Courtney Patton Brings Her Amazing Songwriting to Twin Cities

Last updated on April 24th, 2018 at 06:17 am

Just a week after suffering through the Blizzard of the Century of the Month, spring fever has filled me with the desire to not be at home. Outdoor concert season is starting soon, I have an urge to ride a motorcycle (I’ve never done that), I may even buy a fishing license for the first time in years. So when I saw one of my favorite local bands – The Plott Hounds – announced a show with songwriter extraordinaire Courntey Patton at one of my local breweries, I had a plan before I finished reading the post.

Big Wood Brewery in White Bear Lake is a cozy little brewhouse with old brick walls and rough timber providing an earthy atmosphere. It’s the right kind of place for the gritty southern rock of The Plott Hounds. The stage is also tiny, so only three of the five members performed. Frontman Noah Alexander, guitarist Jeff Powell, and bass player Uncle Jesse cramped onto an 8×4′ ish stage.

The Plott Hounds have an Americana sound, a mix of blues, country, and southern rock the feels at home at Big Wood. The Hounds’ latest album Lost Summer Day has critical acclaim. They have recently released a video for working man’s anthem “$7.29 and a Pair of Boots,” which can be seen here. One of my favorites by them is the song “Dalton,” a tribute to the movie Roadhouse; “Five ft. ten and a sonova bitch/ takin’ out the trash with a roundhouse kick.”

Patton’s sound is quite different. Gently played, singer-songwriter style, emotional ballads are her forte, sung from the perspective of an emotional middle-aged woman still trying figure things out. Her original songs are sorrowful ballads of loneliness – “What it’s Like to Fly Alone”; of cheating – “Round Mountain”; of being cheated on – “So This is Life.” Her song “14 Years” is a tribute her sister, who died long ago. “Man how time has flown/ damn how time stands still/ You look the same in my memory/ I guess you always will.” Even this old sailor got a bit misty.

Patton also did several covers, including (her husband) Jason Eady’s “Cry Pretty,” and a version of Merle Haggard’s “The Way I Am“ which made Noah Alexander say “Wow!” The small crowd at Big Wood Brewery was enthralled by her performance. I eagerly await her return to Minnesota and hope she drags Eady along next time.