At the age of 73, Patrick has fulfilled his lifelong ambition of learning how to play an instrument having joined Runaway Samba and the Ukulele Ensemble at Jack Drum Arts.

Originally from Elephant and Castle in London, Patrick moved to Crook with his wife Debbie in 1995. He had a successful career in shipping, before retiring at the age of 65.

Both of his children attended St Cuthbert’s Primary when it was a school, and upon its closure he hoped that it would be put to good use.

In 2016 Patrick found Jack Drum Arts online via social media, and returned to St Cuthbert’s to attend Runaway Samba at Jack Drum Arts every Thursday evening.

 Patrick is a devoted music fan, with a rich history of attending gigs and music festivals since his childhood, and experiencing bands including The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Pink Floyd, to name a few.

He has always wanted to be involved in music himself - and so saw Runaway Samba as an exciting opportunity to do this, whilst also being drawn in by the well-priced, local sessions that Jack Drum has to offer.

Patrick shared:

“I enjoy it, and that’s the reason I come. For 2 hours a week I don’t think of anything other than what I’m doing at that moment in time. As soon as you walk away you get inundated with all these other thoughts and things that go on in your mind, but when you come here, that’s it.”

Finding confidence

For many years, Patrick felt he lacked in confidence, saving his music for behind closed doors. But at Jack Drum Arts, he feels that:

“Nobody judges you [at Jack Drum Arts]. Nobody judges you at all. You know, they don’t say you’re too old, you’re out of time, you’re off beat, whatever. If you want to turn up, you can play and that’s a good attitude to have.”

 As his confidence grew, Patrick started gigging with Runaway Samba in 2019, and most recently performed in the Nordestinos Bloco at Durham Miners Gala.

“It makes me happy. There’s not many things in the world that make me happy at the moment so just to smile - you don’t smile do you anymore.”

 An appetite for music

Patrick has since joined the Ukulele Ensemble, a weekly session established in September 2021. Upon taking on his second instrument as a novice, Patrick joked: “that’s going to be a disaster like the drumming was”. He performed with the Ukulele Ensemble for the first time in Summer 2022 at both BOP Fest and the Queen’s Jubliee Gala Event in Crook.

“What Covid has done has made me, and a lot of people I think, get lazy. You can’t be bothered now, y’know? It’s such an effort- oh do I have to, do I really want to do it. That’s why, in a way, it’s good that I get up and come here, or get up and go to a gig.”

When asked if and how he might like to continue to expand his musical repertoire, Patrick said that he would love to attend an electronic music making course in the future.