Patti Witten's CD Sycamore Tryst is a complex and sophisticated album built on the cornerstone of several excellent songs. An honest and mature songwriter, Witten creates a very appealing blend of sweet-voiced folk and hard-edged rock 'n' roll.

The album has a richness and self-assurance that may come from Witten's wealth of life experience. Now flourishing in her middle years, Witten has come through a string of heartbreaks (including the sudden death of her first husband and the failure of a second marriage) and has overcome a drinking problem. After several years as a graphic designer, she turned to music seriously after meeting Roseanne Cash at a songwriting workshop. Cash writes the glowing liner notes for Sycamore Tryst, Witten's third CD in less than five years, following Land of Souvenirs (1999) and Prairie Doll (2000).

It's easy to see why Witten has built a solid reputation so quickly. Her songs, many of which have won major contests, are smart and sophisticated. I hear the influence of Aimee Mann and Joni Mitchell, two of my favourites, and yet Witten knows how to write songs that are uniquely her own. They are appropriately showcased by Rich DePaolo's gritty-yet-glossy production, which features DePaolo on electric guitar, bass and keyboards; Bill King on drums; Doug Robinson on bass; guests Robby and Eric Aceto on guitars, loops and violin; and Bob Carlucci on pedal steel.

Witten's lyrics are honest and clear with an original twist. In "Sweet Home," a song in which she refers directly to her alcoholism, she says her father "gave me this music and a taste for the universe/wheel of fortune turn, turn, turn." She's capable, also, of writing excellent story songs such as "Going Back to Moline" (probably my favourite on the album) inspired by a novel by Robert Clark. "What I Don't Tell You" is excellent as well, as is the particularly simple and memorable "Black Butterfly."

There were only two big choices that I disagreed with in the album. The children's voices that precede the simple and powerful "You Can't" come across to me as too cute. Also, I wonder if "Nine Days in Texas," a biting criticism of the Kerrville Folk Festival's "New Folk" competition, is perhaps too "inside" the folk music community to be accessible to a wider audience.

However, those are small criticisms in the big picture. On the whole, Sycamore Tryst is a deeply satisfying album: an intricate self-portrait of an intelligent, complex woman at mid-life.

- Rambles
written by Joy McKay
published 12 April 2003

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