SPH Presents: Concerts in the Chapel Happy Hour with Pat Byrne!
Doors 4:00pm, Showtime 5:00pm
This is a bit of a new one for us - Happy Hour at the Hall! Pat Byrne is establishing a monthly residence with us and this month it coincides with Hip Pocket Theater producing a play in our space, so we're multitasking! Advance tickets are $15, and will be $20 at the door, so take advantage of the Prekindle price. After you have enjoyed Pat's terrific music, if you have a theater ticket or feel moved to get one that night, go and enjoy the Hip Pocket production as well! There will be a full bar available for this show.
It is a wonderful thing to have Pat Byrne back in the Hall once again. In the words of Folk Alley at 30A Songwriters Festival, “When you combine the transcendent poetry of Bob Dylan with the gritty, real-world rock-n-roll storytelling Bruce Springsteen made so famous and add a dash of the political activism embodied by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, you’ll have Irish singer-songwriter Pat Byrne.”
Byrne migrated from Ireland to Austin, Texas in late 2017. Since then, he has melded two musical cultures known for introspective lyricism and raw, from-the-heart emotion - with spectacular results.
Following his 2021 Into The Light album, Byrne delivered strong new works in 2022. His unmistakable voice and cinematic lyrics continue to touch our universal humanity. Supported by legendary musicians from Emmylou Harris’s band he presents another gem with “Only a Man”. Recorded at The Next Waltz with Bruce Robison and band, “Until it Isn’t” is a gorgeous rendition wistfully recalling lost love. Byrne’s December 2022 release, “Feels Like Living”, makes palpable the working musician’s struggle and uncertainty, underpinned by a nostalgic arrangement of strings and harmonium.
Into the Light, recorded at the Sound Emporium studio in Nashville, takes the listener on an emotional journey with lyrics both touching and agonizing—heightened by Byrne’s dynamic vocal style.
December 2021 saw Into The Light named a top 10 album of the year by the Austin American Statesman. Pat was also awarded the Black Fret “Member’s Choice” grant as one of the top three vote recipients of member vote allocation process.
“The raspy melodic soul of Byrne’s voice recalls the emotional spells the late Austin troubadour Jimmy LaFave used to cast, though Byrne’s songwriting bears a more distinctive Irish stamp. He’s more contemporary that strict traditionalists, putting him more in the league of Glen Hansard or Luka Bloom.” -Peter Blackstock, Austin American Statesman