Described by audiences as ‘‘a cross between a cobra and a puppy,’’ multi-instrumentalist Beth Patterson is foremost a player of the eight and 10-stringed Irish bouzoukis.
The Lafayette, Louisiana, native is known for her razor wit and musical versatility.
Her performances are chock-full of drive, savage energy, and passion, laced with humor and rapport with her listeners, dishing out an eclectic repertoire of original and traditional songs.
She integrates her quirky, progressive sound with Celtic music and other ethnic styles, resulting in her own sound she dubs SWAP’(Songwriter/World/Acoustic/Progressive).
Shire audiences will be able to see Patterson perform when she headlines the Sutherland Acoustic concert at Gymea Tradies on December 14.
This musical mongrel began her career in her early teens as a classical oboist and a Cajun bass player (with the required teenage heavy metal stint on the side), but not truly belonging to any of these, set out to create her own niche when she was adopted by a stray bouzouki.
After moving to New Orleans, she began to play the circuit, initially intending to do the folky thing, but accepted gigs of all types left and right because no one told her that they shouldn’t be played on the bouzouki (which is an adaptation of a traditional Greek instrument).
Patterson then moved to Ireland, studying ethnomusicology at University College Cork, where she explored the music of Ireland, West Africa, India, Indonesia, and the Caribbean, and began to experiment with fusions of these world gems with her musical old flames – sounds she will bring to the shire.
- Beth Patterson and the Dames, Gymea Tradies, December 14 from 7.30pm.