Pat McCurdy is a musician who hails from Milwaukee and is finding a small but growing cult following across the country. In addition to playing in Milwaukee, he regularly plays all over Wisconsin, as well as northern Illinois (mainly Chicago) and Minneapolis. Sometimes he takes roadtrips to other parts of the country; the next time he does, we'll tell you.
What kind of music does he play?
He plays Pat music. He writes all his own songs, in a variety of styles. One person has said that it is "good drinking music." It's really kind of hard to pin down; if you have a good description, let me know. His main appeal is to the college crowd, but it is not unusual to see others not fitting this stereotype enjoying his music.
Is he part of a band?
He used to be; now he mainly plays solo. Years ago, he was in various bands, such as Yipes!, The Men About Town and The Confidentials, so if the name sounds familar it may be from back then. He's been around for a while.
Whatever happened to that nice Mike Sieger fellow?
Pat's long time bass player decided to become a man of leisure and quit playing at the end of summer 1999. He currently resides in Milwaukee and makes a living creating some very lovely furniture.
Where can I see Pat?
Here is a list of the places he plays regularly. When you're done, head on back here for the rest of the FAQ.
How do you know when Pat plays?
Several ways. One is to be a lifeless slug like me and simply memorize where he plays every week. Another is to call the Pat-Line at (414)750-PATM to find out where he's playing that week and sometimes get to talk to Pat live. New message every Monday. If you go to the shows, you can pick up a monthly schedule, hand drawn by Pat himself, included in every issue of the newsletter. The schedule is also found here on this very web site. Imagine that.
Newsletter? Where can I get one of those?
They're available free at all the shows; if you don't see one, just ask. You can also get a lifetime subscription mailed directly to your home for only $10. Simply send your name, address, phone number and check to:
544 E. Ogden Avenue
#700-201
Milwaukee, WI 53202
You can also subscribe through our Online Catalog, as well as get stickers and albums.
Pat has albums?
Yes, and they're far too numerous to list here. Instead, go to this page which lists them all and has all the lyrics, too. As mentioned above, they are all available at our Online Catalog, as well as at the shows.
Why have you seen Pat 119 times in the past year? Are you like a stalker or something?
Hey, there's a precedence for it; look at all the people who used to follow around the Grateful Dead to every show. That's why we've taken to calling ourselves PatHeads. It's a way of life. Peace, man.
No, really. If I have all the albums, what's the point of seeing him every week?
Because of all the great and fun things you'll miss! Only a small portion of his songs are on the albums. If he took every song he ever wrote and recorded them, he'd have enough material for at least 7 or 8 more albums. Plus, he's writing new songs all the time. One of the reasons to go is to hear these songs that aren't on the albums. Also, he often changes a few lyric on songs, or does reggae or polka versions of them; you think of it, he'll do it. Then there's the times where he'll have amateur night where you, yes you, can get up on stage and show off your amazing talents or even sing a song with Pat. And there are Treat Nights, when Pat hands out Swedish Fish or Popsicles. Or All Request Nights. Hey, once we even played Charades. A Pat show is like a Tuesday at the Mickey Mouse Club; anything can happen and it usually does. But hey, that's the whole purpose of the Bulletin Board; instead of listening to me ramble on endlessly, we can start threads and threads of discussions. Try it, it's fun! Whee!
I might want to hire Pat. How do I contact his manager?
To contact Pat's manager directly, you can send email to murf@patmccurdy.com, call 414-916-4914 or write to:
1433 N. 51st Street
Milwaukee, WI 53208
Is Pat on the Net? I've heard people talking about him reading it.
Maybe...maybe now. We ain't tellin'. So be careful what you say about him.
When is Pat's birthday?
September 29. That makes him Libra, the sign of terribly creative folks who tend to be musicians or create web pages.
Yes, a few times. Here's the rundown:
- He once appeared on an episode of Star Search in the early 80s. Those of you who may get reruns of the show in your area, keep a lookout for it.
- In early 1991, some students from MATC tapes a show at Shank Hall and broadcast it on the Milwaukee PBS channel 36.
- He was interviewed twice by Mike Gousha (a Milwaukee newcaster) on his little Sunday night show, once in 1994 and once in 1997. Nothing really in depth, but it was a hoot to see footage of some of his shows (which I was at, natch).
- On February 18, 1996, folks in Chicago got to see a short segment featuring Pat on the local show "Wild Chicago."
- In 1997, Pat was making regular appearances on the Milwaukee public access channel MATA Community Media. Every month or so, one of his live shows was video taped, edited down to an hour and shown several times throughout the month. It gave folks a taste of his antics and managed to get many of them to actually venture out to his shows.
- During Summerfest 2000, Al Roker was in town to tape his Milwaukee Food Fest special for the Food Network. Along the way, he was assimilated into the collective. Al liked Pat so much, he was asked to be in the show. Pat's four minutes of fame originally aired October 8, 2000. You can see it on our video page.
- In 2004, Pat did a series of promos for Milwaukee cable station WMLW, where he sang a very
annoyingcatchy jingle. You can see it on our video page.
- In August of 1993, he almost had a chance to be on MTV. A film crew was up in Madison covering a Beavis and Butt-Head lookalike contest, and they decided to stop in at Funny Business while they were in town to see this Pat fellow they had heard about. Unfortunately, Pat was not playing his usual Tuesday show that week, being in Indiana or someplace like that instead. Thus, the world has been denied a glance at Our Hero.
- On the April 17, 1996 episode of Late Night With Conan O'Brien, guest Amy Pietz, Oak Creek native, co-star of NBC's "Caroline In The City" and fellow PatHead proclaimed that she preferred New York to L.A. because "Too much sun makes you stupid" and attributed those words of wisdom to our very own Pat McCurdy on national television. However, Conan had no idea who he was, so that's as far as it went.
Not at the moment. However, if you have any further questions or additions that you feel should be in this FAQ, send email to webmaster@patmccurdy.com.
