BrothaRic Patton

I was still in high school the first time I ever played a real nightclub.

And it wasn't just any nightclub.

It was the Ebony Club.

The Ebony Club was right up the road from where I lived in Triana, Alabama, and back then, that place was a big damn deal.

We were just kids. Had ourselves a high school band and thought we were something. Hell, maybe we were.

Music was different back then. We were heading into the disco era. Everybody was dancing. Bumping. Bump contests. Bands playing. Folks dressing up to go out on…

I’ve been around the record business a long damn time.

Long enough to watch it change. Then change again. And every time somebody tells you the latest change is gonna “save the music business,” you better check and see who the hell they’re talking about saving.

Because it usually ain’t the little Blues man.

One of the biggest changes was streaming.

Streaming opened some doors. No doubt about that. An independent artist can put a record out today and somebody around the world can hear it tonight.

That’s pretty…

This lawnmower is old.

I mean old.

My daddy bought this John Deere LA145 so many years ago I can't even remember when he got the damn thing.

But yesterday?

That old son of a bitch was still cutting grass.

And I ain't talking about some pretty little suburb lawn where the grass gets trimmed every Saturday before breakfast. I'm talking about high grass. The kind that'll make a lawnmower reconsider.

That old Deere went right through it.

Rusty. Worn. Beat up.

Still cutting.

And sitting there riding that thing got me…

I guess the smoke is finally starting to settle.

And when I say smoke, I mean the fire of getting a new computer, gathering up recording tools, learning what I’ve got, and getting everything ready to make some music.

I’ve got quite a few tools now.

So I suppose it’s time to get busy.

Funny thing is, once you finally get the tools you’ve been wanting, another question shows up:

What the hell are you gonna do with them?

I don’t know where to start. Aint that some shit !

Maybe that’s all right.

Lately, I’ve been…

Everybody wants to talk about microphones.

"What mic are you using?"
"What's the best condenser?"
"Do I need to spend a thousand dollars?"

Hell, that's usually the wrong question to ask.

You can own the finest microphone money can buy, but if you're recording in a room that sounds like a concrete slab or an empty kitchen, your recording is still gonna suffer. A fancy microphone can't fix a bad room. In fact, it makes the problem worse.

Here's why.

Technology done come a long way. These days, you can spend two or…

Every time I get stopped at a railroad crossing, I don't get as mad as I used to. Matter of fact, I smile.

Because that train reminds me of learning to play the guitar.

You're sitting there with somewhere to be. The engine's running. Your foot's tapping. You're thinking, Damn, come on already. Then your mind starts wandering. "Maybe I can turn around. Maybe there's a side road. Maybe I can beat this thing somehow."

Sure enough, somebody always tries.

One car cuts left. Another hangs a U-turn. Somebody's…

Some weeks leave your boots dusty. Others leave your soul full. Last week did both.

This Monday found me doing something I don't do very often—sleeping.

I finally made it back home from Helena, Arkansas, after spending the week at summer camp, and I guess my body had been keeping score. I eased back into my chair to rest for a minute, and the next thing I knew, I'd slept away most of the day.

Truth is, it felt pretty good.

I'm not making excuses. I'm just plain tired.

When you spend your days pouring into young…

There comes a time when you just have to quit waitin' on the perfect words.

I had a feelin' today was the day to make a post.

Truth is, it's been a while. Not because there ain't been anything to say. Hell, it's been the opposite. Sometimes a man's got so much rattlin' around in his head he can't figure out which thought to grab . That'll bruise a man up if you let it. It'll lock you down tighter than an rusted gate. Before you know it, you've talked yourself right out of sayin' anything at all.

Well... we're…

I woke up this morning with music already playing in my head.

No radio. No record spinning. Just a melody floating around. It got me wondering where songs really come from. Funny thing , I've been writing and playing music for years, but I'd never stopped to think about it quite like that.

The whole process is a real mystery.

When you break Western music down, it's really just a bunch of mathmatics. Chords. Scales. Timing. Patterns. There are only so many combinations that still sound like music. When you look…

WEUP wasn't just a radio station. Hell, it was a lifeline.

Growing up in North Alabama, WEUP was where I first heard the blues. Back then, it was the People's Radio. If you wanted Black music, soul music, community news, and voices that sounded like home, you turned that dial to WEUP.

AM radio had its own rhythm. It came on when the sun came up and signed off when the sun went down. Everything in between was a soundtrack to our lives. Soul music. Blues music. Community. They weren't just spinning records—they…