Patty Blee is making a series of appearances to showcase her debut album, Disguise (Treasure Records), including a performance at Philadelphia’s Tin Angel Sept. 22.
By: Susan Van Dongen
If the tiny performing space at the Library III in Cardiff was in Cambridge, Mass., or Athens, Ga., or Austin, Texas, it might have spawned its own music festival. There would at least be a compilation CD featuring the bounty of acoustic folk and neo-country talent that has come through the Atlantic County restaurant and lounge in the last 25 years.
Singer-songwriter Patty Blee is one of the fortunate few who have been noticed nationally. After 15 years playing at the Library III and other clubs in South Jersey, she has a stunning opportunity to reach a large audience with her original songs. A seismic shift in her professional life came when her demo tape caught the ear of drummer/producer Richard Crooks, known for his work with Bob Dylan (Blood on the Tracks). Thanks to a combination of networking and her own natural songwriting abilities, Ms. Blee found herself in the recording studio surrounded by some of the finest roots-rock musicians around.
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| South Jersey native Patty Blee’s debut album, Disguise, has an all-star cast of roots-rock backing musicians and offers driving, uptempo songs of love and longing.
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The result is Disguise (Treasure Records), 13 tracks featuring Ms. Blee’s soulful strumming and gutsy-but-ethereal voice. Ms. Blee is making a series of appearances to showcase her debut, including a performance at Philadelphia’s Tin Angel Sept. 22.
This weekend she opens for neo-country rocker Delbert McClinton in a special two-night engagement at the Birchmere in Washington, D.C. In the last few months, she’s also shared a stage with Jackson Browne, Jonatha Brooke and Martina McBride.
"I just fell into this recently," says Ms. Blee, speaking from her home in Smithville. "The music was a part-time job to pay the bills. I was your average musician waiting for something to happen."
Ms. Blee, 39, is also a breath of fresh air for music fans who are tired of 16-year-old superstars. She’s a mature woman with something to say in her songs, a lifelong Jersey Girl who put her family first but never abandoned the music in her soul.
"I was raising my kids (Caitlin, 17, and Mike, 13), trying to fit music into my life," she says. "I don’t have a regular day job and I still have bills to pay, so I would rather sing to pay them. That’s what’s so great about the Library. They’ve always been there for me."
A native of Brigantine, Ms. Blee comes from a family of nine children, two of whom are deceased. She dedicates her album to her brother, Thomas Michael Burns, and her late father, Michael Thomas Burns, both guitarists.
"My dad, being a country music lover, was the one who taught me the three chords he knew," Ms. Blee says. "We’d always break out the guitars and play and sing together. I thought all families did this until I went to school and realized that most families don’t."
Ms. Blee began to take songwriting more seriously about four years ago and had enough material to record a demo for her longtime friend Jerry Klause, who had a small studio in New York. (He is now president of Treasure Records.)
Mr. Klause’s myriad connections helped introduce Ms. Blee and her music to renowned engineer Shelly Yakus, who opened Skullville Studios (in Skullville, Atlantic County) last year. Mr. Yakus engineered John Lennon’s Imagine album, as well as The Band’s Music from Big Pink, and has also worked with Tom Petty, U2, Don Henley, Madonna and many other rock luminaries.
"Shelly knew I had songs written," she says. "As long as he had the studio time, he invited me to record. It was like a christening of the space. It’s strange how these things just fell into place."
An all-star cast of roots-rock backing musicians joins Ms. Blee on Disguise. Along with Mr. Crooks, guitarist Larry Campbell and bassist Tony Garnier come from Bob Dylan’s band. Augie Myers (Dylan, Tom Waits) provides keyboard and accordion, and Soozie Tyrell (Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin) chips in with some first class violin and backing vocals. In addition, the legendary John Hammond Jr. makes a guest appearance on harmonica.
"They were such giving, motivated, funny, inspiring people," Ms. Blee says. "It was incredible to be embraced by people of this caliber. They made me feel as if they worked as hard with me as they would work with Dylan or Shawn Colvin. They respected me."
Ms. Blee says Disguise follows the arc of a relationship. It offers driving, uptempo songs of love and longing like "’Til I Get Enough," "Cry" and "I Believe in This Love." The journey heightens with "Soul Dancing," about realizing the profound feelings that arise when you finally meet your soul mate. The denouement of the album comes with "No Such Thing as Goodbye," inspired by the death of Ms. Blee’s father. Eerily, she wrote the song the night before he died as a way to console herself.
"Music has always been such a powerful presence in my life a good friend, a rage release, a comfort and an incredible joy," she says. "Writing helps me make sense of things that happen in my life."
Critics and alternative/college radio stations have picked up on her music, adding Disguise to their playlists and comparing Ms. Blee to Shawn Colvin, Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams and Patty Griffin most of whom are Ms. Blee’s influences. She also finds inspiration in the music of David Gray, Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris, Crosby, Stills and Nash and Graham Parsons.
"Sometimes a little country (influence) comes through, too," she says, perhaps thinking about her father and the family jam sessions.
At the Library III and other clubs, she was known for her range of eclectic covers, from Pink Floyd to Patsy Cline. Ms. Blee is very pleased to finally be getting such a warm reception for her originals, though.
"Playing my own music is what really feeds my soul," she says. "There’s more freedom and openness about performing it. It’s a little scary, too, though. These songs are pieces of you."
Historically, launching a music career from South Jersey hasn’t been easy. Ms. Blee admits she never envisioned getting to this level. She’s not getting too far ahead of herself, though. Ms. Blee has no plans for international tours, J. Lo-style entourages or high-tech, six-figure videos.
"I’m a girl who played at the Library for 15 years, so this is enough of a dream come true," she says. "I just keep following the path that unfolds in front of me and keep saying ‘yes’ to whatever comes up."
Patty Blee opens for Kasim Sulton at the Tin Angel, 20 S. 2nd St., Philadelphia, Sept. 22, 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $12. For information, call (215) 928-0770. On the Web: www.tinangel.com. Patty Blee and Disguise on the Web: www.pattyblee.com and www.treasurerecords.com