A New Voice Shines Thru

Patrick Sweany – Daytime Turned To Nighttime

A package showed in the mailbox and I had no idea who or what it was.  No information initially visible beyond the name Patrick Sweany, a red flower, an upside down title and a picture of this Van Dyked bloke.  Who?  Daytime Turned To Nighttime, well that makes sense but who the hell was this?  Never heard the name mentioned, though come to find out this is his seventh full length CD.  Well, an unknown isn’t anything new, but not something to hang your hopes on.  Then the music comes on with some shimmering guitar and a voice that seems to awaken the speakers.  This is something else, a husky quiet, yet forceful voice engulfing the room.  Raw and yet polished in some ways the same force of voice as John Hiatt. 

On this disc he wrote all 10 songs and they cover a vast gamut of styles and yet there is always soul, real feeling in the songs, no matter the style.  There is blues and it isn’t Texas or Chicago or Delta; it is just Blues, not blues that make you cry, but Blues that force you to feel, and there is awareness of the others in the room.  Sweany seems to meld all the traditions we know into one song and have it not display the traditions but to display all of them at the same time.  A magician, without seeming to be a real person at all.  These are the songs that other songs wish they could be.  They are just there and seemingly with no effort they materialize and engulf you without ever seeming to be playing. 

You can start with any song and feel all of it flow inside of you with a living breathing pulse.  He carefully crafts a song so that it contains the essence of what he is trying to say;  there is a craftsmanship that is second to none and far beyond some of our so called celebrated songsmiths.  For raw power and edginess give a listen to Back Home  and that fuzzy guitar matches his rough sanded voice perfectly containing it all in one.  Or maybe listen to Nothing Happened At All, and the essence of his voice is matched with the slashing of the lead guitar, and you know it was a time that is recognized because with all that happened nothing actually happened.   This is a perfect marriage that seamlessly enters into your consciousness.  These are songs that other songs aspire to be.  

bob gottlieb

Patrick Sweany – Daytime Turned To Nighttime

Nine Mile Records