Patty Lynch of Texas Twisters
Patty Lynch of Texas Twisters
By Gus Ziesing
As I came to, I was aware of the weak winter sun warming my head, which rested in a pool of coffee and spittle on a table at Muddy Waters in Burlington. I hadn’t seen her sucker punch coming until it exploded in my face. As I groggily lifted my head, I wondered, had I been too persistent in my questioning? Then, as I slumped back down again my thoughts went back to that night at Nectar’s…
It’s late on a Thursday night which is early on a Friday morning to most of the world and the Texas Twisters are finishing up their last set at Nectar’s. There are still people watching the band play the blues, and dancers still crowd the small dance floor. As the song ends, the casually dressed signer smiles and banters good-naturedly with the dancers. And when the band goes into “Don’t You Know That I Love You.” the last song, the singer shows no sign of fatigue. She tears into the song without holding back, her low smooth voice building with surprising power on the chorus, showing breath control only experienced vocalists have. She gives all of herself on stage, making eye contact with her band and the audience. A Nectar’s regular might be excited for wondering something like “Who is this singer and where did she come from?”
The answer, of course, is Patty Lynch, and except for all the time she’s spent on the road touring with bands. She’s been right here in Burlington. Only 27 now, Patty has been a performing vocalist since she was 17. Her modest demeanor gives no hint of the wealth of experience (musical and otherwise) that she has. Our initial chat of forty minutes at Muddy Waters was far too short to cover it all, and so we met again, but I still wouldn’t claim to have it all covered. With Patty, there is more than meets the eye…
Patty Lynch was born into a musical family. Her father, Joe Lynch, was and still is a professional musician who used to play his saxophone and clarinet at t-Bones by the Bat in Colchester and other local spots. Her mom, says Patty, “was sort of like Lucille Ball…she was a stage mom who encouraged her kids to perform.” After meeting in Vermont, Patty’s parents migrated down south, eventually settling in Houston, Texas, where Joes found more music gigs. Patty was born in Florida and continued to live in Texas during her teens with her father after her parents split up and her mother and two sisters went back to Vermont. Of her father, Patty says, “I appreciate him much more now as a musician than I did when I was little. It wasn’t easy being a musician’s daughter; I have memories of sitting in the bus with my mother and sisters while my dad walked down the road with a “help” sign to get gas.” Spending her formative teenage years in Tazed, Parry was influenced by the diverse cultural milieu of the Houston area. As a kid, Patty sang along with records, trying out inflections and styles. In high school, she recalls sneaking out of her bedroom window and meeting her friends down the street to fo sing in Latino clubs, where the pay wasn’t great but the audience was appreciative. Oddly enough, her father did not encourage his daughter;s musical aspirations. “I think that he was worried about the monetary issues more than anything else,” She reflects.
As a result, Patty had to create her own musical opportunities. From 15 to 17, she took voice lessons (which she paid for herself) from Karen Schmidt of the Houston Metropolitan Opera, who taught her much about vocal control. In the classical world. Patty’s voice is classified as contralo: lower than the usual female range (the altos) but higher than the men;s tenor.
When she was 17, Patty moved back up to Vermont and joined her first “professional” band, Little Wing, with her older sister Christine. Both sisters sang with the band from ‘85 to ‘86. Christine Lynch (now Adler) is a while ‘nother story in herself and has been well known as asiner in bands such as Christine and the Dream and The Porcupines and has a new compact disc recording in stores now. In ‘86, Christine left to pursue other projects and Patty was the singer for Little Wing through ‘93.
Little Wing didn’t play much in Burlington proper, but played about 70 percent of their gigs out of state via what is known as the “A” circuit, a series of huge clubs around New England. The former Club new England on Shelburne Road (now Banbino’s) was one of these clubs. Other clubs in the area included Whirlaways in Rutland, Jonathan’s n St. Johnsbury, and The Place in Manchester, N.H. Typically, bands were booked by an agent to play for four to six nights at one club. Bands played mostly covers in the hard rock/metal vein, leaning heavily into the “top 40” field. Little Wing covered songs by artists such as Journey, Loverboy, Bad Company and Tina Turner. The band employed a sound person and a roadie.``We had a large P.A. system and lights,” Patty recalls, “complete with my own follow spot. We had a fog machine and I changed into a different outfit every set. I had a box just for make-up, a box for shoes. The outfits were often spandex. It was a big production.”
Little Wing played from Canada to Pennsylvania. “A good agent would book you strategically, with out-of-state gigs close together geographically and time wise,” Patty recalls.
But living the rock and roll dream did not come without a price. Patty remembers one winter “gig from hell” in New Hampshire. “Our booking agent took fifty percent of the total. At the gig, out P.A. blew up and we finished the set using only stage monitors for speakers,” she says. “On the way back, our truck broke down. The engine caught fire and we had to put it out by throwing snow on it. It was the coldest day of the year too.”
Despite all the money that the band made, there wasn’t much left over after expenses.. A band would get anywhere from $2000-4000 for a week's stand as a club. The soundman would get about $250 a week, the roadie $200, and after the agent;s cut and travel expenses, the musicians would draw about $200-250 per week for themselves. “But we paid our crew whether we worked or not,” Patty points out, “so we didn’t always make that.”
And while she remains upbeat about her hard rock days, when Little Wing would now in 1993, Patty was glad to take a break for a while. The break didn’t last long, however, and one day while bartending at Carbur’s, she saw an ad for a singer for Texas Twisters. Formerly the Snake Oil Preachers, the Twisters play roadhouse blues and gig most weekends throughout Vermont. Perhaps it had something to do with Patty’s years in Texas, but the band was a perfect match for her. “I saw the ad, and I know (bass player) Harry Chaikin,” Patty recounts. And for Patty, singing with the Twisters is all about having fun. “The Twisters love to play,” she says. “Harry and Artie (Toulis, the guitar player) have an enthusiasm for the music that I love. Singing blues is more comfortable than I imagined,” she continues, adding that it sounds “new, and not predictable” to her.
And music is not the only thing that Patty Lynch is known for in these parts. Patty currently holds the Golden Glove titles of New England Women's Champion, which she won February 11. Her first flight was a year ago in February of ‘94. As Patty explains, four years ago she became interested in kickboxing after seeing a match on TV. She studies kickboxing with Joe Moriarty at his studio in Winooski. In September of 1993, a Supreme Court ruling allowed women’s boxing for the first time, paving the way for Patty;s entry into the traditional boxing ring. With the help of Paul Goldman, Patty has trained at Body Work on Industrial Avenue in Williston off and on for the last year.
As Patty talks about boxing, her manner is humble, level headed and calm. At the relatively young age of 27, she has a sense of experience unknown to many of her peers. And it’s probably that experience that allows her to put it all into perspective so succinctly when she says “I’m here now, and I want to do as much as I can, I'm a musician who bartends and boxes, not the other way around.”
Gus Ziesing pushes buttons on many different boxes at Low Tech Studio in Burlington. As a musician, his goal is to play on Church Street someday.