Patricia Duffy

Patricia was born and raised in suburban Toronto, Canada, and, as a child, found herself reluctantly entertaining her parents' friends and family on the piano whenever they'd stop by for visits. But what she found sometimes tedious in childhood and walked away from when high school beckoned (much to her parents' dismay, having paid for six years of piano lessons), she returned to as a teenager, when she discovered an Elton John music book and began playing her favourite tunes, by both sight and ear. It is on the piano as an adult that she has written over eighty songs. Patricia has been a fixture on the Toronto professional music scene for over twenty-five years, having played the lounge, wedding, private, corporate and country club circuit for much of that time. A highlight of this period was accompanying the wonderful R&B vocal group The Temptations on piano during an impromptu hotel lounge jam session one evening in Basel, Switzerland during her 1993 gig there. In 1991 she joined Toronto's Hurricanes Dance Band, an eighteen-piece swing big band, as their sole vocalist, with whom she continues to sing to this day. Audiences have called her voice "melifluous", "haunting", "the voice of an angel" and "the most beautiful voice I've ever heard". She also fronts The Patricia Duffy Trio for more intimate engagements, covering the beautiful jazz standards of the 30's and 40's, in addition to guesting with other bands and small combos. She has been an actress as well, appearing in productions of “Oliver!”, “Fiddler on the Roof”, “The Odd Couple” (Gwendolyn Pigeon), Molly (the Miller's Daughter) in The Canterbury Tales, “The Real Inspector Hound” (Felicity) and others, in addition to credits as Musical Director on the shows “Nunsense” and “The Paisley Sisters Christmas Special”, in which she also played the role of Lonnie Paisley. Notable achievements include the role of Anne Shirley in the classic Canadian musical “Anne of Green Gables” and the Outstanding Vocalist Award for three consecutive years at the Canadian Big Band Dance Festival in Ontario. She has also performed pop, as vocalist with The Third Degree Band, as Frida in an ABBA tribute band, and as session vocalist on the recordings of others. Patricia's son Adam shares her love of making music; he is co-founder/frontman of the multi-platinum-selling rock band Three Days Grace (www.threedaysgrace.com). Patricia started writing folk/pop tunes as a teenager, and in 1986 began seriously writing with an eye to recording. Her first pop CD, "Patricia Duffy", was released in 2001, followed by her jazz CD, "Please Don't Tell Me" (www.cdbaby.com, www.itunes.com) in 2007. She thanks the brilliant and legendary Archie Alleyne, Robi Botos, Jeff King (all at www.kollage.ca) and David Bell for lending their huge talents to this project, which is dedicated to the wonderful saxophonist Doug Richardson, with whom she had the pleasure of working. She also thanks guitarist Nelles Van Loon, for introducing her to jazz standards, which inspired her to write her jazz CD. Certain selections from her folk/pop collection have featured her brother, Tom Duffy, on guitar, drums and bass; she is currently in pre-production for her third CD, an accoustic folk/pop project, which will spotlight the exceptionally talented Sean Bray on guitars and mandolin. Patricia is thrilled and honoured to have her song "All My Secrets" featured in the upcoming Jim Myers film "Under Budget", to be released later this year. Patricia ideally envisions a publishing contract, with her songs being recorded by others. In the meantime, writing and recording her own music has always been, and will continue to be, her first joy. "If I can't sing, I can't breathe."