Patrick Bush was born in Akron Ohio on North Hill in 1988. In the years that followed his family lived in nearly every neighborhood in Akron, moving quite frequently. In 1996 while living in Sandusky Ohio Patrick convinced his mother to let him begin piano lessons at the age of 8, rather than waiting till 10 like his older siblings. Patrick enjoyed the piano for several years, but he knew he needed to continue a family tradition and play the accordion. He found a listing for an ... view more »
Patrick Bush was born in Akron Ohio on North Hill in 1988. In the years that followed his family lived in nearly every neighborhood in Akron, moving quite frequently. In 1996 while living in Sandusky Ohio Patrick convinced his mother to let him begin piano lessons at the age of 8, rather than waiting till 10 like his older siblings. Patrick enjoyed the piano for several years, but he knew he needed to continue a family tradition and play the accordion. He found a listing for an accordion shop in the yellow pages and scheduled a lesson.He made it to that first lesson, and immediately knew he had found his medium, and his mentor, Gordon Shaffer. Gordon was an accordion genius, a kind but demanding teacher, and “The Godfather of Irish Music in Akron”. Gordon was a wealth of knowledge, particularly in the area of “Feiseanna”, playing for Irish step dancers as they compete. Patrick had the privilege of playing the feis circuit with Gordon for several years, until his untimely passing in 2004.Shortly after Patrick began playing with local Irish favorites Callahan & O’conner. He was then approached by another band, and by the age of 16 he was gigging regularly. Patrick joined the U.S. NAVY two years later. He took his accordion with him and picked up a ukulele in a San Diego pawn shop, and continued practicing and playing feiseanna. After his military service was up, he moved from Virginia Beach Va to Raleigh NC. He attended an Irish jam session and that evening became the accordion player for the popular Raleigh irish band Hercules Mulligan. After HM broke up Patrick and several other HM members formed Barleycorn & Rye, playing a high energy set of Cajun, Zydeco, Bluegrass, Americana and Irish with a punk rock overtone. His time in Raleigh culminated with Barleycorn headlining the Raleigh St Patrick’s Day festival. Patrick moved back to Akron and met up with his childhood friend Daniel Baird. After a brief extended bender they started playing something new. Dan’s Gibson, Marshal and pedal combos have an ethereal beach pop sound, giving Patrick plenty of inspiration for his layed synth runs and FX. Patrick is also a photographer, getting his start in the wedding/portrait business, but now shoots for his personal collection. In addition Patrick is a cabinet and custom furniture maker and dabbles in restoration.
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