Beth Patterson

Beth Waggoner Patterson is an Irish folk and Celtic musician and singer, based in New Orleans, Louisiana. She combines traditional Irish, Celtic and folk ballads with Cajun, world-beat, and progressive rock influences and her own creative songwriting.

History A native of Lafayette, Louisiana, Patterson began her professional career in her teens as a classical oboist and a Cajun bass player. Patterson cites the "progressive rock" band Rush as a major musical influence. Her 2009 release, On Better Paths, is the most daring, Patterson has since been playing regularly at other New Orleans venues, particularly the Kerry Irish Pub. She has also performed in twenty countries including Australia & New Zealand, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, and Ireland, much of Central America, as well as much of the United States. She is especially a favorite of Celtic music fans in the Washington, D.C. area.thumb Beth Patterson: February 2008 in Lewisburg, WV; photo by James M. Owston

Starting in 2013 into 2018, "Bad Beth & Beyond", Beth Patterson's bawdy and profane alter ego, performed in the French Quarter. "Bad Beth" used the Irish bouzouki, just as Patterson does, while singing risque originals and covers. "Bad Beth & Beyond" released an album that she later voluntarily discontinued, renouncing some material she found to be alienating. She continues to release singles for the FuMP (Funny Music Project) https://www.thefump.com. (See also Bed Bath and Beyond.)

Patterson, singing and bouzouki, and her husband Josh Paxton, on piano, perform as the duo ZoüKeys, as of 2017.

Instruments Patterson's preferred

Other media Beth Patterson's first major motion picture appearance was in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues as part of Nigel Tufnel's pub band.

Patterson's film soundtrack credits include the motion pictures Lucinda's Spell, One Eyed King (starring William Baldwin and Armand Assante), and most recently Mike Judge's Extract (on Miramax), starring Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, and Ben Affleck. Some of Beth's fiction has been archived in the Lunar Codex time capsule. Her first story to be included was part of Peregrine Lunar Lander payload which traveled just past lunar orbit before returning to earth.

Discography

Albums and extended plays Hybrid Vigor (1999, Little Blue Men Records) Take Some Fire (2002, Little Blue Men Records) Caught in the Act (2005, Little Blue Men Records) On Better Paths (2009, Little Blue Men Records) 2 Deep - as "Bad Beth & Beyond" (2011) Forward (2013) Momotaro! Live in Japan EP (2014, Speak Jolly Music) Senzorga - as ZoüKeys with Josh Paxton (2017, Stone Groove Records) Singles - a collection of singles released 2014-2020 (2021, Stone Groove Records) The Cigar Box EP (2024 Stone Groove Records)

With the Poor Clares Resurrected Lover (1996) Change of Habit (1998, Centaur Records) Songs for Midwinter (1998, Centaur Records)

Air Dance (2019, Stone Groove Records) Digging Up My Bones, lyrics by Gwyndyn T. Alexander (2018, Stone Groove Records) A Winter's Day (2019, Stone Groove Records) Red Lenses- featuring Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes (2020, Stone Groove Records) Return to Our Caves/This Goes to Eleven-featuring Billy Sherwood (2020, Stone Groove Records)

Books Mongrels and Misfits - collection (2014, DarkStar Books/Event Horizon Publishing Group The Wild Harmonic - novel (2016, Hidden World Books, )

The Spirit of Rodeo - novelette (2021, Black Hare Press)