Patty Larkin

{{short description|American singer-songwriter}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Multiple issues| {{BLP sources|date=December 2019}} {{Fanpov|date=April 2013}}}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Patty Larkin | image = PattyLarkin4Oct08A.jpg | caption = Patty Larkin | image_size =  | landscape = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1951|6|19}} | birth_place = Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. | death_date = | origin = | instrument = Vocals, guitar | genre = Folk rock | occupation = Singer-songwriter | years_active = 1980s–present | label = Signature Sounds | website = {{URL|http://pattylarkin.com}} }}

'''Patty Larkin''' (born June 19, 1951)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.folklib.net/index/birth/birth_l.shtml#Larkin,Pt|title=FolkLib Index – Musician's Birthdays/Bibliography (L)|website=Folklib.net}}</ref> is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist based in Boston, Massachusetts. She is a founding member of Four Bitchin' Babes. Her music has been described as folk-urban pop music.

==Life and career== Patty Larkin was born in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, and grew up in a musical and artistic family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<ref name="Larkin90">{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=2000|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0427-8|pages=226/7}}</ref> Descended from a long line of Irish-American singers and storytellers, her mother was a painter and her sisters both musicians. She learned at a young age to appreciate the beauty and magic of the arts. She began classical piano studies at age 7, and became swept up in the sounds of pop and folk in the 1960s, teaching herself the guitar and experimenting with songwriting in high school. An English major, Larkin sang throughout her high school and college career, starting out in coffeehouses in Oregon and San Francisco. Upon graduation from the University of Oregon, she moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where she devoted herself to music, busking on the streets of Cambridge and studying jazz guitar at Berklee College of Music and with Boston area jazz guitarists.<ref name="Larkin90"/>

Her recording career began in 1985 with Philo/Rounder Records where she recorded ''Step into The Light'', ''I'm Fine'', and ''Live in the Square''.<ref name="Larkin90"/> In 1990, she signed to Windham Hill's new High Street label and delivered four releases: ''Tango'', ''Angels Running'', ''Strangers World'', and ''Perishable Fruit''.<ref name="Larkin90"/> After Windham Hill was sold to BMG, Larkin moved to Vanguard Records and released ''à gogo'', ''Regrooving The Dream'', ''Red=Luck'', and ''Watch The Sky''. The latter was a ''New York Times'' "critic choice".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/arts/music/21choi.html|title=Patty Larkin – Watch the Sky – Raheem DeVaughn – Love Behind the Melody – Drive-By Truckers – Brighter Than Creation's Dark -|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 21, 2008}}</ref> In 2010, Larkin celebrated her 25th year of recording with ''25'', a stripped down retrospective of 25 love songs with 25 featured guests (Road Narrows Records/Signature Sounds).

Larkin produced ''La Guitara'', a compilation of international women guitarists challenging the notion that there are no great women guitarists. She has also performed on numerous compilations and her songs have been featured in the following films: "Anyway The Main Thing Is" in ''Evolution'' (Columbia/DreamWorks); "Good Thing" in ''Random Hearts'' (Columbia); and "Coming Up For Air" and "Tenderness on the Block" in ''Sliding Doors'' (Miramax/Paramount). Cher recorded Larkin's "Angels Running" on her album ''It's a Man's World''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/its-a-mans-world-mw0000178930|title=It's a Man's World – Cher | Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic}}</ref>

Larkin is the recipient of an honorary doctorate of music degree from Berklee College of Music. She has also been honored by Boston's Mayor Thomas Menino with "Patty Larkin Appreciation Day" for her career in music and philanthropic contributions.

==Personal life== She currently lives with her partner and two adopted children in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.<ref name="Larkin90"/>

==Discography== {| class="wikitable" |- !Date !Title !Label !Charted !Country !Catalog Number |- style="background:#ddd;" ! colspan="6"| Album |- | 1985 |''Step into the Light'' |rowspan="3"| Philo Records | style="text-align:center;"| – | – | 1103 |- | 1987 |''I'm Fine'' | style="text-align:center;"| – | – | 1115 |- | 1990 | ''Live in the Square'' | style="text-align:center;"| – | – | 1136 |- | 1991 | ''Tango'' |rowspan="4"| High Street Records | style="text-align:center;"| – | – | 10312 |- | 1993 | ''Angels Running'' | style="text-align:center;"| – | – | 10318 |- | 1995 | ''Strangers World'' | style="text-align:center;"| – | – | 10335 |- | 1997 | ''Perishable Fruit'' | style="text-align:center;"| – | – | 10354 |- | 1999 | ''À Gogo: Live on Tour'' |rowspan="4"| Vanguard Records | style="text-align:center;"| – | – | 79547 |- | 2000 | ''Regrooving the Dream'' | style="text-align:center;"| – | – | 79552 |- | 2003 | ''Red=Luck'' | style="text-align:center;"|38 Billboard ''Top Independent Albums'' | US | 79727 |- | 2008 | ''Watch the Sky'' | style="text-align:center;"| – | – | 79851 |- | 2010 | ''25'' |rowspan="2"| Signature Sounds | style="text-align:center;"| – | – | 2028 |- | 2013 | ''Still Green'' | style="text-align:center;"| – | – | 2057 |- |2020 |Bird in a Cage |Road Narrows Records | |US | |- style="background:#ddd;" ! colspan="6"| Collaborations |- | 1991 |''Buy Me Bring Me Take Me: Don't Mess My Hair!!!'' (with Four Bitchin' Babes) | Philo Records | style="text-align:center;"| – | – | 1141 |- | 2005 | ''La Guitara: Gender Bending Strings'' | Vanguard Records | style="text-align:center;"| – | – | 79796 |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Patty Larkin}} * {{official website|http://www.pattylarkin.com/}} * [http://www.folklib.net/index/l/larkin_patty.shtml FolkLib entry for Patty Larkin] * [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124497148 Patty Larkin: 25 Songs, 25 Friends, 25 Years] – interview by ''NPR''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larkin, Patty}} Category:1951 births Category:American women singer-songwriters Category:American folk guitarists Category:American folk singers Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:American lesbian musicians Category:American LGBTQ songwriters Category:LGBTQ people from Iowa Category:Lesbian singers Category:Lesbian songwriters Category:Singers from Boston Category:Musicians from Des Moines, Iowa Category:Living people Category:Four Bitchin' Babes members Category:Guitarists from Iowa Category:Guitarists from Massachusetts Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:Signature Sounds artists Category:20th-century American women guitarists Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people Category:21st-century American women Category:Singer-songwriters from Iowa Category:Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts Category:American LGBTQ women singers