PAT HUMPHRIES
I first heard Pat Humphries on our local folk music station singing live and doing an interview. I was hooked almost immediately.Her honesty and passion for people and music really caught me. At the time she was living and performing in the area and I got spoiled by being able to see her several times. I hope this page gives you some idea of the kind of person and musician Pat Humphries is.
I just saw Pat in concert Saturday night (12/1) and she announced that the official website should be up and running any day now. As soon as it is, I'll let you know; or, you can check for yourself www.pathumphries.com . It was a great show Saturday with a crowd that loved to sing along. Pat's got a couple of new songs "Peace" and "We Are One"(which I love). "We Are One" especially, shows Pat branching out musically (IMHO). Her partner, Sandy, has been performing with her at the last couple of shows. They're doing a great rockin' version of "If I Had a Hammer" !
Biography
Discography
Reviews
Schedule
The
Story of Never Turning Back
Pat performs for both adults and children, who are influenced by her strong sense of justice. Her activism has always been an intregal part of her music. She joined in a delegation of women from eighteen countries observing the national elections in Nicaragua in 1996,and returned in 1999 to help re-build houses destroyed by Hurricane Mitch. Pat worked with the Inter-Religious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO-Pastors for Peace ) to end the U.S. blockade of Cuba, by participating in aid caravans that challenge the U.S. travel ban. She has been an advocate for and crew member on the CLEARWATER Hudson River Sloop . Pat is also a member of the People's Music Network and has chaired its steering committee.
Pat's songs are sung by many notable performers including Pete Seeger. Pat won first prize in the "Folk" category at the Northern California Songwriters Association song writing contest. Those yet unfamiliar with her name are singing her much acclaimed anthems "Keep On Moving Forward(Never Turning Back)", "Common Thread" and "Swimming to the Other Side" at peace and justice events around the world. She sang "Keep On Moving Forward" at the memorial hohnring former congress member Bella Azbug at the United Nations.
"Keep On Moving Forward" also opened the 4th United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. Nearly 30,000 people sang her song then and it became the theme of the conference, with it's words headlining newspaper articles around the globe. Many thousands sang her songs at the Gay Games III in Vancouver, the Bsoton based Pledge of Resistance and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). The New York City Labor Chorus chose "Common Thread" as it's theme song. "Common Thread" also inspired the formation of a community chorus in Toronto by the same name.
Pat Humphries was born in northeast Ohio in 1960,
the second to youngest of six girls. She learned to sing almost as early
as she began to speak. Her first guitar was a gift from her parents for her
ninth birthday purchased from a truck stop in Iowa. At twelve, she auditioned
for and was accepted into the Cleveland Orchestra Children's Chorus with
which she sang for two seasons. During high school she toured the United
States and Romania with another chorus from greater Cleveland.
Pat studied visual arts at Kent State while becoming chair of the Kent State
Folk Festival. She then joined the staff of the National Folk Festival and
did cultural organizing for the National Parks Service. The strong Appalachian
influence on the music of the area as well as the politics surrounding Kent
State can both be heard in her music as she combines traditional styles with
current political themes.
Pat and her family have recently moved to Maryland.
With her repetoire of powerful, singable songs and her enchanting stage presence,
she inspires her audience to create a healthier, more conscious world.
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Recordings
Moving Forward Music, Pat Humphries, Same Rain (1992)
In 1992 Pat put her inspiring enegy
into her own long awaited recording, Same Rain, on Moving Forward
Music featuring Ralph Gordon on bass and Cathy Fink on banjo. Same Rain
has been received with great enthusiasm by radio stations, producers and
audiences young and old. Pat's songs are sung around the world and have regularly
been performed by such noted singers as Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, Lui
Collins, Charlie King, Judy Small and Magpie. Even those unfamiliar with
her name are singing her much acclaimed anthems Never Turning Back, Common
Thread and Swimming To the Other Side at far-reaching concerts,
demonstrations, peace walks and conferences for social change.
Same Rain may be purchased through :
Welcome to Ladyslipper
recordings by women catalogue
http://www.appleseedrec.com/ Pat Humphries, Hands (2001) features Abby Newton on cello, Tom Prasada-Rao on piano, jazz and world music legend David Ambram on flute and percussion, and Jay Ungar on fiddle.
The new album "HANDS" is terrific and it's gotten good reviews. It has13 songs, 4 covers and 9 originals. The title cut is by Phil Ochs-other covers include "Indian Prayer", "Bread & Roses", and "We Were There". Originals are "No Sweat", "Another New Year", "Bound For Freedom", "Cold Cup of Water", "In This Life", "I'll Be There", "People Love", "Let Her Go", and a new version of "Swimming To The Other Side".
Fast Folk Musical Magazine, Compilation CD, Live At the Postcrypt
(1992)
The New York City Labor Chorus, Live '93, with guests Pete Seeger,Tao
Rodriguez,John Anthony and Pat Humphries (1993)
Sing Out! Publications, Rise Up Singing teaching tapes with Pat Humphries
and Annie Patterson singing songs from the chapters "Dreams and Fantasies"
and "Time and Changes"(to be released)
Sliced Bread Records, Compilation CD, What's That I Hear: The Songs of
Phil Ochs a recording of the many Phil Ochs Song Nights organized around
the country
TV/Film
Something To Sing About, New South Wales, documentary film
(Australia)
Let's Sing Again, Vision TV public television broadcast
(Toronto,Ontario,Canada)
The Communist Party in America Today, Rebo Studios, high density TV
documentary(Japan)
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"Another treasured find for the folk music connoisseur is the
artist behind the songs others are singing. The hot buzz around Boston these
days is around Pat Humphries, whose uplifting political anthems are being
sung by all the right people:Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, Priscilla Herdman,
Judy Small...as a sold out Passim showed Thursday night Humphries' star is
rapidly rising. Humphries has a gift for tackling the toughest issues and
always finding hope in the same place: community." Scott Alarik, The Boston
Globe
"I hear a lot of new songs, but only a few show real promise. But Pat is
outstanding, a remarkably talented person. When she sings she has a presence
that is a combination of passion, sensitivity, good musicianship, and the
ability to put words to music." Ronnie Gilbert
'Pat Humphries' set musically reiterated her outstanding ability as both
creator and interpreter of enduring anthems. The composer of the lasting
"Never Turning Back" rendered "Keep Your Eyes On The Prize"
and "Swimming To The Other Side" with uncommon grace matching a
remarcertainty and strong stage presence." Dirty Linen
"Never Turning Back is one of the best songs I have heard in fifty
years...an extraordinary song." Pete Seeger
"...A wonderful singer, a fine guitarist and a songwriter of undeniable power."
Country Dance and Song Society at Pinewoods
"There was never any doubt about Pat Humphries. Not from the moment the Lansing
area folk community first heard her voice-a vibrant gutsy alto-and felt the
impact of her songwriting...(her) voice has a power and conviction that can
hush an audience." Lansing State Journal
"A charismatic and gifted young songwriter, Pat teaches love, understanding
and oneness through her sensitive and powerful songs." Gotta Get Gon
Festival
about Same Rain
" Pat Humphries carries on the tradition of folk music as a voice
of social responsibilty. Ronnie Gilbert and Pete Seeger do her songs, and
Si Kahn wrote her liner notes, so she's in good company. Humphries has a
lovely voice...she's backed up by Marcy Marxer, Cathy Fink and other friends."
Dirty Linen
"Pat's the kind of songwriter you stumble upon very infrequently-one with
the ability to anthemize common struggles and triumphs...She sings in a clear
steady voice, songs which name us, for all our differences, as beings all
washed by the very same rain...Highly Recommended!" Ladyslipper
catalogue
"The performances on Pat Humphries eclectic first album range from an
unaccompanied solo vocal to a full-tilt blues with drums, piano, bass, sax,
and Humphries' own fine guitar playing. Magpie, Lyn Hardy, Cathy Fink,producer
Marcy Marxer and others contribute wonderful harmonies...Her voice is strong
and her songs are well written...combine beautiful melodies with messages
of affirmation and hope." Sing Out! Magazine
about "Hands"
"promises to become another folk classic."Ladyslipper catalogue
"Her voice reminds me of those strong women from the Appalachians; supple, yet sinewy, edged with that hint of smoke and mist you smell on a winter morning in the southern mountains. She uses that voice like a well-honed tool, cutting the distinctions fine and true, trimming the pieces of the songs so that the joints fit smoothly."
Si Kahn
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here are some upcoming shows:
Dec. 9 Common Ground Coffeehouse Ithaca, N.Y.
7:00pm (617)273-1505
Dec. 16 Town Crier Cafe Pawling, N.Y. 8:00pm
(845)855-1300
also please check Musi-Cal Concert Index
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The Story of Never Turning Back
Deborah Van Kleef
(reprinted without permission from the Feb 96 newsletter of the Northeast
Ohio Folk & Traditional Music & Dance Society)
In September of '95 I received a cryptic message from my mother who
was attending the 4th World Conference on Women outside Beijing,China:"This
is the greatest experience of my life.And they sang Pat's song!" "Pat's
song" was Never Turning Back by Pat Humphries, formerly of northeast
Ohio and a longtime friend of mine. Shirley Mae Springer-Straten, a singer
from Alaska, performed the song at the opening ceremony. It had been learned
and sung by women and men from every continent throughout the 10 days of
the conference.
Pat has written many wonderful and inspiring songs, but this was her first,
and perhaps the one that has traveled the furthest.She wrote it the summer
of 1984, at a workshop led by Si Kahn at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck,
New York. I think I was one of the first people outside of Omega to hear
the song. Pat was living in Cleveland Hts. then, and she came over to see
me a day or two after she got back. She sang me Never Turning Back
and also Walls and Windows which she had co-written with the Australian
artist Judy Small.
I'd gotten to know Pat in the late seventies, when I was playing with Mud
In Yer Eye. She'd occasionally come up from Kent State University and sit
in at dances. In those days, she was soaking up music from every possible
source;among them the fine old-time players around Kent, singers in the Irish
and English traditions in Cleveland and the New England transplants who brought
us contra dance tunes. After graduating from KSU, she worked in the cultural
arts programming at the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area, during
the years when the National Folk Festival was held there. She was also a
key member of Celtic Ceol during its fledgling days.
I was just beginning to learn the guitar and trying to sing a little, so
Pat would show me bass runs and feed me harmony lines. She perused my record
collection and was eager to discuss the ideas behind the songs of Peggy
Seeger,Charlie King, Holly Near, Fred Small and others. Pat and I and our
friend Valerie de Priest spent hours talking about music, politics and
performing. Some of my earliest attempts at singing for audiences came when
Pat and Val let me get up with them.
When Pat returned from Omega with two remarkable songs under her belt and
her confidence buoyed, we were very excited for her. Judy Small had taken
Walls and Windows and Never Turning Back home to Australia
and planned to include them on her next album. As other Omega participants
fanned out across the country, some undoubtedly carried Pat's songs with
them. Pat herself began to add them to her performances.
A few months later, the three of us, along with a couple of other friends,
decided to drive to Philadelphia for the winter gathering of the
People's Music Network . The next
step in the journey of Never Turning Back occurred at that gathering,
in a workshop on "zipper songs" (Lee Hays' name for songs that repeat themselves,
changing only a word or phrase or two in each verse). As we went around the
room I waited for Pat to volunteer to sing. I tried to catch her eye; she
hung back. Finally I blurted "Pat Humphries has written a great zipper song
and she should sing it right now!"
Listening were Cathy Fink, Ruth Pelham and Pete Seeger, all of whom later
became Pat's friends and mentors. They'd have come to know her soon in any
case. Pat and her songs stand out in a crowd and her need to share music
with others soon wins out over her temporary shyness. Nevertheless I enjoy
remembering that I happened to be in the right spot to help nudge Pat and
her songs into the spotlight where both belonged.
Pat left Cleveland summer '85, moving first to Lansing, then to Boston and
finally settling in the Hudson River Valley, where she volunteered on the
CLEARWATER Hudson River
Sloop , an environmental project started by Pete Seeger.
People's Music Network became a
kind of family for her. She's served on it's steering committee and helped
organize gatherings, and is a much loved and respected presence there. She's
brought her music to many places where people are struggling for justice-from
NYC to Mississippi to Cuba. In 1992 she released an album Same Rain.
Meanwhile, Never Turning Back has a life of tis own. Published
in Sing Out!
winter '86, it's been recorded by Judy Small, Laura Burns and Roger Rosen,
Sabia, the New York City Labor Chorus,and the Sheffield (England) Socialist
Choir. It's been performed by Ronnie Gilbert, Pete Seeger, Fred Small, Charlie
King, Cathy Fink and countless others.
Back to Beijing: just days before the beginning of the conference, Shirley
Mae Springer-Staten, a choir leader from Alaska, met with the Chinese women
hosting the meeting to finalize plans for the opening ceremony. One element
that was missing was a song. Shirley Mae suggested a number of songs, but
none appealed to the committee. Finally she thought of a song she knew as
Always Moving Forward.The Chinese women liked this idea; there was
a song in Chinese which also used the phrase "moving forward". Shirley Mae
had been singing this song for 10 years with no idea who'd written it and
no recollection where she'd learned it. She called a friend back home and
asked her to quickly track down the name of the author. A few days later
she sang it before 35,000 people from all over the world, and caused a small
flurry of delight among my mother and her friends in the Cleveland
contingent.
Once back, the Cleveland contingent wasted no time before fanning out into
the community to share what they had seen, heard and felt in China. For many
of them the simple words and haunting melody of "Pat's song" evoked the spirit
in which they had traveled to Beijing and the message of faith and commitment
they wished to bring home.
At the Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland, delegate Yoshiko Ikuta
told her own Never Turning Back story. Yoshiko had spent several days
attending the tribunal where women were testifying about the violence they
had suffered. Listening to them was a grueling experience, and Yoshiko found
herself becoming deeply depressed. Unable to absorb another horrific story,
she left the tribunal. After wandering the grounds for a while, she found
herself drawn into a hall where about 300 people were gathered. They were
standing with their arms linked, swaying and singing Never Turning Back.
Several African men added a bass line to the swell of harmonies. As Yoshiko
joined them, she felt her sadness lift, giving way to hope.
No doubt, "Pat's song" will be around for generations to come. Flying under
the radar of the music industry, it'll be passed along from person to person
and preserved on modest, independent recordings. I don't believe it'll make
Pat rich, but it has and will continue to enrich those of us who hear and
sing it.
Never Turning Back also opened and closed the 1990 Gay Games III in
Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Recently, Pat was honored to be asked to sing Never
Turning Back at a memorial service for Bella Abzug held at the United
Nations.
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Pat's agent is: Myrna Ross
2 Sun Lane Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
(845)462-1796
myrna@pathumphries.com booking@pathumphries.com
if you want to send a message to Pat herself use:
Pat@PatHumphries.com
This page updated
12/02/2001
I want to thank Pat for the assistance in putting together this site-however
the only connection I have with Pat is as a fan. The contents of this page
are my responsibility; any comments about this web site contact me or visit
my personal page
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