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p a t t y ' s b i o g r a p h y
I was born and raised on a pony farm in rural Ohio. My father, in particular, was a fan of big band music. His favorite was Guy Lombardo. So, that became a favorite of mine, along with all the other big bands of the era.
My grandmother, whom I was very close to, played a lot of music on her new-fangled high-fi stereo. She would also play piano while she & I sang together. She had a very good rhythm sense, and a pleasant voice, so I really enjoyed my time with her. One of her favorite vocalists was Nat King Cole, but she liked a variety of similar music and show tunes like Sound of Music, etc.
By the time I was 8, I was literally making a drum set with coffee cans & oatmeal canisters to play along with Guy and Nat, and another growing favorite of the household, Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass!!
Then, at age 10, school band came along. I was a little disappointed that we had to start out on a rubber practice pad instead of a nice, loud snare drum. My band instructor was very encouraging, though, and by high school, I was totally dedicated to drumming. I absolutely LOVED marching band, and pep band was pretty fun, too.
The first rock band came along shortly after high school, Old Troy Pike. Tina and I knew each other through school band, and just happened to each be asked to play in this band by a mutual friend. She was playing bass and singing many of the lead vocals. We had a lot of fun playing Pat Benatar, Lynard Skynard, Neil Young, Heart & the like.
Then, in 1983, I came to Illinois along with Tina’s family, to start a new adventure (and lucrative career in Pizza - ha) and shortly after, Thornhill was formed.
I was in Thornhill until around 1991, when I left on maternity leave! Around 2002, two kids later, I returned to tackle all-original music with Thornhill. I am enjoying working with this particular rendition of Thornhill, because it is very rewarding to work on original material, and keep tweaking on a song until it finds its place.
Some of my favorite music is Concrete Blonde, Baby Animals, Rush, Tom Petty, Van Halen, Bonnie Raitt, Joe Walsh, Indigo Girls, Matchbox 20, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Pink Floyd, Police, early Elton John, Boston, the Eagles, and many more, that I will later go, yeah, yeah, I really like those guys too.
Music is a wonderful part of my life. It gives me joy, stress relief, strength, confidence, and to top it all off, it’s fun! I would be a mess without it!
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