Pat Orchard is a member of that rare breed of musicians, a singer/songwriter who cannot only sing but who writes real songs that means more than the obvious. Add to that the type of dexterity on the guitar that is only granted to a gifted few and you have the recipe for success. Born in Devon, England, he was, however, raised in Africa, principally Ghana and Zambia. He recalls how local musicians with their inherent feel for rhythm would play anything that came to hand; hollowed sticks, old pots and oil drums. Even if they couldn't blow or twang it they would hit it, "If they had a guitar it would invariably have the wrong strings on it" says Pat, "and would be tuned any which way but normal". Ten years later this complete disregard for the conventions of guitar playing and natural percussive feel would emerge in Pats almost unique style of guitar playing. At the age of twelve he returned to England to finish his education. He hitchhiked across North America and Europe, and lived off odd jobs, including road sweeper, dustbin man, chef, night watchman, hospital porter, set builder, decorator and general dogs body! Eventually in the Prairies of North America he until a hock shop owner exchanged him a useless old Japanese guitar… Deciding that begging in the rich resorts of southern France wasn't his thing in life he tried to earn a living by playing the mentioned guitar to the wealthy occupants of the moored super-yachts. A common reaction from those who had to suffer his playing was "Hey Ingleesh! You're a no good go way!" His reply of 'Pay me and I will!' meant that he could earn more then all the professional string quartets that'd be churning out Vivaldis' Four Seasons.. He then studied as a photographer in Salisbury, England and worked for a while in photography and then in the fashion world ( "I developed a keen eye for everything that was beautiful, but sadly an appetite for everything destructive!). The heady mixture of wine woman and wrongs (thanks to Nick Harper for that line) meant that he drifted from this world and ended up busking the London streets for years. The urbanisation of his lyrics mixed with the melancholy of the English country-side and the funkiness of African rhythms created a heady mixture of ideas which where realised in songs like, 'Wild West End' - at the time of it's release he was active as a manager of a project for homeless people in London. His music has now developed to a degree that it crosses traditional borders of singer songwriter, acoustic and electric rock. His imaginative use of echo pedals and altered guitar tunings produce a huge and exiting sound from his acoustic guitar; some audiences mistaken in the belief that he is using backing tapes or guitar synths. In Pats words, "I think songs should reflect the nature of the emotions they are attempting to express. If the songs are dreamy or melancholy, then I use long echoes to help the picture - if they are social or angry in statement, I'll use the guitar face board as a percussion instrument. I've never been interested in fad or fashion, writing in one particular style is uninspired and lazy!" Pat Orchard has toured extensively in Europe and played many of the major festivals and venues, including Montreux Jazz Festival, Reading, Glastonbury and Phoenix. He has toured with artists as diversified as Annie Lennox, Johnny Cash, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Richard Thompson, Spiritualized, John Martyn, Bert Jansch, and Randy Crawford - a testament to how his music crosses over the borders of so many styles of music. (Interview by Phil McMullen / Ptolemaic Terrascope)

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