What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette N ew Orleans musician Beth Patterson is no stranger to Northwest Arkansas. She headlined the Celtic festival in Eureka Springs in the early 2000s, played Chelsea's Corner Cafe after that and made music in the mountains for a more personal occasion. "I also played for my brother's outdoor wedding up there," she says. "The weather was glorious, the wind stirred the trees in the middle of the vows sending leaves down like confetti, and then a bald eagle circled overhead at the reception. It was truly magical." Patterson is no stranger to music, either. "I am the youngest in a musical family of four, so before I could read music, I taught myself how to figure out harmonies by listening to what everyone else was singing and figuring out what was missing," she says. "My folks signed me up for piano lessons, oboe, and even a summer of Suzuki violin lessons. But when I got my first bass guitar at age 13, I knew that I had found my calling." Like every other gig musician, Patterson — who is now officially Beth Paxton after her 2018 marriage to fellow New Orleans musician Josh Paxton — has been searching for ways to keep playing, keep relevant and keep an income coming in. In light of her just-released single, "Return to Our Caves," she agreed to answer some questions for What's Up! Q. How long have you been playing and recording music? And how has your music changed over the years? A. By the time I reached my teens, I was playing electric bass in assorted heavy metal bands. But I wanted an extra level of influence. A friend of mine in high school got me turned onto Irish groups, so I got a mandolin and began to learn the dance tunes — playing with my fingers because nobody told me I was supposed to use a pick! I found a used bouzouki in a vendor booth at the North Texas Irish Festival my senior year of high school, and suddenly my two musical passions were divided. I don't consider myself having been a professional musician before I went to college, because before then I was living with my parents. But I was still making money and recording back then. My first real money was from playing English horn with the Acadiana Symphony when I was a junior in high school. I played three seasons with them. My first real recording session was when I was a senior in high school playing upright bass with my mom's Cajun band, Renaissance 'Cadienne. We spent a day in La Louisiane studios, cut each song in our repertoire twice, and the better of each take made it to the tape. I might even still have a few copies of it somewhere. Q. How would you describe the genre of what you play now? A. If I wanted to use a supergenre, JUNE 14-20, 2020 WHAT'S UP! 11 Six Minutes, Six Questions Musician Beth Patterson 6X6 After covid-19 clears up, Beth Patterson says she wants to resume international travel with her husband, Josh Paxton. "I lost gigs in Guatemala, France, Switzerland and Italy to the pandemic," she mourns. "I was looking forward to learning new things, catching up with old friends, meeting new people, and playing some crazy-good music from other countries. Exploring has been one of my passions, so I hope to see the day when I can once again absorb more folklore, see some amazing sights, and occasionally make a fool of myself in whatever language in which I'm trying to get by." (Courtesy Photo/Steve Parke © 2019) See Patterson Page 39