Friends

Bonnie Raitt’s keyboardist a ‘fierce defender and fan of Winnipeg’

on February 8, 2023 No comments
WINNIPEG

by Danton Unger

Music has taken a Winnipeg-born keyboardist on a path stretching from New Orleans to New York and onto the stage with Grammy Award-winning artist Bonnie Raitt, but he has never forgotten his roots.

A proud Winnipegger – that is how Glenn Patscha describes himself while thinking back to his early memories in the city.

“I’m so proud that I came from Winnipeg, and I’m a fierce defender and fan of Winnipeg,” he told CTV News.

Patscha’s career started when he was a kid learning piano and playing in cover bands in Winnipeg where he was born and raised. In 1989 when he was 18, Patscha moved to New Orleans to study jazz on a scholarship with Ellis Marsalis.

From New Orleans to New York and eventually to Nova Scotia where he now lives, Patscha has been performing and recording with his own bands along with dozens of artists including The Holmes Brothers, Roger Waters, Willie Nelson and Rosanne Cash.

He can now add Bonnie Raitt to the list.

While playing with Marc Cohn (whom he still tours with), Patscha said they opened for the American blues icon and got along with her very well. In 2018, Raitt gave him a call and he has been working with her ever since, joining her band as a vocalist and keyboardist.

“I’ve always been a fan, so it was just kind of a natural fit,” Patscha said. “(Raitt) has had some of the greatest keyboardists there are playing with her, so it’s an honour to kind of be in that chair.”

Regardless of where his musical path has taken him, Patscha has kept his Winnipeg roots close.

“My earliest life was in Winnipeg. That all seems like a long time ago, but I still call it home,” he said.

It is a hometown pride bolstered by Raitt’s win at the Grammys on Sunday for Best Americana Performance with ‘Made Up Mind‘ – a cover originally written and released by Winnipeg’s own Dave and Joey Landreth of The Bros. Landreth.

“I remember the first time I heard those guys as well and it just knocked me out,” Patscha said. “They’re not just a great band from Winnipeg, they’re one of the greatest bands there is.”

Patscha said the song has since become a regular show opener for Raitt and the rest of the band, and has quickly become a recognizable part of her repertoire.

‘Made Up Mind’ is included on her twenty-first album ‘Just Like That‘ – the title track of which also netted her the Grammys songwriter’s award for Song of the Year and Best American Roots Song.

To see Raitt’s work recognized at the Grammys over the weekend was an exciting moment for Patscha.

“I’m very kind of careful about the work that I choose, and I’m proud of most of it – I’m particularly proud of the work with Bonnie,” he said.

“She’s such a giant figure in the history of so many genres and has had such a long career, and to be even a small part of that is, as a fan, is an honour.”

About The Author


Source: © Copyright CTV News Winnipeg

But wait, there's more!

Bonnie Raitt’s Grammy-Winning Song of the Year Tells Story of a Mother and Her Child’s Heart Recipient

on February 6, 2023 No comments
Corey Bryant

On Sunday, February 5, Bonnie Raitt took home the Grammy for Song of the Year for her self-penned song, “Just Like That.”

“Just Like That” tells a story of a mother’s journey after the loss of a child, the healing power of organ donation and the connection between a donor family and a recipient. Through powerful lyrics, a mother gets to be with her son one more time because of the kindness of a stranger, and because of the kindness she first showed him.

The Alliance congratulates Bonnie Raitt for her Grammy Award-winning Song of the Year, and we extend our heartfelt thanks for bringing awareness to the profound power of organ, eye and tissue donation. We invite everyone to register as an organ, eye and tissue donor by visiting RegisterMe.org, and sharing your decision with your loved ones.

The following is an excerpt from American Songwriter, describing the origins of her award-winning song:

The Origins

In conversation with American Songwriter, Raitt explained the inspiration for “Just Like That” came from a human interest piece that had been broadcast on the news. The story was about a woman who had donated her son’s heart after his death and was about to meet the organ’s recipient for the first time.

“I just lost it,” Raitt said of the moment the man let the mother hear her late son’s heart in his chest. “It was the most moving and surprising thing. I wasn’t expecting it. I vowed right then that I wanted to write a song about what that would take.”

And so she set out to write the story song, “Just Like That,” and her subsequent album of the same name. In between her words of disbelief, she reiterated the story behind the song in her Grammy acceptance speech, citing the late great John Prine as instrumental inspiration as well.

Watch her acceptance below.

{{svg_quality_icon}}
{{quality-options}}

The Lyrics

“Every time I hear about a family donating organs when their child has been killed, or there’s some sort of sudden death—as if you’re not in grief and shock enough—to have the view and the compassion and the love to be able to pay it forward like that is so incredible,” Raitt told American Songwriter.

“Just Like That” tells the story of the meeting of the mother and the recipient, depicting an interaction that is both heartwarming and gut-wrenching.

I watched him circle ’round the block / Finally stopped at mine / Took a while before he knocked / Like all he had was time, the song begins with curiosity and apprehension ahead of the bittersweet meeting. “Excuse me, ma’am, maybe you can help / The directions weren’t so clear / I’m looking for Olivia Zand / They said I might find her here.”

Well I looked real hard and asked him / “What she’s got he’s looking for?” the song’s narrator responds. Met with the reply Said “there’s somethin’ I think she’d want to know,” the tune takes off on a touching journey of loss and love.

And just like that your life can change / If I hadn’t looked away / My boy might still be with me now / He’d be 25 today, the chorus plays, No knife can carve away the stain / No drink can drown regret / They say Jesus brings you peace and grace / Well he ain’t found me yet.

The next verse reveals why this stranger has come and what it is he has to say. He sat down and took a deeper breath / Then looked right in my face / “I heard about the son you lost / How you left without a trace / I’ve spent years just trying to find you / So I could finally let you know / It was your son’s heart that saved me / And a life you gave us both.”

Just like the exposé that inspired “Just Like That,” the mother gets to be with her son one more time because of the kindness of a stranger, and because of the kindness she first showed him.

And just like that your life can change, the song comes to a close. Look what the angels send / I lay my head upon his chest / And I was with my boy again / Well I spent so long in darkness / I never thought the night would end / But somehow grace has found me / And I had to let him in.

{{svg_quality_icon}}
{{quality-options}}

About The Author


Source: © Copyright The Alliance

But wait, there's more!

Bonnie Raitt wins Grammy for cover of Manitoba band’s song

on February 6, 2023 No comments
WINNIPEG

by Kayla Rosen

{{svg_quality_icon}}
{{quality-options}}

American singer Bonnie Raitt took home three Grammy Awards this weekend, including one for a cover she did of a Manitoba band’s song.

On Sunday, Raitt won the Grammy for Best Americana Performance for “Made Up Mind,” a cover of The Bros. Landreth’s song from their 2012 album called “Let It Lie.”

{{svg_quality_icon}}
{{quality-options}}

The cover appeared on Raitt’s 2022 album “Just Like That,” and marked a big milestone for the band, comprised of Joey and Dave Landreth.

“Whether it’s a Grammy in your own name, or you are just like us, Grammy-adjacent, it is kind of the top accolade that you can earn in the music business. But this is so much more than that for Joey and I,” Dave told CTV News Winnipeg in an interview.

Dave said the duo grew up idolizing Raitt, with her records often playing on their stereo.

“And it was a really, really important, important part of our musical education. And this stuff is burned so deep in the musical culture that, that we travel with,” he said.

“So to have her pluck one of our songs up and take it on this kind of adventure, is just so surreal – and so impactful. It means so much to be acknowledged by one of your heroes, and it’s so far beyond anything that we ever could have dreamed.”

Joey previously told CTV News Winnipeg the band met Raitt at the 2014 Winnipeg Folk Festival. She gave them her email, saying she’s always looking for new songs.

The Bros. Landreth shared their album “Let It Lie” with Raitt, which ultimately led to her making the cover of ‘Made Up Mind.’

Dave remembered what it was like when he and Joey heard Raitt’s version for the first time.

“That’s been her song all along. When we hear her sing it, it just feels like such a perfect fit. I think she does that so wonderfully,” he said.

Raitt also won the 2023 Grammys for Song of the Year and Best American Roots Song for “Just Like That.”

Dave said the win for Song of the Year was a highlight for him as a long-time Raitt fan.

“This is an artist that, 52 years after putting out her first record, is finally being acknowledged as a songwriter,” he said. “Someone who’s built a career off of picking really great songs and all of her hits had been outside writes. And here she is taking home the big award, Song of the Year, for something that she penned herself, which I think is just a testament to somebody who is striving for greatness throughout their entire career who never lets up, never takes a foot off the gas creatively, and is always striving for that next thing.”

About The Author


Source: © Copyright CTV News Winnipeg

But wait, there's more!