Jim Patton and Sherry Brokus photo by Valerie Fremin
Jim Patton and Sherry Brokus have been making music together, as a duo and otherwise, for more than 4 decades now. It’s been an interesting serendipitous journey and they’re currently going strong as a duo. Their latest album is Harbortowne, due to be released next month. This album is a collection of songs that range from folk rock to acoustic numbers, although this album leans more on the rustic mountain-folk side of things compared to their previous album, but throughout, each and every song they create maintains the notable style that characterizes Jim’s songwriting.
Americana Highways had a chance to chat with Jim about their current songwriting and craft, and favorites on the forthcoming album.
Americana Highways: You’ve been together as a duo for about 16 years now. How would you say your songwriting has changed over the years?
Jim Patton: Well, I write about different subjects. I’m also better at telling someone else’s story now. My songs are more compact and probably more focused. But the biggest difference is in consistency. I wrote songs then that were as good as the ones I write now, but maybe three out of ten. I’ve also learned how to finish a song, and how important rewriting is.
AH: What was your musical history like before you started as a duo and how is it different (or not so much) now?
JP: If you mean 40 years ago, I had played in a string of short lived bands, and Sherry had no real background other than church. But if you mean when we switched to calling ourselves a duo, in 2008, the difference for most of those years is that we played for 20 years in the folk rock band Edge City. Since then, most of our albums have been in the folk vein, no electric guitars, no drum kits. With the exception of Big Red Gibson and the new one we’ve just recorded for release in 2025.
AH: Did any of the songs on the new album come to one (or both) of you almost completely out of the blue? Which one / ones and how/where/when did it happen?
JP: I think “the Juggler” came mostly out of the blue, though even then we eliminated an extra verse and consolidated some lines. A lot of the ideas came out of the blue, but most of the rest, especially the seven co-writes, took developing.
AH: When songs don’t come to one of you out of the blue, what’s your songwriting process like?
JP: Depends on whether it’s a co-write or not. My own process starts with a box of ideas I have that it’s time to either write or throw away. And so I look through until I find something interesting to me and develop it. I first write things out without using an internal editor, then I go back and fix what doesn’t work, see what I could have said better, rhymed better, whatever. If I’m stuck, that’s when I take it to a co-writer.
AH: What inspired the song “Harbortowne” and what makes the song name central enough to become the album title?
JP: These are all stories about Harbortowne. Harbortowne can be a fantasy town, Annapolis (which I modeled the song on), Baltimore, or even Severna Park, MD, where I grew up between two rivers. We were facetiously calling the album “Pattonville” because of a joke fellow songwriter Jeff Talmadge made, and “Harbortowne” seemed like a good substitute.
The song “Harbortowne” is based on Annapolis where in high school we would buy beer with the use of a Marvel Comics ID card. But years later, Sherry became the Director of the Annapolis Youth Services Bureau, which was housed in the Stanton Center, on Clay St., where the cops allowed open air drug trafficking, apparently to keep it all in one area. I would pull up to pick up Sherry and be offered all kinds of drugs. What I saw mostly, though, were big cars driven by white upscale suburban teens, buying drugs before heading out on the town.
AH: What do you hope listeners get from hearing the songs on this new album?
JP: Well, as usual, I write a lot about plans going wrong, but I hope there’s enough hope here to balance things out. The great Austin Songwriter Jon Dee Graham let us use this quote to open one of our previous albums: “False hope is still hope,” but I am trying to keep some kind of hope alive.
AH: If someone only had ten minutes, which 3 songs on the album should they listen to first & why?
JP: Depends on who they are and why they’re listening. If you want catchy and upbeat: “Harbortowne,” “A Woman Like You,” “(When You Win) The Lottery.”
If you want a little more depth, try “The Juggler,” “Until the Fire is Gone,” and “(When You Win) The Lottery.”
AH: Were any of the songs on the album written by inspiration and or frustration about an event and or place? If so, which song (or songs) and tell us more about it?
JP: “When You Win The Lottery” is not really my attempt to win the State Lottery Song, the idea originally came when Sherry’s grandfather was busted for running numbers while the State was taking all the money with their lottery. It’s also frustration with how much it takes to make a decent living so that you need a lottery of some sort to intervene. That might be the circumstances of your birth, or a rare physical talent, or an inheritance. And the other point we tried to make in the song was that it isn’t a lot that we want. We’re not going to Disney World, we’re smiling when we pay our bills.
AH: What’s the most interesting story you have to share about the making of this album?
JP: This is the third album we’ve recorded since the pandemic, and we just finished another one. That shows you what happens when you do nothing but write songs. I took Ron over 20 songs for this album, and 22 for the next one. I see it as a tradition, though. All those bands I loved: the Beatles, Stones, Who, Byrds, and more put out more than one album a year. And I want to get my work done before I can’t sing, or play, or worse, write. We’ve played with these guys in the studio (and sometimes live) since 2008 and they know what to do with the songs.
AH: How, would you say, is making videos an important experience?
JP: We enjoy playing with Alice Hasen (fiddle) so it was fun for us, tightening up on some of the songs.
AH: What’s next for Jim Patton & Sherry Brokus this fall?
JP: Well, the new album comes out Sept. 20. We’ll be at AmericanaFest, where we have four showcases and are really excited. We have several radio shows and podcasts scheduled. We’re starting a new monthly Songwriter Showcase featuring some of our favorite writers (Walt Wilkins, Michael Fracasso, Colin & Tammy Lynn Gilmore) swapping songs and talking about them. We’ll be booking 2025 and are hoping to tour at least a couple of times. A lot depends on how well the album succeeds and we’ll be exploring the areas who are playing us.
Thanks very much for sharing this with us, Jim. More details can be found here on their website: http://www.pattonbrokus.com
https://www.facebook.com/jimpattonsherrybrokus
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Song Premiere: Jim Patton and Sherry Brokus “Harbortowne”