You just can't resist Patricia Conroy's cool, upbeat style
Gail Robertson, Southam News
May 25, 1995
When Patricia Conroy didn't get what she wanted she took matters into her own hands.
``No one was sending songs, so out of necessity I started writing,'' says Conroy, in a telephone interview from her Nashville home. ``It's definitely a second career for me.''
: Along with a new rootsy, pop-sounding album, the upbeat and hard-working woman wants to expand her career by becoming a singer-songwriter with the likes of Mary Chapin Carpenter and Garth Brooks.
``The reason I started writing in the first place was that I was inspired,'' she says.
Conroy has two of her own songs, Crazy Fool and I Don't Wanna Be The One, on her latest album along with a co-writing credit with Jennifer Kimball for Keep Me Rockin'. And even with her hectic touring schedule she is still writing new songs.
``I'd love to get songs on other albums. I'm stockpiling right now.''
But more than inspiration, Conroy relies on her gut instinct, to the point that she eventually found a Lyle Lovett song, You Can't Resist It, for her new release, You Can't Resist.
The new album showcases her upbeat style and more rock-oriented sound.
``It was a gut instinct. I just thought it was so cool. That's the feeling I want people to feel when they hear it from me,'' she says, prior to heading back to Canada for tour dates, which include a Kingsville show Friday night.
Conroy spent a lot of time at publishing houses, yet felt all the songs sounded too much like music she had heard. She sifted through 2,000 songs but couldn't quite figure out why nothing seemed to grab her.
``I finally told them I wanted them to go dig and get something maybe a country artist wouldn't do.''
On her latest album listeners may be hard-pressed to classify it as a country record since her sound leans more to pop. It's certainly a different sound from her last album, Bad Day for Trains, which clearly showed Conroy as a country singer.
This time around she set out to make some changes.
``We have to keep getting new people into country music. We need to get people who never listen to country music saying, `that's cool,' and get them to take another look at country,'' she says.
``It's nice to hear different things.''
And with musical influences like Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt and Linda Ronstadt, it's no wonder Conroy is such a versatile performer. As well, she grew up in Montreal listening to Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves and Hank Snow while her mother played guitar, not to mention the Celtic influence from her summers in New Brunswick.
Part of her sound may also be influenced by her Canadian roots transplanted to a place like Nashville. ``For writing, it's fantastic here. This is a town of writers. And everybody you meet is connected to music,'' she says.
She has hooked up with an American record company, Intersound, which will release her latest album in the States while Warner focuses on the Canadian market.
It's taken six months to find the company but now she feels things could look up with a push on both sides of the border.
``I need to keep touring in Canada,'' says Conroy, who will make a stop at Kingsville's Migration Hall on Friday before touring the rest of the province.
It's a busy time but Conroy seems up for the task. A big boost to her career came after she won the female vocalist of the year award from Canadian Country Music Association last fall. ``People have hired me just from that. That's been a real door-opener for me,'' says Conroy. ``I really never thought I would win but the timing couldn't be better.''
Her beating Michelle Wright in the category forced people to take notice of the woman with the positive attitude and eclectic sound. With such a diverse album, Conroy knows she has her work cut out for her to get people to listen.
She's spent the last decade pushing herself and her music but she knows the value of hard work and patience.
``There's been a lot of firsts for me this year but I've been very patient. The results in Canada have prepared me for what would happen down here (in Nashville),'' she says. ``You've got to be patient and enjoy what you're doing, when you're doing it.''
