PW)
"Eventide" (PW)
"Song of Songs" (Pierce Pettis)
"Heaven Is So High" (PW)
"Rejoice In My Troubles" (PW)
"Don't Dig My Grave Too Deep" (Rich Deans)
"Love Is the Water" (PW)
"Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" (Nemiah "Skip" James)
"Where Did You Go" (PW)
"Raise My Voice and Sing" (PW)
"Gentle Arms of Eden" (Dave Carter)
"Train I Ride" (trad., inspired by Fred McDowell)
"Sugar Baby" (trad., inspired by Dock Boggs)
"Death Letter Blues" (Eddie "Son" House)
"Sleep Easy" (PW)
"I Will Walk With You" (PW)
"Shake These Blues" (PW)
"Gathering Flowers for the Master's Bouquet" (M. Baumgardner)
"The Dolphins" (Fred Neil)
"Death Letter" (Son House)
"Oxford Town" (Bob Dylan)
"Ghost Radio" (PW)

Basic Requirements

Calendar