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by Mark E. Waterbury
Patti Witten - Sycamore Tryst
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Tread - Hiding From the Sun
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BE - Thistupidream
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David London - To My Love
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Nicky Skopelitis & Raoul Bjorkenheim - Revelator
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Gonervill - Will Werk For Beats
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Freezepop - Forever
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Feature Article: Sound Advice From Music Industry Professionals
by Mark E. Waterbury
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Industry Profile - Action Music Sales Gm John Awarski - Part One
by Mark E. Waterbury
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Unsigned Singer/Songwriter Spotlight - Patti Witten
by Mark E. Waterbury
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Copyright 2004 by Music Morsels, a Serge Entertainment Publication.
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 September 2002
Unsigned Singer/Songwriter Spotlight - Patti WittenBy Mark E. Waterbury
 Artist Name: Patti Witten
Musical Genre: Singer/Songwriter
Birthplace: New Haven, Connecticut
Current Residence: Ithaca, New York
Years In Music Biz: 14 Years
Number Of CD's Sold : 600
Fan Base: 400 On Mailing List
Web Site: www.pattiwitten.com
MM: Tell us about your early background in music.
PW: Both of my parents were musicians and graduates of the Yale School of Music. I was raised in a classical music environment, learned violin at age nine and also self-taught myself the guitar at that age. In the 70's and 80's, I didn't do anything solo. I only played in bands. I was in a folk trio that was all women through the early 80's, and then I also started performing in some rather interesting eclectic orchestras playing jazz and original music as well. I was playing guitar and singing in the folk band, and also played flute in the other band since I was a flute major in college.
MM: Were you always a songwriter as well?
PW: In those days, I wasn't really writing songs. I was more of a session musician. We did maybe three of my originals in the folk trio, but it wasn't really until I came back to doing music in the late 90's that I became a songwriter and a solo artist.
MM: You went through several personal tragedies in the 80's and then you stopped doing music. Did you just need a change at the time?
PW: I mostly left the music scene when my husband died. We were about to get divorced when he died so I had already quit the band. And I figured I had to have a real job and real life, and leave all of that music stuff behind. So I worked as a freelance graphic artist.
 MM: What was the guiding force, per se, that got you back into music?
PW: There were several more events that happened in my personal life that needed expression. I had bottled up a lot in the intervening years when I didn't perform or write, and it just had to come out. And so it did.
MM: So when you got back into music, was the music sort of a release valve for the feelings that you had, and did it also release some songwriting creativity that you had deep down?
PW: I truly believe that (music) was what I was meant to do and I got sidetracked. It was bound to happen that I would come back to performing and start writing music. So it was both...what are your going to write about; you're going to write about what's going on in your life. So there was a lot going on in my life and a lot to write about, but I also had to write because I'm a writer. And it's not like I'm reborn or something. It's more like I've returned to what I was supposed to be doing.
MM: I'm guessing a lot of your music is written spontaneously?
PW: Yes, but it is channeled more than that. I'm not a whimsical writer. In other words, I don't wait for the muse to strike or the inspiration to come. I work at it as well. It's a combination. I'm always thinking about issues, about things like love, death, ethics and morality. I think about those things a lot, and occasionally, that thinking will crystallize into lyrics. But I also go on fishing expeditions for songs. I sit down and work on getting ideas to come up.
MM: Tell us about your upcoming release "Sycamore Tryst".
PW: I'm probably not the best judge on what the common thread is in the album. The listener can do that better than me. Most of the songs were written in a two and a half year period between my first CD and now, although there was a mini-CD in the intervening time. These songs are a little more personal than the last CD and there is a big variety of music on there, both genre-wise and topic-wise. There's a protest song, a couple of very autobiographical numbers on it, and there are band-arranged songs that are more rock oriented. One song "Sunny Days in Terre Haute" is about the trial and execution of Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, and it's connection with the death of my father which happened the day before the bombing. So to me they have always been connected. That song is talking about personal and private trauma, and then very public trauma and the issues you may face with something as important as the death penalty and terrorism. Very timely, especially since 9/11. I had to look at that song again very carefully to make sure that I still believed in it after that crystallization of what terrorism means in our country.
MM: This is your second full studio album. What is your plan to keep the buzz going about your music and to keep increasing it?
PW: I actually learned a lot from the previous CDs. We started recording last November, so it's been a long process production-wise to finish it. I have been lucky enough to get a wonderful quote from Rosanne Cash to use in the liner notes. The CD is just about ready to go, and after I have the first pressing, I will send pre-release copies to targeted press and radio for advance publicity, and also to get coordinated press to the actual release, instead of releasing it and then waiting six months to get my first review. So far the plan is moving along nicely.
MM: Do you already feel you've reached a comfortable level of success with your music career, or are you hungry for quite a bit more?
PW: The sky's the limit as far as I'm concerned. I don't know where it would really end and I'm not ambitious in the way like, "I'm going to make it big". But for the past five years, I've been making it solely on credibility. Now I'm going to turn the corner and work on actually being heard. I've entered a lot of song contests and have won many of them, so that helps, and I've showcased at several conferences. But now what I really would like are two things: One, I would like to sell more records to get myself heard; and two, I would like to place my music in high profile situations such as film and TV. That's what I'm working on right now.
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