Patsy Moore
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Patsy Moore

Los Angeles, California, United States | INDIE

Los Angeles, California, United States | INDIE
Band Pop Singer/Songwriter

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This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Music reviews: Patsy Moore & Robbie Robertson"

"The road is life," wrote Jack Kerouac, and life is the road. Of course, life is the journey. In that regard, "All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality—the story of escape." This quote from Arthur Christopher Benson suggests the depth and soul of this latest project from singer/songwriter Patsy Moore. "Expatriates" continues the exploration that she began back on her debut in 1992, "Regarding the Human Condition".

What is it to be human except to be an exile, someone who seeks to live wholly and completely in the now while drawn either to "a land that I will show you" or compelled to escape the cruelty and injustice of the harsh ways that we treat each other when greed, power and control lift their ugly heads? In such a world, can love be possible? Is there a just, safe and peaceful place that we can escape to? Are there second chances for exiles like us?

These are the questions that underlie Moore's concept record that blends an exotic mix of musical influences and artfully told stories. In the spirit of Joni Mitchell's more adventurous recordings, Moore gives her best torch-song vocals in her consideration of the things that can tear us apart, but more importantly the experiences the bind us together. Lush instrumentals and orchestrations bathe her voice and the listener if a variety of moving tones and warm balladic sounds, which include...acoustic guitars by Myrrh and a [few] esteemed guest, plus the occasional sax or piano solo.

The concept album finds its center in "Blood", a matter of fact description of the horror that was the "Middle Passage". Moore faces the reality that she, like many African Americans, is a granddaughter of slaves, but doesn't limit herself to physical bondage. There are other ways to live as slaves, which she explores in "The Wife of Paul Gauguin", where one's artistic freedom includes the abandonment of another, and a retelling of the "Icarus" myth, where the sky is literally the limit.

Is it any wonder then, that so many of us imagine salvation and liberation as an escape to another place, a better world? Moore gives voice to this "crazy" longing in "This Is Not My Home (I'm Just Passing Through)", recalling the dual tracks of a longing for chariots to swing low and to carry us to heaven or Canada or Paris, where liberty is real, where life is truly possible, and love is the rule.

Fittingly, she ends the eleven-song journey with a pair that binds human history to the longing for that love. The closest thing to a pop song here, the album's first single "I Love You", finds the exile met and completed in a loving partner—making a home where it appears there is no home, a way where it appears there is no way.

"Evening Prayer" is Moore's own beatitude, echoing Luke and Matthew's words of Jesus. "Bless the misery of the mourner," she sings, "Bless the things that will not be ignored." It's here that Moore's honesty in expressing the gospel hope is most helpful. So much music that comes from the conservative, contemporary Christian industry is willing to ignore the voice of the prophet and the truth-telling. But this gives the "Second Chances"—where grace is found—their shape and meaning.

Patsy Moore's time-worn voice, made a bit weary by looking at life as it is and dreaming of a better way, the possibility of the beloved community, is one we need again and again to hear. Bless the singer of this song, for in "Expatriates" she sings the stories of our lives.

FYI: to purchase "Expatriates" after Monday, 4/11 as a digital download follow this link <patsymoore.bandcamp.com>. If like me, you enjoy old fashioned CD's you will soon be able to order them at the artist's website <patsymoore.com>. - UCC.org


"Patsy Moore, Expatriates"

On her fourth solo project, and second independent release, Patsy Moore weaves tales of the willing and the incidental outcasts on Expatriates. [Moore] has spent more of her time lately scoring independent films with her company, Papa Chuy Media. There’s a similarly rich instrumental blend to Expatriates with her light, often whispery vocal thankfully sitting above the instrumental mix, [such] that the disc often feels like a soundtrack to a...film... .

As for the tales of outcasts, the title track and the song “Historia” [follow] a story line of a couple willfully leaving America to live in Spain. In another set of songs, she sings the resilience of Africans in America in spite of fear and bondage; the songs, “Blood” and “This Is Not My Home (I’m Just Passing Through)” examine this subject through her own family line. The song, “Evening Prayer” is a warm meditation for the journeys of outcasts and misfits alike, and is as much an appeal to man’s highest sympathies as to the hope of a divine directive for our lives. These are a just a few of the tales here that serve as mizpah for fellow travelers.

“Bless the carefree and burdened / bless the spoon-fed and deprived / bless the remnants of the fallen / bless the few who made it out alive.” - Groove Loves Melody


"from "Patsy Moore: Dancing About Life", by Kathy Ervin"

Opposites are catalysts, the flint against the stone in much of Moore's music. The existence of opposing forces both focus and motivate her themes of life, struggle, faith, and hopelessness...made more poignant and handsome by the poetic use of words and rhythm... - The Syndicate


"from "Songs of Praise—Patsy Moore: Regarding the Human Condition""

[Patsy Moore's work] is woven together with diversity. - Cash Box Magazine


"from "Regarding Patsy Moore", by Erik Arneson"

Because of her diverse background, Moore is able to draw musical and lyrical inspiration from a vast pool of past art not limited to music. - Notebored Magazine


"from "Patsy Moore: The Flower Child's Guide to Love and Fashion", by Al Menconi"

Patsy Moore is living proof that 'simple' does not necessarily mean frivolous or unsophisticated. Her...way of looking at things is so honest that you let down your guard and drink in truth, almost without knowing it. - Media Update


"from "Patsy Moore: Regarding the Human Condition", by Gordon Ely"

Already established as a successful songwriter, Patsy Moore is one of a [burgeoning] breed of...artists now happily stretching...genre into new, imaginative and uplifting territory.
- The Richmond Times-Dispatch


"from "Patsy Moore: Regarding the Human Condition (Warner Bros.)", by Bruce A. Brown"

The path to her...career has not been smooth, but the listener is all the better for the bumpy road Moore has endured, for she arrives at this juncture a mature and seasoned artist. - CCM Magazine


"from "Patsy Moore by Patsy Moore", by Geoff Papp"

Occasionally, someone steps out of the mainstream to provide a unique and refreshing approach to...music. Patsy Moore is an artist who has taken that step.
- Inside Music


"from "Patsy Moore's 'Human Condition' is very eclectic", by Randy Rudder"

This truly IS mood music.
- Metropolitan Times


"from "Patsy Moore: Regarding the Human Condition (Warner Alliance)""

Moore possesses a supple and expressive voice, an engaging visual presence, and the ability to couple intricate yet memorable melodies with [enlightened] lyrics...[One is left] slack-jawed upon hearing [her]... - Update


"from "Patsy Moore: (Good) Newswoman", by Robert Mineo"

Moore presents a menu featuring samples from most every contemporary musical form...[She] is impressive in [her] artistic growth and dexterity. - The Syndicate


Discography

Regarding the Human Condition (1991/Warner Bros.)

the flower child's guide to love and fashion (1993/Warner Bros.)

The Most Private Confessions of Saint Clair: Studio Renderings (2008/Papa Chuy)

Expatriates (2011/Papa Chuy)

Photos

Bio

Patsy Moore is an award-winning, critically acclaimed singer/songwriter, poet and essayist, filmmaker, film and television score composer, and occasional humanities lecturer, who lives in Los Angeles, California.

The elder daughter of a North American career military father and West Indian educator mother, Moore's creative endeavors have been culled from a multicultural upbringing, persistent curiosity, and inventive mind. Her family relocated frequently when she was a child. As a result of that experience, her music has always employed diverse influences—including African and Caribbean rhythms, folk, soul, Latin, rock, pop and funk.

Moore moved from Chapel Hill, North Carolina to Nashville, Tennessee in 1988. Her distinctive songwriting and engaging vocal style gained rapid attention on famed Music Row and, before long, her tune "Talk About Life" became the popular title track of Reunion Records artist Kim Hill's sophomore album. Moore was hired shortly thereafter as a staff writer at McSpadden Group and a record deal with Warner Bros. soon followed. Under the Warner imprint, Moore completed two projects—Regarding the Human Condition (1991) and the flower child's guide to love and fashion (1993).

Her self-produced The Most Private Confessions of Saint Clair: Studio Renderings was released in April 2008. Due to a series of formidable setbacks, including the artist's longtime battle with grave illness, the 11-song project took nearly five years to complete. Plans are currently underway to re-mix, re- master and re-release that work within the next 24 months.

Moore's latest is Expatriates, a concept album débuted via a two-day online listening party (in early March 2011) to immensely positive reception. The lead single ("I Love You") began rollout in mid- December 2010. Full release of Expatriates commenced March 15, 2011.