Pat Maloney in his own words......

I was born a half century ago on a small farm in a small town in Western New York. I grew up in a family with a passionately eloquent father, seven wild brothers, and one long-suffering sister. We were all watched over by a mother who developed, out of necessity, a deep acceptance and an outward veneer of stoicism that hid a poet's heart. She had a deep sense of wonder that magically imbued the commonplace.
Now, if one is a rather sensitive boy in a big, boisterous, Irish-Catholic family, you either head for the seminary or retreat into dreams and words and books and song. Not being of the celibate bent, I found that making up songs and singing them allowed me to drift into a world alive with friends, interesting places, and great warm ideas that engulfed me and insulated me from the "real" world.

My songs reflect these influences: The wild, crazy integrity of my father; my mother's strength and character in the face of tragedy and heartbreak; the lonely perception of the outsider and the Irish Trinity of grief, madness, and humor; the hardness of the laborer's work toughened hands, the whiskey rasp in the cracked voices of the broken saints and the wail of the train in the valley heading to The Promised Land or to some big city. . .

I have just released my fourth recording, "Pretty Little Mountain" and a CD of Irish Pub Songs. My last recording, "Perfect Oblivious Moon," received great reviews in several publications and significant airplay on Folk Radio. I recently produced a theatrical piece in Prescott, AZ, based on several of my songs called "Very Old Fitzgerald."

I have performed at "The Bluebird Café" in Nashville, "Uncle Calvin's" in Richardson, TX, "Cousin Andy's" in Southern Illinois as well as other venues about the country.

I was a finalist in the songwriting contests at Napa Valley, Wildflower, Lake Country, Illinois Folk Festivals and showcased at the "South by Southwest Music Conference" in 1996.

I have appeared on several radio shows and have presented creative writing seminars and performances in schools. I have been a clerk at a 7-11, been on the chicken line in a poultry processing plant, planted trees, mowed lawns, played at several weddings, wakes and funerals. I invented the sick day and once, long ago, I won a goose in a church raffle.

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