M. Scott Ault Online

Ever have something really move you?

Pat Methaney’s  music moves me. Moves through me. Makes me move. Makes me groove.

Back in the 80′s music was technicolour. It shimmered. It had sheen.. it glistened as you looked at it.. and it moved you. Pat Methaney was a musician I got into by random act of discovery and have been an avid follower ever since.

Back in the day, I’d go to the neighborhood mall, Carlingwood Shopping Center.. at the corner of Carling and Woodroffe. A mere stone’s throw from my elementary school and spitting distance from Jeff Millen place (and Alison Ann’s I’d find out later on). In every mall was at least one music store.. this one was a “Sam’s” and I’d spend hours upon hours thumbing through the LP’s .. looking at the cover art mostly. A couple of bands/ acts stuck out to me.. Japan~ I wanted that guy’s hair that was on the cover of this one album.. it looked like it was raining and he was holding an umbrella (I’d find out later his name was David Sylvian and the album was Gentlemen Take Polaroids). But there was this other album that really stuck out to me.. it was almost like a grainy photo but it wasn’t .. it was a painting for sure. But, it was just the turn arrow that’s painted on the asphalt of the highway.. the album was “Offramp” by.. Pat Methaney. No idea who he was at the time.. I just loved the cover.

Finally, I bit the bullet (after I’d already bought in to Japan.. with glee!) and purchased Offramp. Took it home and put it on the turntable.. and was amazed. Sure, there was that title track I had a hard time listening to.. but it was pure man.. it was jazz and it sang. He sang through his guitar. And the band mates sang through their instruments.

When my mom would go away for work, sometimes for a week or two at a time, I’d turn off all the lights in the house. I’d turn off almost every single thing electric in the house so there was silence.. sheer silence.. and late at night I’d put that album on.. crank the volume up as high as it would go before distortion and lay back and let the sounds wash over me. I don’t think any of my friends, at that time, would have understood… so I just kept it to myself.

But Pat Methaney and his music was part of me.. part of my life.

Fast forward many years.. after many turmoils.. I was living and working in Banff, Alberta. I was working two jobs and trying to start a third. One job was in a camera store.. the other was in an Earl’s restaurant. The third? I wanted to earn income through photography. I had my one- room unit all set up so that in a moments notice, I could turn it into a make shift dark room. And I did that from occasion to occasion.

One particularly troublesome day.. I had worked a full 8 hours @ the camera store and then gone on to another 8 @ Earl’s.. and I knew I had to be up at the crack of dawn to get back to the camera store. On top of that.. I hadn’t seen Jamie in ages.. it was cold.. and I knew hitching to Kelowna was going to be in the future.. too far for comfort.

As I hauled my tired bones in to my one- room unit, I flipped on the telly.. background noise/ flickering lights mostly. I had other things I needed/ wanted to do.. and so.. I just let it blaze on. On what ever channel I was already on.

But.. something caught my eye.. some guy playing the piano.. his hair all scraggly and he was pretty wild looking in general. But, for some reason, I said to myself “Lyle Mays?!” So, I turned up the sound and there was this chirping sound… and piano.. and then the man with the stripped jersey come into view and “Song for my Brother” broke into full swing.

I lay back as I had done as a boy and let the sounds (and visuals) wash over me. I didn’t (well, really.. I did) need a shower.. I was cleansed inside and out.

I finally got to see Pat Methaney live.. at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver. A few years ago.. and I wrote a long and empassioned plea/ note on his website.. the only thing I hoped for was one song (any song) off of Offramp..

The first song was the first set.. the new album (sorry, I still don’t have it.. I’ll get it soon).. a full 60 minutes of music.. meandering at times, a lullaby at times.. a beautiful piece at all times. And then most of the musicians went out.. and Pat and one other started hammering out a song. It took me a bit but all of a sudden I was “That’s Offramp” to Jamie.. and it was. Totally reinterpreted. And then another great song from that era.. and yet another. Almost the whole second set was nothing but awesome “vintage” Methaney.

I write this, now, because I am listening to Methaney. It’s been a long week.. Sabina is 2 months old (tomorrow, she’ll officially be 9 weeks old).. work is slow so I should be rested but I’m not. I’m antsy.. I’ve spent a lot of time painting and a lot more of my life I’ve (wasted?!) spent working for other people’s dreams. And today.. I feel as though I ran around getting paint supplies and then worked all day long.. so, sitting here and listening to Pat Methaney is like.. reassuring and calming. I think I can attack the world. Starting tomorrow.