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Ben Wakeman

  • Catch & Release
  • about
  • music
    • I'm Just the Same As I Was
    • Waiting for the Light to Change
    • Greener
    • The Overall Distance
    • Demos
    • A Quiet Place to Sit
  • Fiction
    • Rewind, Playback
    • The Memory of My Shadow
    • Harmony House
  • Events
  • Podcast
  • contact
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Episode 2: Pat Walsh is an Egghead

January 6, 2007

Pat Walsh is an Egghead, no really, one listen to his tight and crafty songs and you will agree that he thinks a lot harder than most of us when it comes to songwriting. In this interview, Pat talks about his approach to his unusal lyrics and also gives some interesting insights into how he writes such amazing melodies.

Pat was born and raised in the South, but you would never guess it to listen to his music. A mixture of shimmering Brit-Pop ala XTC with elements of Tom Petty and the Beatles, Pat's songs are like wonderful abstract paintings that almost defy analysis because they simply are what they are: amazing songs.

← Episode 3: Big As Texas, Eric Taylor TalksEpisode 1: Kristian Bush Has Attitude →

SHORT STORIES

LONGER THAN A SONG, SHORTER THAN A NOVEL...

I've always been enamored by the short story. It is probably the most difficult form to master. How can you possibly transport someone into a fully realized world in just a few pages? Songs can cheat because the music does the heavy lifting. Novels have acres of open land to plant the seeds and allow them to grow, produce fruit and even die. But short stories must be dense, concentrated and focused with an engine powerful enough to tow a freight train but small enough to fit in a pocket watch.

This collection of stories represents my meager attempt to learn how the form works. There are moments I hope where I get close, but you can be the judge of that, dear reader.