Mystical
Musings:
by
Bob Ruggiero
Atlanta
singer / songwriter David Patterson considers himself a classical
guitarist - and he's got the degree from the University of Georgia
to prove it. But rather than shy away from the label in his
more rock-oriented output, he embraces both labels equally.
"
I don't see much of a contradiction between the two", he
says. Some people get turned off by the word 'classical' because
they think of symphony halls and their moms and dads in fancy
clothes, but you can really bring it alive when you perform
it.,..it's been taken to this musuem-style performance, and
that's a pity."
Patterson
will be performing a little classical, a little acoustic, and
a lot of rock when he brings his eclectic band to Savannah to
celebrate the release of his CD 'Selene', an acoustic and highly
spiritual collection of tracks.
Much
of the CD's lyrical content centers on Patterson's mystical
musings and spiritual interpretation, a personal interest he's
incorporated smoothly into his music. "It was more of a
quest for spiritual fulfillment," he says of his initial
efforts at exploring that world. "I was disenamored with
the Christian mythology- although I did dabble in that- but
equally applicable to my life were the myths from different
legends."
Many
of those legends are European in origin, and indeed, Patterson
spent some of the happiest times in his life in the early eighties
over there, busking in the streets of Vienna and making enough
money to buy dinner, stay at a hostel, and go out for a few
beers with his girlfriend. "Those experiences were amazing,"
he wistfully recalls today.
And
though Patterson spent much of his youth living in Savannah,
he moved to Atlanta in the mid eighties, often appearing in
several bands at once ( today he's cut in down to three). It
was there that he hooked up with Michael Lorant and the Indigo
Girls' Jesus Christ Superstar: A resurrection project, which
was released last year to critical acclaim. Patterson was part
of "The Murray Head Orchestra ( a nod to the singer who
portrayed Judas in the original production), which tackled some
of the more difficult musical passages in rock opera.
"That
was a seminal piece of music for me growing up and playing the
guitar, so I jumped at the occasion!" he says. But when
it comes to rock and roll, I grew up listening to everything
that everyone else did, like the Police and the Clash.... the
money I make playing in rock clubs isn't much, and it's not
my bread and butter, I do it because I love it!"