Ironical look at a well-known Songwriter Contest in Texas, by Patti Witten, From 'Sycamore Tryst' (2003)

Nine Days in Texas

Subtle protest against capital punishment and American perceptions regarding terrorism couched inside the story of a personal loss. Female vocal, acoustic guitar, pedal steel.
PERFORMERS: Patti Witten, Rich DePaolo, Doug Robinson, Bill King, Robby Aceto, Bob Carlucci. Songwriter(s): Patti Witten. Album: Sycamore Tryst 
Label: Potent Folk / I-Town Records, 2002



Sunny Day in Terre Haute

Acoustic version of "Dandelion," the Rolling Stones' Beatles-influenced 1967 flower-power hit single. From Tell The Wind, Top 12 DIY review from Performing Songwriter, Outstanding Achievement In Songwriting Award from the Great American Song Contest, a Songs of Note Award given by the Indie Acoustic Project Contest, and 4 stars from 'Maverick' magazine in the UK.

Dandelion

A humid, sexy, tough ballad of unashamed adoration.

For You

Opening Day

Emotional, mesmerizing plea for more time, filled with longing. Dominated by shimmering acoustic and electric guitar, harmonies, ambient sounds and loops. Female vocals. Akin to Robert Fripp, Sarah McLachlan, Joni Mitchell
Patti Witten, Rich DePaolo, Doug Robinson, Bill King, Robby Aceto.
• ROCKRGRL Magazine Discoveries 2004 CD Contest Winner, 2004, instrumental version. 

Another Minute More

Ac guitar, ld vocal: Patti. El guitar, bg vocal: Rich DePaolo. Bass: Doug Robinson. Drums: Bill King. Produced/mixed/arr by Rich DePaolo. I wrote Black Butterfly in July, 2001. Even more than usual that summer I was preoccupied with issues of morality, death and love, break ups and summer’s end. 

Black Butterfly

A slow, wistful waltz through a small-town tableau. Featuring the Burns Sisters on harmonies. Winner: Grand Prize, Great American Song Contest 1999. Rosanne Cash: "I really admire your commitment to your work and to your own integrity - it is quite inspirational, exceptionally forthright and honest, and I'm a big fan of yours." Harriet Schock: "I play you quite a lot in my classes; I like your work a lot." 

Change Of Heart Church Choir

Always on days of rainy weather dark mornings just like this
Lonely train whistle sounds much closer in the mist
Rain pulls down the branches in their new coat of leaves
that candy-bright vibrant green
Making a blind where the thrushes hide, on the underside
Singing alone

Whenever I walk in the old graveyard among the drunken stones 
whose formal words time has blurred, tumbled, overgrown
I find the broken feathers crows have pried from their wings
they dot this bone yard every spring
In a jar with other treasures found on walks across less hallowed ground
I carry them home

Only fools stand out in the rain
Only coal riding that train
Light our homes, take back what the darkness owns
Warm me, I'm always cold

How can I reconcile such beauty tandemed with the dark
I have no philosophy to tease the two apart
Sorrow's swing to happiness, joy's fall to grief
just beg the question of belief
Interpret me, do my chart, make it all clear
comfort me, hold my heart, tell me why I'm here.
Flatter me that I advance the stages of the soul
Farther from the physical, stronger in invisible bone.
Farther from the physical, stronger in invisible bone.

©Patti Witten/Potent Folk Records, all rights reserved.

Invisible Bone (demo)

A post-love love song that declares, "I will always love you - you're so, so mine." From 'Tell the Wind' 2006, produced by Rich DePaolo.

You're So Mine

Blind

A casualty of inner conflict, offspring of the Beatles, Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne, to name but three. Reluctant performer, graphic artist, horseback rider, guitarist, pseuddhist, fauxtographer and dedicated loner. Student of Rosanne Cash, of americana/folk/singer-songwriters with a love of progrock, ambient and funk. 4 albums: Land of Souvenirs, Prairie Doll, Sycamore Tryst and Tell The Wind. Static website at pattiwitten.com (must get that updated), slight touring history. Hiding out in central New York state amidst the cornfields, crows and cattails. iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon, Pandora, Spotify, etc., etc.

pattiwitten

Popular tracks