Ph 727-504-5657
pbest1@tampabay.rr.com
Pat Best Music.com
Below are three articles written about live performances.
Please note that times and venues have change since these articles were published. Get up to date gigs by clicking on "Up Coming Shows" above.
Beach Life
Pat Best
Playing on a beach Near You
casey fischer
I caught up with Pat Best on a Friday night at Harry's Beach Bar in the Sirata Beach Resort. With pink and azure clouds as a backdrop he stummed a relaxed version of One Headlight by the Wallflower as the sun set. I ordered beer and listened to the crowd that cheered and shouted out requests. He was quick to ablige belting out great versions of many classics.
Pat Best has a voice that at times reminded me of Don Henley and then would switch to a voice of his own. He played a varied set including Tom Petty, Snow Patrol, Steve Miller, The Band, The Beatles and the Eagles. On each song Pat put a unquie twist that added freshness to the classics and it didn't take long for the crowd to join in and sign along. He plays the kind of music that makes a cocktail taste better and his catalog includes songs you forgot and loved.
Like most people in Florida Pat began his journey somewhere else. Born in Illinois he came to Ft Lauderdale via Rhode Island in 1983. After a short time in Ft Lauderdale he made his way to St Petersburg and has been there ever since. He began playing guitar at age 19 while in the Navy and it has remained a lifelong passion. Once in St Pete, he got a chance to play at the Tradewinds Resort between sets for Sam Stone. The two men became friends and eventually Pat started playing gigs up and down the beaches of the Gulf Coast.
His musical influences include the Eagles (he does a killer version of Hotel California), the Allman Brothers and CSN&Y to name a few. He likes to play to the crowd and enjoys playing more gigs each week. Having finally left his day job in Corporate America he looks forward to adding more venues to his regular schedule.
You can catch Pat Best at the Guy Harvey Resort every Thursday from 6pm to 9pm and every Saturday in Clearwater at the Sand Pearl Resort from 1pm to 4pm. Pat also plays regular gigs at the St Pete Yacht Club, Frenchy's Outpost in Dunedin, Rum Runners and Harry's at the Sirata and the Clock Tower Sports Bar in Treasure Island.
Pat is also in the band Soul Patch that plays regular gigs at a beach near you. To catch up with Pat and continue to support live, local music find his upcoming shows at www. patmusic.com or call 727-504-5657 for booking info.
Beach Life
Written by Lisa Leveroni
Intiled, Pat Best: Sand, Saltwater, Stories & Songs.
Pat Best has been here in St Pete for 30 years now. He moved here from Newport Rhode Island, "so the sand and the saltwater are in my blood," he says. He started playing acoustic guitar pretty late, as great players go. "I was 19 and in the Navy," I was going across the Atlantic Ocean, and had nothing better to do, so I grabbed a friend's guitar and taught myself how to play." There's that saltwater again, a key ingredient in what's Best. According to Best, his music was inspired by the Eagles, Dan Folgelberg, the Allman Brothers, and of course the Beatles, but you can hear a little bit of everything in his performance.
At Rum Runner's on a Saturday afternoon recently, Best welcomed a friend of 20 years from England and brought her to the stage to sing with him on Under the Boardwalk. He made this a smooth transition after singing the Allman Brothers Whippin Post, which he introduced as "a song about a no-good woman." His blend of music ran the qamut from Springsteen's I'm on Fire to Neil Young's Harvest Moon to Steven Stills's Love the One Your With. He also sang a orginal version of a song called the "The Gent From Kent'. a mixed Jimmie Buffet/Rolling Stones tune. Pat Best makes evey song his song.
You'll find Pat Best every Thursday at the Guy Harvey Resort and every Saturday at the Sand Pearl on Clearwater Beach. You'll also find Pat at the Sirata and Treadwinds music venues on weekends. He also plays with a trio called Soul Patch. Their style is "a little more bluesy and up-tempo," he says.
