>> [MUSIC] What California pop star sang “Lonely Boy”?
>> Oh God, you lost me.
>> Yeah, I don't know that one either. Andrew Gold.
>> Oh, Andy.
>> You guys are friends? [LAUGHTER].
>> Yeah. Andy. [MUSIC]
>> Hello, I'm Pat Healy,
and welcome to 4/4,
where we get in rhythm with our guests by asking four reverent questions,
and four irreverent questions.
Our guest for this episode is Patrick Droney,
singer, songwriter, virtuoso guitarist.
His debut album is “State of the Heart,” out now on Warner Records. Welcome Patrick.
>> Thanks for having me.
>> I see a lot of people referring to “State of the Heart” as your debut,
is your 2008 release,
“The Other Side,” NOT your debut?
It's got 12 songs.
That's not an EP! How do you just erase that?
>> I was 14 when I recorded that record.
It's just one of those things.
It's a blessing and a burden to start at a young age,
and to start putting yourself out there, in a way,
maybe when you're not ready or it's like,
I love that era for what it got me to,
but we all deserve to have the fresh start that we want to have,
and I think that kid [who I was then] is so proud of me.
That's the best part of this is the full circle.
This is like about my 20th year of making music professionally,
and that's wild, being not even 30 yet.
>> Do you ever play any of the songs from that first album?
>> No, I mean never. It's just different.
But it is funny because it's a bit of a cult following
where there are a number of fans who have been there since the beginning,
which is awesome, and a lot of them,
they were young with me,
and now they're older with me too.
It is sweet when I meet those fans at shows,
and it’s like “you know where this came from and where it got to.”
But I am the definition of “Potential,”
and then like chopping away,
and finding some realization of that and just luckily I
had great mentors along the way who encouraged me, and saw something—a spark—and said
“Keep doing it! Keep doing it!”
That's how I sum up those times.
>> Your dad was a session guitar player-turned doctor, right?
>> Yes.
>> How can you let your fans
know that you're not just going to quit music, and go to medical school.
>> I'm getting too old! Time is doing it for me!
For me and my dad, it's like I feel like I'm picking up where he left off.
He decided to go to med school and had a path,
and he gave me the gift of music,
even the mustache and long hair,
it's like it's my dad.
There's a great … have you seen “Springsteen on Broadway”?
>> I've seen the Netflix version.
I didn't get to go to the real thing.
>> I got to go to the real thing,
and it was just like one of the best moments.
But in Netflix doc
he talks about this dream
he has about his dad and takes his dad to his own concert.
And he's like, “You see that guy up there?
That's how I see you!” That's me and my dad.
>> What's your favorite effects pedal?
>> Great question. I have a Roger Mayer Octavia pedal which is that Hendrix kind of Robin Tower thing.
That is my favorite.
>> When I Google your name,
it gives me a “People Also Ask …”
do you know what the question is that people also ask?
>> No.
>> “Is Patrick Droney a country song?”
>> A country SONG?
>> Yeah. Are you a country song, Patrick?
>> There's probably a country song that could be written about my life maybe,
but I don't think I identify quite as a country song.
>> When you were first thinking about signing with Warner, who
was the artist that really put you over the top that made you say,
“I’m a label made of this artist”?
>> I mean, I think it was the Prince legacy.
That was a big one. I mean, massive history here.
Aaron Bay-Shuck and Tom Corson
they had just come together to form this new regime at Warner that was kind of like ushering in a new era.
I got to sign my deal in
the original Warner building right before they move to the new office.
For me, it's everything's historical,
and it's context-driven,
but it's “how can I be a legacy artists in 30 years,
40 years?” and I appreciate them, and
I appreciate the legacy that Warner has.
>> This is the quiz 500.
It's from 1979.
It's all music questions,
so I'm just going to ask you a few until you get one wrong.
What type of music does Charley Pride play?
>> Country.
>> What superstar had a hit early on with “Hound Dog”?
>> Elvis.
>> Bette Midler is originally from what state?
>> Wisconsin?
>> You'd think, right? Hawaii.
>> Close. You know what they say …
Wisconsin is the new Hawaii.
>> The one note I had about “State of the Heart” was,
it sounds a lot like that era in late '80s rock
where everybody who was a heartland rocker was buttoning up their top button,
and dressing up a little bit.
>> Yeah. “Heart of the Matter” is not far from “State of the Heart.”
It's like “Tunnel of Love”-era
Springsteen. It's Steve Winwood.
There’s something about that era really got me from a production standpoint,
and I think when you're writing that kind song,
production is going to influence it a lot,
and something about that era really captures an innocence,
and a recklessness at the same time too,
so you're totally spot on.
>> Like the sepia-toned music video era …
>> Yeah, totally.
>> If you could enter a racehorse in the Kentucky Derby, what would you name it?
>> The Bette Midler.
>> If every morning for the rest of your life,
you woke up with the same song in your head,
what would you choose?
>> “If I Could Turn Back Time”
is a song I sing every day.
>> The Cher song?
>> Cher! If you're hanging out with me, I would just be humming it.
I'll sing it. Ask any of my friends, it's the song.
>> I had the George Benson version of “On Broadway” in my head for like six years.
>> What is that phenomenon?! It's a real thing.
>> Do you have a question for me?
>> What's it like being a Patrick?
What does it mean to you,
the power in that, the responsibility?
>> It's heavy. Heavy weighs the crown, man.
>> Yeah.
>> I'm more of a Pat though.
>> That's a question! How did that happen?
How did the Pat come from Patrick?
>> I think because it flows into almost its own mononym. I'm Pat Healy.
>> Pat Healy.
>> Pat Droney, the D gets in the way of it at the “Droney.”
>> It does.
>> Patrick Droney,
it sounds like a different thing.
Terrific. Well, thank you so much for your time, Patrick.
>> Thanks for having me.
[MUSIC]