Patsy Matheson has come a long way since 1991, when, as a young singer/songwriter, she entered a song writing competition, and was chosen as the winner by none other than Maddy Prior and Clive Gregson.
Founder member and one quarter of the award winning female acoustic group, Waking the Witch, Patsy has been writing songs and winning over audiences ever since.
Her first solo album, ‘With My Boots On’, (Tomorrow Records 1996) featured just her voice and that instantly recognisable guitar and received much critical acclaim. FRoots described her as having ‘an angel voice’, and Time Out called her ‘an assured and confident talent’. For live work, she teamed up with acoustic bass player, Jon Short, (Deep Sky Divers, Jon Strong Band) and together they toured the length and breadth of the UK, receiving rave reviews. Along the way, she supported such names as John Martyn, Glenn Tilbrook, Dick Gaughan, Nick Harper, Al Stewart, Roy Harper, The Saw Doctors and Michael Chapman (who subsequently invited her to sing on two of his albums), and completed a UK tour as guest of virtuoso guitar player, Gordon Giltrap. When she had the pleasure of supporting Christy Moore for a gig at St George’s Hall in Bradford, she was so well received that he invited her to complete the rest of his tour at such prestigious venues as Liverpool Philharmonic and Birmingham Symphony Halls. A solo appearance on the acoustic stage at the 1997 Glastonbury Festival followed...
In 2003, having had a break to start a family, she took on the challenge of putting together a vocal harmony group, approaching solo artists Rachel Goodwin and Jools Parker, and Waking the Witch was formed – later joined by Becky Mills. The band rapidly went from strength to strength, releasing three groundbreaking albums and a live DVD. They completed numerous tours of the UK, played at many of the major UK festivals, including Cambridge, Trowbridge and Glastonbury and made countless radio appearances, including live sessions on BBC Radio 2 for both Janice Long and Bob Harris. They have also been played by Mike Harding on his Radio 2 Folk Show (Patsy’s composition Rock ‘n’ Roll was featured as a ‘Tour Bus Tune’) and on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show. The most recent CD, ‘Boys from the Abattoir’ was among HMV’s top selling Folk CDs, and was one of the albums considered for the 2007 Mercury Music Award.
Following the farewell tour of Waking the Witch in spring 2008, and armed with a bunch of brand new songs, Patsy set about recording a solo album, ‘Little Piece of England’. She teamed up with producer/guitarist Sam Bartholomew with the aim of making a stripped back recording that felt as close to a real, unamplified, acoustic sound as possible. With both Patsy and Sam playing several old, vintage American acoustic guitars, and with the help of Gina Dootson on backing vocals and Harry Hamer (Chumbawamba) on percussion, the end result is an upclose and intimate, natural sound.
The CD is due to be released on October 6, 2008 on Witch Records (WITCH 003) and Patsy, accompanied by Sam Bartholomew, will be touring through the winter showcasing the release. The live shows will demonstrate just how she has built up an enviable reputation as a talented singer/songwriter as well as a guitarist and mandolin player with an accomplished and individual style.
For more information, contact [email protected] or see www.patsymatheson.co.uk
