BROWNFIELD – Musical troubadour Patty Larkin, who has been pushing the boundaries of folk music for more than 20 years, will celebrate the release of her 11th CD, “Watch The Sky,” Friday, April 18, at the Stone Mountain Arts Center.

Known for her uncompromising lyrics and guitar wizardry, Larkin wrote, produced, engineered and edited the CD released recently on Vanguard Records.

The New York Times described her voice as “breathy and confiding, tinged with the blues or infused with Joni Mitchell’s pearly depth.”

Larkin wrote and recorded much of the material on “Watch the Sky” as it came to her, assembling tracks and sounds as she went along. Her passion of combining acoustic instruments with modern technology comes to fruition with her playing every instrument on the CD’s 12 tracks. She experimented with a kaleidoscope of sounds, from her slapsteel guitar (lap steel detuned, played with drumstick and hand) to the baribow, an organic take on a string section (played on electric baritone guitar with a child’s violin bow) as well as acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, bazouki, loops, toy organ and others.

Larkin has won an unprecedented 11 Boston Music Awards and received an honorary doctorate of music degree from Berklee College of Music.

She grew up in a music- and arts-oriented family in Milwaukee, Wis. Descended from a long line of Irish-American singers and taletellers, her mother is a painter; both of her sisters are musicians.

Larkin began classical piano studies at age 7 and got swept up in the sounds of pop and folk in the ’60s, teaching herself the guitar and experimenting with songwriting.

The concert will begin at 8 p.m. at the arts center at 695 Dugway Road. Tickets are $20. For more information, call 866-227-6523.


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