Patty Larkin "I'm Fine"

I'm back to work this week, but taking a vacation from the blog.  Scott Lajoie fills in . . . 

Two years ago this time of year, a photographer for the magazine and a dear friend of mine passed away unexpectedly. It’s a memorial site on Facebook where a lot of us post messages and remembrances of our friend Jay throughout the year, but when mid-August hits, there is a flurry of activity. I have noticed that a lot of people post music clips. A friend posted Lucinda Williams’ “Sweet Old World;” another woman posted Patti Smith’s “Paths That Cross.” I posted Joss Stone’s “Take Care.” They weren’t songs my friend necessarily liked; he was more of a PJ Harvey and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds fan. It is music that we associate with him and his passing; for me, it is what I happened to be listening to when I heard of his death. It is as if music is the preferred method through which some of us process loss.

Renowned Wellfleet singer-songwriter Patty Larkin is releasing a new album called “Still Green”  next month. She retreated to a Truro dune shack to write songs for this latest endeavor, saying that she needed to get back to nature and a solitude that only such a shack provides. (Remember this woman lives in Wellfleet with her partner and two children; one might assume an Outer Cape off-season would be quiet enough.) She says this album was written in part to deal with the recent loss of her parents.

We received an advance copy as we were preparing to write a profile on her for the October issue. It’s not a dark album in the least. The songs don’t dwell on death. But it is evident from her lyrics and the care she put into crafting each song that she is very thoughtful of the most important aspects of her life that she was afraid were being overshadowed.


Barbara Dacey did an interview with Patty Larkin, where several songs from the yet-to-be-released "Still Green" are previewed, here.


Hear "I'm Fine" on Youtube.