by Diane Montz
http://www.ironwooddailyglobe.com
HURLEY — Less than two months after performing live in New York City, Lydia Patritto, 16, has released her first CD.
On “Grand Dreams,” Patritto sings 10 original songs, accompanying herself on piano or keyboard. The CD includes a cover of Willie Nelson’s “Crazy,” with Dave Morehouse on acoustic guitar and Patritto on keys/synthesizer.
Liner notes describe Patritto’s sound on “Grand Dreams” as “country/pop and alternative edge.”
Patritto, a junior at Hurley High School, has been writing songs for two years. Last spring, her mother, Natalie Patritto, sent a recording of her song “Heartbreaks” to Larry Oakes of the Bitter End in Greenwich Village in New York City.
Lydia was one of 15 people invited to perform at a singer/songwriter session at the Bitter End on July 15.
“It was really cool. I just went up there and played my own songs for 15 minutes,” she said, admitting she was “very nervous.”
She was invited to return to the Bitter End in February 2008.
Inspired by the New York experience, Patritto wrote three more songs in short order, “Out That Door,” “The Perfect Love Song” and “Stay Away from My Man.”
“Now that I’m getting better at writing, I can write songs quicker,” she said.
Patritto filled her summer with musical experiences.
The week before her Bitter End debut, she attended Power Chord Academy, a rock band camp in Queens, New York. Campers wrote and recorded songs, created music videos and presented concerts.
She performed at the Gogebic County Fair with the Jallah Richards Band (Michael Hitt, Josh Filz, Alex Polkinghorne and Mark Hagemann).
Two days after she wrote “The Perfect Love Song,” she went public with it in St. Paul in a Minnesota State Fair competition. She made it to the semi-finals and performed at the fairgrounds bandshell.
“It was a really good experience,” she said.
Patritto began taking piano lessons at age 6. She also plays saxophone and accordion and “dabbles in mandolin and guitar.” She was in the Hurley High School’s Silver Express show choir last year.
Next, she plans to polish her songs in Nashville with the help of Mark Huhta — the son of entertainer Max Lee Huhta of Ironwood and nephew of country recording artist Johnny Jay Huhta, Brainerd, Minn.
“He’s going to help me get a few songs really good, then give them to people he knows,” Patritto said.
–Listen to clips from Lydia Patritto’s “Grand Dreams” at cdbaby.com.from Lydia Patritto’s “Grand Dreams” at cdbaby.com.
her myspace:Â www.myspace.com/lydiapatritto