Pamme Swan

As baby boomers swiftly approach their retirement years, nostalgia for the 1960s is once again running as thick as incense at a head shop -- and Hamilton musician Pamme Swan taps into that Age of Aquarius vibe on her new CD, "Patchouli Room."

The album's 13 songs invoke the jangly Left Coast folk-rock of the era (think The Byrds and like-minded hipsters) while giving the sound a new-millennium twist.

Album opener "Peace Out Gurl Scout" rocks out as it confronts the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans: "Every day another tribulation / heartache and pain and misery / Pray for their souls and their salvation / drowning in the water of Pontchatrain."

Protest songs were, of course, also part of the '60s scene, and Swan's CD has two, one political and one personal. "Our Sweet Hovels" is a plea against the New York Regional Interconnect plan to run a power line through upstate villages, while the finger-snapping "Harry Boyt" is a stinging rebuke of a DJ who refuses to play Swan's music on the radio. (My guess: If the guy's real, he probably loves the attention.)

"Hard Road" finds Swan looking at her son, a second-generation hippie, and wondering what's ahead for a kid who doesn't want to follow society's rules: "He's a bucking bronco in a giant inkwell / A sleeping cat under a lazy spell / He's walking down a very hard road."

And speaking of head shops, "Crimson Strawberry" tells of a real one where, back in the day, you could buy "water pipes" and all sorts of paraphernalia, as long as you didn't tell the cops (or Mom) what it was really for. If that place were still around, I bet they'd be playing "Patchouli Room" as you picked out your tie-dye shirt and Grateful Dead poster. Groovy.
Chris Kocher - Press & Sun Bulletin (Apr 6, 2007 - Press and Sun Bulletin

This event will showcase the creative work of local women and artists.
Musician Pamme Swan will present a solo performance of her contemporary folk music. Ms. Swan’s recently-released CD The Patchouli Room has been recognized as one of Central New York music critic Mark Bialczak’s Top 10 discs for 2006.
Jody Luce will be speaking on Elizabeth Smith Miller of Peterboro, NY and dress reform in the mid-Victorian era. Ms. Luce has been researching women’s rights advocate Miller for the last six years and is a member of the Peterboro Area Historical Society and the Smithfield Community Association.
Meredith Leland of Hamilton will be presenting a work in progress called “The Belles of Triangle Park,” which documents the women of her neighborhood in words and photographs. Ms. Leland considers herself a multidisciplinary abstract expressionist regional political artist.
A portrait by Jesse Henderson of her mother will also be featured. Ms. Henderson lives in Hamilton and works with Colgate University’s art department. She believes that painting portraits offers her a way to explore a person, to deconstruct the character the subject has constructed.
Samanthi Martinez of Hamilton, who writes the Tea & Simplicity column for the Hamilton/Morrisville Tribune, will read from her work. Ms. Martinez is a freelance writer, contributing to local publications, including the Central New York Family Times and the Syracuse New Times.
Michelle Welzen, the Hamilton artist who coordinated this event will be reading poetry written by her mother Marta Collazo, whose poems have been published in an Anthology of Latin Women’s Poetry. Ms. Welzen instructs a core drawing workshop at MAD Art, and her work has been on display at the gallery. - Samantha Martinez - Internet pres

When Pamme Swan sent her recently completed CD Patchouli Room to Central New York music critic Mark Bialczak, she was looking for his feedback on her work, she said.

He must have liked what he heard, because the Dec. 2 released disc came in at a lucky number seven on his Top 10 list for 2006, as announced in the Dec. 31 edition of the Syracuse Post Standard.

"I'm still pinching myself," Swan admitted, although she added that she doesn't like to feel competitive in the creation of her music. "I certainly don't write or play music to be competitive. I write and play guitar because it's my way of dealing with the journey through my life."

And we can learn a lot about Swan's journey by listening to her energetic storytelling music, full of imagery and memories she shares with the listener. From recollections of a favorite hippy shop in "Crimson Strawberry" to the trials of parenthood in "Hard Road" to preserving the land of upstate New York and protecting "Our Sweet Hovels" against the big city residents who want to bring power lines through our countryside, listening to Swan's disc is like reading her diary and even listeners who have never met her will know a lot about this talented musician.

The disc was recorded at Swan Studios and Orbital Sound Studios, and also features Jimmy Wunderlich, who also mastered the CD in the studio, and Scott Kraly.

Swan can't wait until the summer season when she can get out more and play her music live for audiences all over the area. She said she is thrilled with all of the kudos the disc has received, but she now feels the need to go back and work up a follow-up.

"All in all, it really feels great. I'm proud and, oh no, it makes me want to record another," she said.

The Patchouli Room is available locally at the Colgate Bookstore, on the internet at www.cdbaby.com, or at her gigs. For more information, check out her website at www.pammeswan.com. - The Mid-York Weekly

This may be a first in the history of folkdj-dom -- at least it's a first for me.
I've had a song written about me (sort of), and it's not meant to be flattering.
(Actually, I am kind of flattered by the attention. To think that a performer would take the time to write such a song, venting her displeasure over a private critique I had sent her... I almost feel honored... almost.)

The artist in question is Pamme Swan, a singer/songwriter here in Central New York, and her song that pays me this dubious honor is entitled "Harry Boyt".

"Harry Boyt the DJ God don't like my effects
Don't like the way I mix or the way my song connects
I don't record it to be DJ friendly
Where's the art in that
So don't play me on the radio
Cause you've got your songs for that
Harry the DJ dog
Harry the DJ god..."

You get the idea. The song is sung a cappella with finger snaps, and kind of reminds me of something Annie Gallup might record.

"Harry Boyt" is contained on Swan's fifth CD, "Patchouli Room", released in 2006, and Pamme has received a fair amount of critical praise in the local press for her overall efforts.
"Patchouli Room" contains 13 songs, some of which have an Amy Rigby-ish sound, lyrically reflecting the plight and observations of a modern female as she deals with life's assorted trials, tribulations and characters. On a few of the tracks, Pamme also reminds me a bit of Kate Bush.

A good number of the songs are acoustically-based and are in the acoustic format-ball-park of what I might normally play on Common Threads. But a few of the songs on "Patchouli Room" also feature some (in my opinion) overly-effected electric guitar backing and leads that give these songs a cheesey garage-band sound that might be appropriate for a power-pop radio show. These few songs, found at the beginning of her CD, are not meant for a folk-and-acoustic radio show such as Common Threads.

This scenario is similar to one of Pamme's previous albums, "Once Sated", that began with a few songs laden with some (in my opinion) over-the-top reverb that I suggested to her was unnecessary and would likely be a turn-off for most folk deejays.
If Pamme or any other artist wants to doctor up their recordings with all kinds of reverb and effects, that's fine with me -- just don't send such a CD to a folk deejay with the expectation that said folk deejay will likely listen beyond the second overly-effected song (unless, of course you warn the folk deejay about these effected songs in advance.)

Anyway - I expressed my opinion to Pamme privately, and I actually did play one of her songs, "Loop Mountain South" from "Once Sated" at least twice on Common Threads (1/23/05 and 7/3/05). According to the Folkdj archives, I may be the only playlist-reporting folk deejay who has played any of Pamme's songs on the air.

Which is not to say that I won't play any of Pamme's songs on Common Threads in the future. I mean, she did send me her new CD and there are some pretty good songs on it. Who knows, maybe someday I'll play "Harry Boyt". I just hope that if I do play it on the air, listeners won't start calling to request it again and again...

Also - I have absolutely no hard feelings against Pamme for writing, recording and releasing this song. For about 15 years, I wrote local (and national) music reviews for the Syracuse Post-Standard (daily) and later for the Syracuse New Times (a weekly). You don't know what anger is until you've written an honest but negative review of a local CD released by a local musician. That's one of the reasons I no longer write reviews of local artists. - Larry Hoyt - host of Common Threads - www.waer.org

Hamilton singer-songwriter Pamme Swan says she was swarmed with inspiration while preparing to record her fifth CD. "Patchouli Room."
There was a whiff of patchouli oil she'd saved from her youth. There were her sessions teaching an autistic child who ended up showing Swan how to view the world through a different prism. And there was the chilling escape back home from New Orleans a day before Katrina hit.
So she delivers an introspective set of 13 free- spirited tales that hippies of all ages should take pride in.
Her rich voice and far-ranging guitars capture the mood of the '60's in a fine style.
"Peace Out Gurl Scout" starts the journey with a psychedelic feel and just a hint of echo.
The mandolinlike style of the strumstick she uses on the title cut helps whisk everybody away as she sings ,
" I will carry you up and take you away, my love, to my secrete place."
"Hard Road" admirably dives into her sometimes roiling relationship with her wild-child 15-year-old, who, she admits, is just like her.
But the coolest tale is "Crimson Strawberry," a winding epic about a guy name Tommy Fowler, who saw the attitudes of the '70s and opened a head shop by that name. "Tired of stacking the store shelves and being a bag boy on the run. Sick of counting coupons and being a grocers son. Tommy took a ride in his Mustang 14 miles to the south, to the town with the college and the students and professors hiking back and forth," she sings.
And your hooked on the story of the guy who sold hookahs.
Catch a show: Swan plays at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Copper Turret on Route 20 in Morrisville. She says she might even give out some patchouli incense sticks. - Mark Bialczak Syracuse Post Standard November 26th 2006

Earlville songstress Pamme Swan and her Swan Road Trio will head north on August 15 for a 7 p.m. show at the Reilly Mumford Memorial Park gazebo in Sherrill, featuring original favorites from her CD's - including the soon-to-be-released Patchouli Room - plus her new anti-NYRI theme song "Our Sweet Hovels." (photo courtesy of Pamme Swan)

SHERRILL - It'll be a night of musical storytelling on August 15 as the Sherrill Summer Concert Series welcomes to the stage Earlville singer/songwriter/musician Pamme Swan and her Swan Road Trio.

Also featuring Scott Kraly on percussion and vocals and Jimmy Wunderlich on lead guitar, vocals, and harmonica, the show "isn't gonna blast anyone out of their seats with wall high amps," Swan promised, but rather take them on a laid back listening journey.

"People can look forward to songs that are written to be listened to, like a story," Swan said of the concert. "It will be simple and geared toward a listening crowd."

The show will features originals from her four CD's - 1999's Tango Tree, 2002's Pamarama and Sprinkles, and 2004's Once Sated - plus a musical preview of her upcoming Patchouli Room disc being recorded at Orbital Sound in Hamilton that should be released by the end of the year. Swan said she will also showcase a new song that is very close to her heart, her original "Our Sweet Hovels," a song she wrote to protest the planned NYRI power lines threatening much of the upstate New York landscape. That song has become the theme song anthem for the group fighting the project, she said, and is available for a free listen on her website.

Swan said the trio, who have played together for some 12 years since they were all members of the band Club Ed and now as a threesome for the past four years, is a fun outlet for her music because it gives her a different and bigger sound. She also enjoys rearranging the music to feature Kraly and Wunderlich, she said.

Much like the ice cream sprinkles that inspired her third CD title, the music will have all colors and all flavors.

"There will be a song about a 'Gurl Scout' and escaping Katrina and New Orleans...a song about a horse and a hotel that is Bipolar...there will be songs about shacks and Manhattans and frustrated golfers...all written here throughout my life in Central New York," she said. "It's mostly a Swan song night."

For more information on Swan's music, check out her website at www.pammeswan.com.

The concert starts at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be available. The Reilly-Mumford Memorial Park is located between Sherrill Road and Kinsley Street in Sherrill, just north of the public safety building and south of the Route 5 intersection on Sherrill Road - Mike Jaquays - Mid York Weekly (Aug 10, 2006)

Once Sated, A Tasty Trip Of Imagination
I haven’t traveled the world. In some ways I am quite a homebody. The familiar takes root and the possibilities that lie beyond the proximity of my day to day experience rarely are considered. With vacation time coming up, people quite readily ask “so where are you going”? They expect to hear travel plans worked out in elaborate detail. I find myself dumb-struck not having entertained that notion. In fact the idea doesn’t light upon my thoughts until the question is posed. Where is the eagerness to grab a travel bag, hop a flight, jump on a train, or even hop on a wagon ride? Where’s your sense of adventure when you just hob knob around the same old town? Get up, get out, get going - there is so much to see and a few things to learn.

There is a certain musical goading that similarly occurs in Pam Swanne’s independent release “Once Sated”. As the title might suggest there is a quest for things that can only be found in the grip of wanderlust. Carribean harbors, equine excursions, eagle flights, and celtic journeys occupy the soundscape along with restless wanderers and claustrophobic guests. Pam lays out a travel log of curious stories and worldly perspective. As with many a troubadour, she takes along a guitar on the trip to accompany her rich and expressive voice. Found here and there are flutes, chimes, whistles - as if in her wandering she tries out the native instruments of the lands she explores.

We meet Pam on her travels at the “Bomba Shack”, a place where she sings “I don’t have to watch my back” and “can escape my life for a little while”. Festive and fun, this energetic song starts us off with a kick. We all need a place where we can let down our guard and restore our energies after one journey ends and a fresh one begins.

Soon we are on our way through a valley of mystery and mood - both “Eagle Flies” and “Loop Mountain South” have strong Appalachian and Celtic folk timbres respectively. Each are played in a gorgeous open string tuning. The former longs to leave the “craziness of the world” while the latter stumbles upon one of the many “crazies in the world” that also inhabit the disk. These songs find the songwriter in her element and are some of the strongest material on this offering.

Fairies and gnomes occupy the Celtic world and you might think that of “Peter Pans”. But as Pam Swanne warns - “they are not what they seem”. The music turns melancholy and her voice plaintive and even pained as she speaks of how romantic desire can get the better of our sensibilities. These men might seem like attractive partners to journey through life with, but you will end up looking for a way out as they are “in love with their lust” and at the same time “scared of their own shadows”.
Alternately strumming slowly and hammering the strings with the conviction of one a little bit wiser for the experience, the acoustic guitar sparkles on this number.

“The Keys Song” chugs along with outlandish imagery that could be found on the peripheries of Florida and of the listener’s curiosity. Escapism and distraction are the attraction. But we soon find our singer struggling with “a long night” at the “Bipolar Hotel” dreaming of a way out of the realities of a lonely life and Central New York snow right up to the time she tips the bartender and heads home. The guitar sympathetically accompanies the woes of this stranded one even as it is pretty and engaging for the listener.


Like waking up with a hangover incurred from that claustrophobic hotel scene, we find that Pamme turns toward more sobering themes. It seems there is only so much you can try to escape. Even in the hardships of life what we really need to do is not so much get away as to find our way. The rest of the CD primarily revolves around searching for answers. The troubles of relationship established in poetic terms in Peter Pan is expressed in much grittier terms in the bluesy strummer “Can’t Fix It” - “I just can’t fix it/There’s nothing left to save/Curb it or burn it/You didn’t want it anyway”. And as if to confirm the change of course for the CD, the song ends with “and I just can’t help it/sweep it away/the strange trip is over/come what may”. “Pray for the Boy” earnestly asks to affect the life of a loved one for the good, even as the missteps of youth cause so much pain. “Same Old Moon” finds the singer asking other hard questions as if the moon were a mirror to the desperation of one’s soul. Employing a haunting and eery synthesizer intro, “Same Old Moon” then dives into some deep, melancholy blues. The sparse guitar strum allows ample room for the singer’s achingly beautiful lament. Each of these songs show Pamme’s vocal talent that is at once strong, vulnerable, beautiful and emotional.

The reflective tone is abruptly shattered by “Crossroads” which is a stinging indictment of the abuses of corrupt clergy ...” raping young men” and sending “...women to the fire”. We revisit the hau - William Purdy