DescriptionPat is an independent songwriter and drummer working across two distinct projects, each built from the same songwriting foundation: hook-first structure, concrete imagery over cliché, and a preference for bittersweet, unresolved endings over tidy resolutions. Swink is an alt-rock, jangle-pop project rooted in the 90s lineage of Gin Blossoms, Goo Goo Dolls, the Wallflowers, and Toad the Wet Sprocket — bright, chiming guitars, driving melodic hooks, and lyrics that favor the specific over the abstract. One independent reviewer described the sound as sitting comfortably alongside that same Gin Blossoms/Goo Goo Dolls/Toad the Wet Sprocket lineage, unprompted — a comparison that feels true to the project's DNA rather than a stretch. Alongside Swink, Pat writes and produces a contemporary country project, built on plainspoken, conversational storytelling — songs that favor sensory detail and lived-in observation over polish, in the tradition of country's current turn back toward honest, stripped-down songwriting. Both projects share a hybrid production approach: live drum performance layered over produced instrumentation, with an emphasis on dynamic builds — sparse verses, full-band choruses, near-silence before the final hook — and vocal arrangements that reserve doubled leads and counter-harmony for key emotional moments rather than using them throughout. Pat's songwriting draws from a deep well of classic and alt-rock influence — the Beatles, Tom Petty, Matchbox Twenty — filtered through a drummer's instinct for rhythm and groove, and a lyricist's commitment to saying things plainly and specifically. Recent work includes original songs exploring grief, emotional inattentiveness, generational emotional patterns, and the long road back to music after stepping away from it. Currently pitching original material for sync licensing and publishing consideration, with an active focus on collaborative songwriting and human-composed melody work across both projects.

Lyrics

Genres: Country, Hip-hop, Indie, Pop

(Chorus)
Mama lied
Big boys do cry
She said be a man
Big boys don't cry

Verse 1
Daddy left before I turned six
Mama did her best, never let it show
Told me to be strong for her
Said that's just how it goes

I learned to bite it down early
Learned to keep my face real still
Every time I wanted to break
I just clenched my jaw and stood still

Verse 2
Twenty years of holding steady
Twenty years of "I'm alright"
Then she passed this April
And I broke down that night

Standing at the graveside
Something cracked I can't explain
All that armor she gave me
Wasn't strong, it was just pain

Bridge
Maybe she was scared for me
Maybe that's the only way she knew
Handed down from her own mother
Some old lie passed on like it's true

I'm done carrying what she gave me
Gonna feel it, let it out
That's not weak, that's just human
That's what love is all about

Final Chorus
Mama lied
Big boys do cry
She said be a man
Guess she got it wrong
Big boys do cry