I am a Portland, Oregon-based composer, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose eight-album career spans indie folk, bedroom pop, jazz, classical composition, and beyond. Born in rural Western Oregon in 1976, I was raised on my parents’ taste for the folk revival music of the 1960s and jazz. I picked up guitar at age six and trombone and flute by twelve. By my mid-teens I was gigging as a trombonist with big bands, orchestras, and ska ensembles while also playing guitar in indie rock bands. After high school, I earned a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music, and later graduated summa cum laude in 1999 with a degree in classical composition and voice. David Bowie handed me my diploma. That was nice.
As a musician, I’ve had the opportunity to participate in a lot of fun projects. Highlights with people more successful than me were with experimental filmmaker Michael Pope — known for his work with The Dresden Dolls and Ben Folds — and with nationally bestselling author Lidia Yuknavitch, who was one of my writing professors between stints at Berklee, and who used my music in early trailers for her memoir A Chronology of Water, the film version of which was released in January of 2026 and is the directorial debut of actress Kristen Stewart.
I have been quietly making independent records for over 20 years , with a body of work that spans classical piano (Four Phases), bedroom pop (I’ll Call You When I Touch Back Down), indie rock (Songs From a Blue Room), and solo acoustic-folk (Smooth Runs the Water) which was recorded in late-night sessions in full takes with no punching-in or overdubs.
My newest record, Conditioned By Machines, began life as a set of ten composed works for flute and piano before being imagined and produced through the lens of 1990s sample based hip-hop by artists like DJ Shadow & Gang Starr. In addition to writing the compositions and playing the flute parts, I did all the engineering, so you can only blame me, I’m afraid. The drum loops are courtesy of the fine players at Drum Drops.
I am specifically not on social media and choose to keep a low profile, though I haven’t always and once chased the likes and streams as much as anyone else before burning out on all of that. Some of my desire to let go stems from a hard-won philosophical outlook garnered during my recovery after breaking my neck in a freak diving accident, from which I was temporary paralyzed. That experience reshaped my relationship to music and to ambition. After my accident, music took a backseat to family, being present, and enjoying life.
True to that spirit, I prefer to let my work speak for itself and I’ve already written too much here. I hope you find something I’ve recorded that you enjoy and that moves you. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to. It’s always nice to hear from people who’ve enjoyed something I’ve made.
Love & Oranges,
Earl
Some nice things people have written about my music over the years:
[Smooth Runs the Water is] an album that feels lived in and hard-won. It is not flashy, but it is honest, moving, and beautifully human.
- Jamie Funk, Pitch Perfect
[Smooth Runs the Water] is brimming with reverence for American folk traditions, [but] it’s never imitation. Patrick’s interpretations feel lived-in, whether he’s channeling Woody Guthrie’s dustbowl directness or the precision of early fingerstyle giants
- Indie Grid
Finding a place for his finely crafted songs. (That would be
your ears and heart.)
- The Oregonian
[His cover of Billie Jean] is haunting. His fingerpicking gives the melody an almost blues-like quality, transforming the song into something weary and deeply personal.
- Modern Mystery
[a] master pop craftsmen. . . Patrick’s guitar playing is
stunningly liquid; sounds blend and roll out of his fingers
as if he’s playing what’s always been there. He sings with
feeling and range; with a voice that’s clear and emotionally
raw.
- Corvallis Gazette Times
How talented can one guy get? Geez!
- Ruby Amanfu
Si vous aimez les chanteurs à la voix exceptionnelle, accompagné d'une excellente guitare acoustique, vous allez aimer ce chanteur de New York!”
- Viva Hate