Patti Parks
Vocals
Patti Parks on Vocals
In her words…
“Let me tell you story. I met a woman at work and we started talking. When I told her my name, she said, You are the woman who followed your dreams. It’s true. I feel that the band allows me to fulfill my dreams and makes me whole. It completes me. Our band has really good musicians and I want them to also grow and play what inspires them.
What I try to do is to engage my audience and get them to forget their troubles and leave them at the door. The band does the same for me. When I am performing, I get to dress up and be a different person. I always want to empower people, especially women to leave inhibitions at home and really have a good time. Our song selections entice people to dance and have a great time. The energy level of the band is contagious.”
Background
Patti started out playing cello at 16 years old, studying at the Community Music school and playing in the Cheektowaga Symphony Orchestra. At 17 Patti decided she wanted to sing and one of the first bands she sang with, the Good Life trio was with
Guy Nirelli. She went on to play with other larger bands. Patti was out of music for many years until she met Guy again at 100 the Anniversary of Harley Davidson in 2003 .
Patti and Guy decided to put the Patti Parks band together in 2003. In an interview in the Buffalo News in Gusto magazine in January 5 2007 she described the way it happened. “He (Guy) asked if I was still singing and I said, “No, I think it’s gone, I don’t do that anymore. Guy said, “It’s never gone, try it again. You’ll never want to stop.”
Patti Parks on Vocals
The Patti Parks band has continued to grow and evolve ever since. It started out as a 5 piece band and morphed into the current 8 piece band complimented by The West Side Horn section. Right from the beginning, they had many successes. The Patti Parks Band won the Memphis Bound Competition in 2006 and they competed in Memphis in the International Blues Competition on Beale Street. Patti reminisced, “The Blues Society had a show at the Lafayette Tap Room to send us to Memphis and 500 people came. We couldn’t fit everyone in the door. So many of our fellow bands supported us. This was a great experience.” Patti Parks also won the Best Female Blues performer from Nightlife Magazine in 2011.
Patti and the band has performed in many major festivals including the Blues’n March Festival, Ellicottville Blues Festival, Niagara Thunder, Kalamazoo Music Festival, Blues in the Valley, Wellsville Creative Art Center, Lancaster Town Celebration, the Crystal Beach Concert Series, the M&T Bank Concert Series, Taste of Buffalo, Canal Fest, the Niagara University Concert Series, Tribute to the Troops, and the
R&B Soul Revue. Patti has played with
Tas Cru, Billy McEwen, Barbara Sinclair, Johnny Soul, Denzel Ward, Mondo Gallo and many more. She has opened up for Kelly Hunt, Jimmy Thackery, Mark Farner,the Grand Funk Railroad and others.
She has written several songs including Cheatin Man and Happy Your Mine and co-written many others with Guy Nirelli that are being recorded for an upcoming CD. Two of their original songs received extensive air play on WBFO that won the Peoples Choice Award in Buffalo in 2007.
Patti was the PR Director for the
WNY Blues Society and participates in many charitable and community events.