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PATRICK BLACKWELL
Pat Blackwell got into music at an early
age. His dad studied at Juilliard School of Music in New York and his
mom was an accomplished vocalist as well as a voice and piano teacher.
He began piano lessons at age 4. By the time he started middle school,
he had switched to drums with high hopes of being in the school band.
These hopes were soon dashed, however, when he was kicked out of the
school band for playing the drums "too soulful". It seems the band
teacher insisted the Pat play the notes as written and not with any
feeling.
Soon after this episode that he discovered rock and roll. Whiling away hours on end with Elvis, Elton John, Beach Boys, Beatles and old rhythm and blues records, he sang along and mimicked what he heard.
It was also around this time that he received his first notoriety as a songwriter. In 7th grade, he wrote a song called "Bowtie Joe" about his science teacher which was none to flattering. The lyrics were passed around and were discovered by a teacher. He was sent to the office where he received a paddling
by the principal. After school that day, Pat wrote a song about the principal.
It was in high school that Pat talked his way into his first band by claiming he
could play bass guitar. Being shy, he thought being in a band would be a neat way to meet girls. So he borrowed $100 from his brother and bought his first bass. The only problem was that he didn't know how to play it and he had to "wing it". Tired of having to learn the same songs over again each time, he finally bought a book that explained that you had to tune the guitar. A new world opened up.
Less than a year later, he had formed his own band and won first place at the all-black Brothers United Showcase, the only white act to ever do so.
He continued to play clubs in college but dropped out with only a quarter left before graduation to take a job he was offered in a recording studio. He wrote, produced, performed, and engineered on many national jingle spots for Texize, Coors Brewery, Proctor and Gamble, Fotomat, and Johnson & Johnson. It was here that he made inside contacts, built recording industry relationships and learned the cut-throat business end of the music industry.
During his stint at the studio, he met Doug Mullinax through booking agent and together they formed Vision and toured extensively. A personal highlight of Pat's career was performing to a crowd of over 12,000 people in his hometown who
came out to see Vision.
An accomplished songwriter and musician, Pat has received a BMI Songwriting Award, was a finalist in the Billboard Songwriting Showcase, won second place in Gibson Guitars Bass Riff War, and
was nominated for the 2002 Virgin Records/JPF Songwriting award. His song "I Still Love You" from the A Little Faith CD appeared in a Broadway rock musical in 2003.
It was onstage that Pat and Sammy first had contact. They played the same club circuit and occasionally ran into each other and even shared the same stage at times. Years later, in the summer of 2000, by chance, the two bumped into each other again. And since that chance meeting, well...here we are. |
