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Patrick Ginnaty

 

I was born on Halloween, in Stillwater, Minnesota (a Scorpio). My mother was an artist, and my father was also very artistic, so it seemed natural that I was brought up expecting to be an artist. Music was a natural part of my young life-the radio was exciting back then. But, I never connected what I was hearing with my first guitar, a Mickey Mouse guitar. Music was just there, then gone... magic.

Some time later, after my parents had died, I heard Eric Clapton. WBZ, in Boston, played "Disraeli Gears" the first night that it was released, all the way through. The TONE captured me, like "sirens sweetly singing..." I got my first "real" guitar (an Epiphone) and found someone to help me start to learn. In my high school yearbook my senior year, under "aspirations," I said that I wanted to be a "wandering minstral"... as a joke, kind of...? Many years later, here I am... a new age rock 'n' roll wandering minstral, pied piper of the electric guitar. Take what I offer you on whatever level you choose... as an avid student of life, I draw from many levels as I express myself.

 

 

You can listen to parts of Patrick's CD and can purchase it by either visiting his website or the Guitar 9 Records website.


Forum Interview With Patrick

Forum:  What brought you to the decision to play PRS'?

Patrick:  I was a longtime Gibson player. In the 80's, I decided that I wanted a guitar that sounded like a Gibson, but with a whammy bar.

Forum:  How did you go about selecting your guitars (what features and qualities were you looking for?)

Patrick:  For the '87, I played LOTS of PRS', until I found one that felt right. It was "love at first sight" with the '85...the one piece top just killed me (I already had the '87.)

Forum:  Could you tell us a bit about what brought you into music and how you see that fitting in with the other parts of your life?

Patrick:  I was raised to be an artist...my mother and father were both very artistic. At age 16, I decided that music's immediate impact appealed to me more than waiting 'til 50 years after I was dead to hang in a museum. Music allows me to express feelings and ideas that language is inadequate to express...

Forum:  What are your musical interests and guitarist influences?

Patrick:  Musically, I listen mainly to female vocalists...Loreena McKennitt, Enya, Anita Baker, Aretha, Streisand, Tori Amos. With vocalists, it's not about technique, it's about emotion. My guitarist influences include Clapton (bigtime...hearing "Disraeli Gears" on the day it was released stimulated me to pick up the guitar.), Hendrix (everyone is STILL trying to catch up to Hendrix...no one has. Conceptually, a giant.), John Cippolina of Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jerry Garcia, Santana.

Forum:  You recorded a CD. Can you talk about your thoughts as you did the recording and writing?

Patrick:  I try to write about things that I feel...stuff in my life that really affects me. Emotional expression is more valid, to me, than anything I can come up with intellectually...music IS feeling. I had most of my cd recorded before I went into the studio, tranfered it from 4 track to ADAT, and recut a few things.

Forum:  Tell us about any recording techniques you used to get your sound.

Patrick:  I used SM-57s into Neve preamps straight into the ADATs. Currently, I'm using a matched pair of Ampex 601 tube mic pres, with SM-57s, straight into the ADATs. I jumper the imputs of my Rivera era Fender Concert, and my Mesa Boogie SOB (MK.I reissue) to blend the tones.

Forum:  Tell us about your equipment and reasons for choosing same.

Patrick:  I have 2 PRS Custom 24s with Antiquity humbuckers...they sound like "vintage" PAFs.I had both PRSs loaded with vintage PAFs a while back. I liked one set, but not the second set, so I replaced 'em, put the better PAFs into a different guitar. I play into a Rivera era Fender Concert and a Mesa Boogie SOB (MK. I reissue) at the same time to get a tonal blend that sounds big to me. Both amps are loaded with JBLs. Lately, I've been playing a stock PRS McCarty straight into a Rivera era Fender Super Champ with a JBL. All my amps have JBLs...I prefer a clinically clean speaker with the distortion coming from the tubes. I also have various older guitars that I've accumulated through the years.

Forum:  What do you see in your future as regards music?

Patrick:  I'm working on my second cd, and restoring a 100+ year old carriage house on my property to put my recording studio into. I'm really into writing and playing music, and teaching guitar as well, to pass the gift along. Music remains as vital, to me as it has ever been.