Patty Larkin

This talented folk guitarist's technical skill and experimental sound captures listeners with soft, layered vocals and hypnotic instrumentals on her new release, Watch the Sky.

Patty Larkin's sensual and introspective, yet vibrant songs have rightfully earned her the title "one of America's finest modern-day troubadours" (Guitar Player magazine). Larkin has developed her unique sound by blending blues, jazz, and folk genres with classical, Celtic, and Middle Eastern influences into an ever-evolving style that is all her own, which she describes as "folk music meets the Beat Generation meets rock 'n' roll.

Born to a musical family in Iowa, Larkin says, "My grandmothers both played piano and … I remember being small and standing underneath the keyboard while someone was playing barrelhouse blues and I felt like I had just seen God." After studying classical piano as a child, Larkin taught herself the guitar and picked up songwriting in high school. While studying jazz guitar at Berklee College of Music in Boston, she began playing on the streets of Cambridge and decided to devote her life to music.

Her 1985 debut, Step Into the Light, ignited a massive New England fan base, which led to her place in the national folk circuit. Other albums include Angel's Running (1993) and Stranger's World (1995), which both became legendary on the AAA charts. Her tenth release, Red=Luck (2003), gained critical acclaim for its innovative style, which blends her signature "slapsteel" sound with Middle Eastern bouzouki. Sing Out magazine calls the album "a bold work from an even bolder artist…truly brilliant."

In 2005 Larkin organized a groundbreaking compilation album project called La Guitara, "an anthology of 14 brilliant guitar performances by women," (The Washington Post). The collection includes artists such as Wu Man, Memphis Minnie, Kaki King, Ellen Mcilwaine, and Elizabeth Cotton. Larkin's selection for the project is the song "Bound Brook," on which she plays electric, steel, and baritone guitars. Partial proceeds from the album have benefited Guitars in the Classroom, a music education program.

Her new release, Watch the Sky (2008), is a testament to her skill as a musician. Alone in a studio, Larkin not only produced, wrote, and sang every note, but also played the wide variety of instruments in innovative ways, including an old Casio keyboard, a lap steel guitar played with drumsticks, and a baritone guitar played with a violin bow.

Among her honors, Larkin received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music and Boston mayor Thomas Menino proclaimed a "Patty Larkin Appreciation Day" in reverence for her musical contributions. She has received 11 Boston Music Awards, contributed to several movie soundtracks including Random Hearts and Sliding Doors, and her songs have been covered by numerous artists, including Cher and Holly Cole. Her career charges forward with her fearless desire to continually push musical boundaries. Larkin says, "I am inspired by change-it defines me."

-Alissa Bourbonnais & Teresa Weaver