Biography
An American singer and songwriter who deftly merged biting political satire with introspective folk compositions, Patrick Sky stood among the most elusive figures on the New York folk circuit of the 1960s. Carrying Creek Indian and Irish heritage, he first drew notice with renditions of traditional material, yet his writing grew steadily more pointed and socially engaged as the decade advanced. Drawing equal inspiration from Will Rogers’s satirical style and Woody Guthrie’s issue-driven songs, Sky saw his most provocative release, Songs That Made America Famous, turned down by multiple companies until Adelphi Records issued it in 1973. After co-founding the Celtic imprint that became Green Linnet, he gradually stepped back from solo folk recording and earned wider recognition as a craftsman and virtuoso of the Irish Uilleann pipes. In 2009 he issued an album of traditional Irish music with his wife, fiddler Cathy Sky. Following a struggle with cancer, Sky passed away at eighty in May 2021.
Born October 2, 1940, he spent his early years in Louisiana’s LaFouche Swamp, ancestral territory of the Creek people. As a child he picked up guitar, banjo, and harmonica, later reshaping many of the old songs his grandmother had taught him. Local club appearances never prompted thoughts of a professional path until college and Army service were behind him. Once discharged, he began working folk venues and coffeehouses nationwide.
By the early sixties Sky had settled in Greenwich Village, where he became a central presence in the flourishing folk community. A close associate of Dave Van Ronk, he shared stages and friendships with Eric Andersen and Buffy Sainte-Marie, the latter recording his widely known “Many a Mile.” His self-titled Vanguard debut of 1965 contained several originals, among them the moving “Love Will Endure,” later covered by the Blues Project on their 1967 album Live at Town Hall. The follow-up, A Harvest of Gentle Clang, appeared on the same label in 1966 and balanced traditional pieces with an expanding body of topical songs; Sky also produced several sessions for labelmate Mississippi John Hurt. Moving to Verve Forecast, he delivered Reality Is Bad Enough in 1968 and Photographs in 1969, both devoted almost wholly to social and political satire. An even more outspoken fifth album, recorded in 1971, remained without a home for two years until Adelphi took the risk and released Songs That Made America Famous in 1973, the work that still defines his catalog.
In subsequent years Sky broadened his instrumental command and immersed himself in Irish traditional music. Alongside Lisa Null he established the Celtic label Innisfree, which later operated as Green Linnet Records. He also constructed Uilleann pipes and developed mastery as a performer on the instrument. After issuing Two Steps Forward, One Step Back in 1975, he withdrew from recording, married, and relocated to North Carolina to raise a family. One further solo effort, Through a Window, surfaced in 1985.
In 2009 he and Cathy Sky recorded the duo album Down to Us, devoted to traditional Irish repertoire with Sky on Uilleann pipes and his wife on fiddle. Patrick Sky died May 26, 2021, after contending with prostate and bone cancer; he was eighty.
Born October 2, 1940, he spent his early years in Louisiana’s LaFouche Swamp, ancestral territory of the Creek people. As a child he picked up guitar, banjo, and harmonica, later reshaping many of the old songs his grandmother had taught him. Local club appearances never prompted thoughts of a professional path until college and Army service were behind him. Once discharged, he began working folk venues and coffeehouses nationwide.
By the early sixties Sky had settled in Greenwich Village, where he became a central presence in the flourishing folk community. A close associate of Dave Van Ronk, he shared stages and friendships with Eric Andersen and Buffy Sainte-Marie, the latter recording his widely known “Many a Mile.” His self-titled Vanguard debut of 1965 contained several originals, among them the moving “Love Will Endure,” later covered by the Blues Project on their 1967 album Live at Town Hall. The follow-up, A Harvest of Gentle Clang, appeared on the same label in 1966 and balanced traditional pieces with an expanding body of topical songs; Sky also produced several sessions for labelmate Mississippi John Hurt. Moving to Verve Forecast, he delivered Reality Is Bad Enough in 1968 and Photographs in 1969, both devoted almost wholly to social and political satire. An even more outspoken fifth album, recorded in 1971, remained without a home for two years until Adelphi took the risk and released Songs That Made America Famous in 1973, the work that still defines his catalog.
In subsequent years Sky broadened his instrumental command and immersed himself in Irish traditional music. Alongside Lisa Null he established the Celtic label Innisfree, which later operated as Green Linnet Records. He also constructed Uilleann pipes and developed mastery as a performer on the instrument. After issuing Two Steps Forward, One Step Back in 1975, he withdrew from recording, married, and relocated to North Carolina to raise a family. One further solo effort, Through a Window, surfaced in 1985.
In 2009 he and Cathy Sky recorded the duo album Down to Us, devoted to traditional Irish repertoire with Sky on Uilleann pipes and his wife on fiddle. Patrick Sky died May 26, 2021, after contending with prostate and bone cancer; he was eighty.
Albums
