Patti Shaffner

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How Music became the ‘one’ thing

Born and raised on a farm in Gary, Indiana, Patti began singing around the age of three. Her father was an avid singer with a rich baritone voice and taught her to sing harmonies to barbershop tunes. By the age of eight she had her first taste of the stage when she was selected to sing a solo in the Spring program for her elementary school. Wearing a green felt ‘poodle’ skirt with sewn on leaves, she sang “I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree….” Throughout her years in public schools she was often chosen for solos and given opportunity to shine and learned to write her own simple tunes on guitar.

Although she let go of the music for a few years, to marry and raise a family, she eventually began again, playing at local open mics and was offered her first paying gig in 1982. After that she expanded into becoming a regular performer in the local music scene, recording her own songs and entering local songwriting contests, winning awards for her songs.

In 1989 she met her husband David Cowan and the two often played together and founded The Uptown Trio, a 1940’s style swing trio, with Waz Lisek. Patti furthered her skills in singing jazz, learning to scat sing and singing with talented jazz musicians from the region, including Chicago.

By the early 2000’s Patti once again began to perform in the folk singer/songwriter style with Amy Dixon Kolar and Sue Fink; the three forming SongSisters, a unique trio with gorgeous harmonies and varied individuals styles that blend well together. In 2014 and 2018 she was the first runner up in the Acorn Theater of Three Oaks, Michigan's Songwriting Contest and in 2015 won Best Singer/Songwriter in the Great American Song Contest for her tune “Blessings”.

In May of 2019 her beloved David died and in finding ways to make meaning in her life after loss, her songwriting has taken on a new direction. The release of her recent album, “From The Left Side of My Heart” and the Spoken Word album, “Messages For The Heart” in 2020 have shown her depth of understanding of living in a world that seeks to hide from loss, at a time in history when we cannot afford to ignore how much has changed and how much has been lost.

In September of 2021 Patti completed a course with grief expert David Kessler to become a Certified Grief Educator. She is working to create a storytelling platform for Grievers, believing that finding avenues of expression for our deepest emotions and experiences helps to connect us all to our commonalities rather than our differences.

BIO FOR PR:

Patti Shaffner performs a wide variety of musical styles including, Folk, Blues, Jazz, Theater and Improvisational Singing with ease. She writes and performs her own music, solo as well as collaboratively. As a seasoned performer, Patti is dynamic and engaging on stage. Her music is thought provoking and reaches out to the heart of our longing for connection with love and hope. She puts her heart and soul into whatever she sings.

She has studied improvisational singing with both Bobby McFerrin and Mistress of Improv Singing, Rhiannon, and is skilled at leading groups of all ages in the style of spontaneous song known as ‘Circle Singing’.

In 2015 her song ‘Blessings’ won her the First in Singer/Songwriter Category of The Great American Song Contest. She has garnered other awards and honors for her songwriting skills.

Patti performs Solo, with the Folk Trio, SongSisters: Amy Dixon-Kolar and Sue Fink and with Jazz Musicians Leandro Lopez Varady, Scott Pazera, Lannie Turner, Bill Romer, Buddy Pearson & The BP3 and others.

www.jazzdakini.com

www.pattishaffner.bandcamp.com

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