The Lay Awakes sit down for a One On One Session at City Winery New York on October 9th, 2018. Watch the full session here: https://youtu.be/-MeADOdzXFg For more info visit: https://www.thelayawakes.com Audio & Video by: Ehud Lazin
Setlist:
Ready To Be My Man
Had It Coming
Great Divide
Falling In Love
THE LAY AWAKES is a singer-songwriter duo based in Brooklyn, NY, with roots in the Canadian prairies and small town Ontario.
Anna Paddock and Patrick Anderson formed The Lay Awakes in 2014, and released a self-titled EP in 2015. The album was produced by friend and Brooklyn-based producer Jeremy McDonald (Kevin Garrett's Mellow Drama, The Welcome Wagon's A Work Of Love In Progress and Light Up The Stairs).
The duo recently finished a new album, Home Away From Home. The 10-song LP was produced again by McDonald, and was released on May 4th, 2018.
In early August of 2009, during the heart of the wedding season, Patrick pulled his blue truck into the driveway of a lakeside cabin in Saskatchewan. It had been a long trip from Vancouver, but whatever a best man must do, he does. Patrick’s best friend Ryan, the groom, had also asked him to sing and play guitar during the ceremony, and to pull a band together for the reception. It was to be a fun but dutiful, head-table kind of weekend.
The next evening, family and friends gathered for the rehearsal dinner. After the meal, Ryan took the mic to say a few thank you’s, but when it came time to mention the wedding party, he had to pause to look around for his best man. He finally spotted Patrick outside the pavilion at the coffee table, talking to a girl.
Anna had been driving across Canada alone. Along the way, she stopped in for the wedding of her former university volleyball coach. Ryan not only knew her to be a great setter, but also a classically trained pianist, so he’d asked her to play during the ceremony. As she lingered around the edge of the rehearsal party, she spotted the familiar face of an acquaintance who was pouring himself some coffee. She walked over and said hello. Anna and Patrick began talking.
And so, two roads began to merge into one, in a very literal sense. Over the course of the weekend, it dawned on the two aspiring musicians that since they were both driving to Vancouver after the wedding, they might as well caravan. It’s not the only way to fall in love, but it’s a good one. The pause and go rhythms of a captivating story, westbound sunsets over prairie skies, the majesty of the Rockies, the twists and turns of the purple Coastal Mountains, and finally the long, powerful, inevitable rush of the Fraser River, all contributed to a dizzying and life changing adventure. (See also track 1 of the new album for Patrick's take).
Soon after that heady summer, Patrick followed Anna to NYC, and the two were married in 2011. They wisely, it may be said, waited a few years for the glue to set before trying to make music together, apart from the occasional intimate and informal collaboration - mostly graces and madrigals sung across the kitchen table. Perhaps less wisely, they chose the summer of 2015 to release their first songs together as The Lay Awakes, which coincided with the release of their first child, Stanley. The self-titled debut EP was produced by friend Jeremy McDonald (Kevin Garrett's Mellow Drama, The Welcome Wagon's A Work Of Love In Progress and Light Up The Stairs).
Now safely on the other side of that wonderful and wild experience, Patrick and Anna have another album to share, this time an 10-song LP. It has spent a little while “in the can”, owing to the arrival of baby Rooney and the hard won wisdom to tackle just one release at a time going forward. Produced once again by Jeremy McDonald, the new songs show the spirit and promise of a still new musical partnership and the strengthening resolve to play the long game and see where the music takes them.
Anna (piano, vocals) grew up in various states and provinces, but her family ties connect her to rural Manitoba. Her musical roots trace back to classical piano studies and the inspiration of dance and theatre, which led her to study music at Trinity Western University and composition at New York University. During this time, Anna began writing songs, released a solo album in 2013.
Patrick (guitar, vocals) was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and grew up in Fergus, Ontario. His music lineage goes back to the family campfire and songbook. He studied music at Vancouver Community College and at Hunter College in Manhattan. Patrick has spent many years representing Canada in wheelchair basketball and is a three-time Paralympic gold medalist.
