by MacKenzie Wilson While growing up out West, singer/songwriter Patrick Park was banging out Metallica riffs as a teenager. He wasn't exactly following the indie route and he most certainly didn't identify with folk music, however his parents' love for arts and language inspired Park in some way. His mother was a published poet and his father was deep-rooted in folk and blues, and he lived a stone's throw from the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater. In due time Park naturally came around to the gifts that surrounded his family. Park opted for a change upon his early 20s, venturing out East for the hustle and bustle of New York City. It wasn't exactly his speed, so he ventured back West and landed in Los Angeles in 1999. He taught karate (he's a black belt) to earn some money while also focusing on mastering the guitar. He absorbed the sounds of John Lee Hooker and Sister Rosetta Tharp while adoring the beautiful chaos of the Pixies and the Smiths. Park had found himself a circle; a musical sphere that would inspire him to make music on a professional level. A luck would have it, Park befriended producer Dave Trumfio (Billy Bragg and Wilco, the Handsome Family) and formed a bond. He and Trumfio wrote, recorded, and mixed material for Park's debut album during the summer months of 2002. Alt-country singer/songwriter Tim Easton, pedal steel player Eric Heywood, and ex-Creeper Lagoon drummer Dave Kostiner joined them in the studio as Park honed a delicate and deeply reflective folk-tinged sound. Park tested his music on the live front as well. Shows with Julia Fordham, Gomez, Beth Orton, and Richard Buckner were brilliant moments for Park. His self-released demo The Basement Tapes created major buzz before the year's end; Under the Unminding Skies appeared in February 2003. Park's folk-tinged studio full-length Loneliness Knows My Name followed in July.