Dave Patten
Dave’s music career started (like many) in elementary school. He was assigned the cello and also became involved in the chorus. After a few years with the orchestra he lost interest and ended his school-sponsored music career. He decided to take a more rhythmic path – the drums.
Through middle school Dave and old friend Colin Thomson-Hohl started their first band. The two of them - both self-taught guitarists – explored their songwriting abilities. Many of their songs proved themselves worthy years later… Dave featured tracks on “Too Close, Too Far” and “Fly Away,” some 7 years after they were originally written by the two 7th graders. Run of the Mill faded away as Colin and Dave drifted off in different directions.
Unwilling to give up on the musical lifestyle, Dave grew out his hair and started the jam rock band Stepping Stone with friends Josh Druhan, Chris Montone, and Chris Baglivo. The group played to packed local bars when they were only 16. They went into the studio in 2004 to record their first and only album “Have You Ever Felt The Cold.” This was also the first album fully produced by Dave
By the end of 11th grade tensions in the band caused its disintegration. Their final show was at the 2005 Mr. Haverford contest, where they played as the house band in front of thousands of students. After the show, Dave cut his hair and started his solo career (and ironically, went on to win the title of Mr. Haverford 2006 for his solo work).
Dave released his debut album “Too Close, Too Far” in January 2006. He recruited former bandmates Josh Druhan and Chris Baglivo to feature their skills on the album, and joined up for the first time with pianist Brian Boyle. Dave had accidentally stumbled upon a CD of instrumentals written by Brian, and after hearing and creating the vocal melody for “Strength,” asked Brian to team up with him. They’ve been working together ever since.
Brian wrote the instrumental “Strength” for his mom, who was struggling with breast cancer. Dave filled in the lyrics and incredibly catchy chorus, a lethal combination that resulted in a huge hit for Dave to this day. It ended up getting airplay on fifty or sixty stations across the U.S. and Canada and won some local awards in the Philly radio market.
With his high school glory days over, Dave headed up to Penn State University main at University Park to start his education in electrical engineering. To no one’s surprise, the venture was short lived. Dave transferred to Temple University to continue his music career with Brian who was already studying at Temple.
With over a year gone by since the release of his first album, Dave had enough new material under his belt to tackle a second album. “Fly Away” was recorded during the summer of 2007. The final mixing and mastering took place at Range Studios in Ardmore, PA. Dave brought in his old drum teacher, John Whitely, to cover the drums as the final recording step. Dave had played drums on the previous album, but wanted John’s professional skills on “Fly Away.” The sophomore album was completed and released in September 2007.
Dave’s transfer to Temple turned out to be a great move. He won a $500 1st place prize in his first film class for the viral music video “Rich the Republican.” Dave and Brian also started cutting cover song videos and posting them on YouTube. This was instantly successful, bringing in new fans and making his music more available to listeners all over the world. Hip-Hop legend Wyclef Jean even stumbled upon Dave and Brian’s video of his song “Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)” and gave them the opportunity to open for him while on tour in Atlantic City. They played to a packed house at the House of Blues in the Showboat Casino. They documented the trip, and the video was even featured on Wyclef Jean’s MySpace page!
What’s next?