Raised in the American southwest, singer/songwriter Patrick Park began writing music and playing in bands as a middle-school student. His mother was a published poet and his father was deep-rooted in folk and blues, and the young Park -- whose family lived a stone's throw from the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater -- took inspiration from those parents, eventually developing an folksy, acoustic sound that would later permeate his records.
Park opted for a change in his early 20s and ventured out East for the hustle and bustle of New York City. Another move brought him to Los Angeles in 1999. There, he taught karate to earn some money while also focusing on mastering the guitar. He absorbed the sounds of John Lee Hooker and Sister Rosetta Tharp while adoring the beautiful chaos of the Pixies and the Smiths. Park had found himself a circle, a musical sphere that would inspire him to make music on a professional level, and he soon formed a bond with producer Dave Trumfio (Billy Bragg and Wilco, the Handsome Family). The two wrote, recorded, and mixed material for Park's debut album during the summer months of 2002. Alt-country singer/songwriter Tim Easton, pedal steel player Eric Heywood, and ex-Creeper Lagoon drummer Dave Kostiner joined them in the studio as Park honed a delicate and deeply reflective folk-tinged sound. Park tested his music on the live front as well, playing shows with the likes of Julia Fordham, Gomez, Beth Orton, and Richard Buckner. His self-released demo, The Basement Tapes, created a major buzz before the year's end, and Under the Unminding Skies followed in February 2003. Park has signed with Hollywood Records by this point, and the label released his folk-tinged studio debut, Loneliness Knows My Name, that same July.
Park's time with Hollywood Records proved to be short, and he partnered with a different label, Curb Appeal, for the release of Everyone's in Everyone in 2007. The album's first track, "Life is a Song," was chosen as the final song in the series finale of The O.C., which netted Park some additional fans. Three years later, he returned with a third album, Come What Will, having released a pair of EPs in the interim. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi
