Edmonton based songwriter Matt Patershuk is keeping his sister’s memory alive on his sophomore CD “ I Was So Fond of You.”
He brings the CD and his band back to the Geomatic Attic, March 20.
“The last time we were there was in 2013 and we were opening for John Wort Hannam. We had a great time,” Patershuk recalled.
His new CD was inspired by his younger sister Clare, who was killed by a drunk driver in June 2013.
It even features one of her paintings as the cover art. Patershuk said it was difficult to write about his sister, but the project meant a lot to him.
“She was a really amazing person. Everybody loved her. So the CD is dedicated to her. I thought it was a nice approach to keeping her memory alive,” Patershuk said.
“I don’t think the songs I was writing at the time could have been about anything else. It really feels like a privilege to have written them,“ he said.
“I’m really not that prolific of a songwriter, so I wrote about 20 and recorded 12 and kept 11 of them,” he said.
“I still have a long way to go as a songwriter, but these are the best songs I could have written,” he continued.
He recorded his CD with well known Canadian producer Steve Dawson in his recently relocated Henhouse studio in Nashville. Dawson also produced Patershuk’s debut “ Outside the Lights of Town.”
“ He’s a great guy and a great player,” he said, adding Dawson was on his bucket list of people he wanted to work with.
“It was a lot of fun. I owe him a great debt,” he said, he said adding he is pleased with how well the CD turned out. He couldn’t choose a highlight among the players.
“All of them really. Ana Egge sings on it. And Gary Craig plays piano on it. He has played with Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and Anne Murray,” he said, adding the CD was recorded live off the floor with everyone sitting in a circle.
“ The only overdub we did was Ana Egge’s vocals,” he said, noting he learned a lot by playing with musicians of such high calibre.
“I hope I soaked up something. It was amazing,” he said.
Calgary singer songwriter Carter Felker and Lethbridge’s Danny Dyck will be opening the show.
“I’ll have a full band, so that will be exciting,” he said adding he is excited to share the stage with Felker.
“We’ve done a few shows together. At the end we may do one or two songs together,” he said.
His tour will be really short with a handful of dates in Alberta, B.C. , Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Manitoba and beginning with a show in Dawson Creek
“ I’d like to go out east, but I’m focusing on Western Canada right now,” he said.
The show begins at the Geomatic Attic at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $27.50
