Esmé Patterson comes to Wilmington’s Throne Theater

Conner Keesling | Assistant Lifestyles Editor

This Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, Esmé Patterson, former vocalist of indie folk band Paper Bird, will perform in downtown Wilmington at The Throne Theater. Patterson will be performing before country-rock band Lucero, a band that attracts fans of musicians such as the Drive-by Truckers and Johnny Cash. With her concert only days away, Patterson is excited to return to Wilmington. 

Esmé Patterson is centered in Portland, Oregon right now, but she has very much hung onto her Colorado roots. She talks of being part of the very special music community in Denver and how she was very much inspired by the male and female feminist artists that shared their works with the world.

Patterson is coming off her latest album, We Were Wild, released in June of last year. The album has garnered great attention from Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine and The Huffington Post. Her music does not fit into one strict genre, not that anyone would want it to. Patterson keeps her folk music roots, but adds plenty of punk-rock to the mix, blending multiple genres together to create one living, breathing piece of art. Patterson just wants to play the music that she feels, that comes to her heart. Whichever genre her music is placed in isn’t a concern to her.

When talking about her album We Were Wild, Patterson speaks of how the album is very much about processing, specifically events that previously occurred in her life. The songs on the album are personal, but ones she’s not afraid of sharing. Despite the vulnerable content within her music at times, Patterson doesn’t shy away from presenting it to others. She sees We Were Wild as her most mature album to date. It is an album that is not only about processing, but also about taking control of one’s life.

Most recently, Patterson released a music video for her song “Francine” that she shot and edited herself. Her music video for “Francine” was the third that she filmed and edited herself, the last one being her video for “We Were Wild.”

Patterson decided to go out and film her own music video instead of asking her filmmaker friends to help her out for free. Some of the music video for “Francine” was shot on a cool Tinder date that Patterson found herself on. A big influence for her with “Francine” was the work of David Lynch. Through shooting her music video, Patterson found herself connecting to her work in a way she had not before.

When asked about the song “Francine,” Patterson didn’t want to comment on what the song is about. She wants people to draw their own conclusions. However, she does admit that the song deals with sexuality. You can watch the music video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWHPLxH1d7Y

If you’re a fan of musicians like The Lumineers, Oh Pep! and Shakey Graves, consider going to the Throne Theater Tuesday night to see Esmé Patterson perform live!

You can get advance tickets on the Throne Theater’s website at http://www.thronetheater.com/event/1377028-lucero-wilmington/

Tickets are $18 advance | $30 balcony